The Arc'teryx is the worst harness made since tying a static rope around your rib cage

Change my mind but here is my experience. I recently blew off the dust on it to climb a multi and remembered why I hated it so much. 

1. Slanted gear loops. The thought was to push all your gear towards the front of the harness. Great in theory, super hard clipping and unclipping from it because of the gear being too close together and cramped. A lot of the times, not paying attention, you'll clip into both the gear loops, and the wire gate of another cam. Super fun when placing while cruxing out.

2. Bottom gear loop gussets. There is a gusset at the bottom of the gear loops. Combine that with the cramped fashion the gear already is in, these gussets catch your carbiner all the time. Forget about care free days of taking gear directly out of a gear loop. The gear loop design has got you playing a small guitar solo with your cams on every other placement. SO FUN.

3. Gear loops suspenders pop off the harness all the time. Do you like your leg loops to hang like an 80 year old mans nut sack? Look no further. Arc'teryx has got you covered. No more snug leg loops. 

4. Collapsible bottom loop. Every harness has static / non adjustable top an bottom loops. But the Arc'teryx is adjustable? Which means the bottom loop is constantly slipping out of its tension lock. Hope you got tiny fingers and 10 minutes of time weekly! 

5. Arc'teryx sizing is off. Ordered a medium, ended up having to wear the harness sideways by quite a bit. I'm medium perfectly in every brand: Petzl, BD, Elderid, etc. 

1. you can reverse the slant taking and the hard outer off gear loops and reversing them if needed.

2. Cramped? some of the biggest gear loops you'll find.

3. Tighten the strap. Never had one pop off in 8 years

4. Read a size chart. Just like anything else size isn't standardized across the board. 

Which model? I have one of their harnesses, and it doesn't match anything you describe. 

Judging by the complaints, he’s likely referring to the AR-395a harness. Mine is about 5-6 years old. I have experienced each and every one of these issues, except the sizing issue. But I’ll also add that the ice clipper slots are not great. You really have to jam in the BD ice clippers. I do like that it folds/packs down small though.

None of these things have been enough to get me to buy a new harness. I’m just used to it now.

I have the AR-395a and I want to love it but I agree it's on the bigger side for a medium. My issue with it is that it pinches so, so bad when belaying to the point that I don't even use mine anymore because it's too uncomfortable. 

Otherwise I love the big gear loops and how lightweight and packable it is. So if it works for somebody, more power to ya. 

Never used it, but for the low low price of $160 it sounds like a killer deal, that's cheaper than 2 arcterix T shirts made in Sri Lanka.

Its probably not working right because you aren't wearing the "hangdog shorts" with the harness.

Only $250 dollars for this Vietnamese made beauties. 

Agree with #3, I've had the leg loops dangling at my knee caps on a few occasions,  the suspender leg loop attachment point is a shit design and pain to adjust.

I have an Arc'teryx harness and agree with half of the points and strongly disagree with a few of them too.  I really like the gear loops, both the size and the shape.  It sounds like the OP is reaching for the wrong piece on half of their placements and having a hard time racking them back in order when they reach for the right piece.  That's a tough problem to have with any harness, I suggest getting better at sizing your cracks.  I also like the slant of the gear loops, it makes it easier to see what's still left on the harness.

I don't care for the g-hook that holds the elastic, the left side elastic strap always loosens up and the difference between the feel of the left and right leg loop is annoying.  I usually tighten them up as I'm putting the harness on for the first time in the morning.

I'm not sure if the "collapsible bottom loop" is the lower tie in point/hard point or if it's the leg loops.  If they are talking about the leg loops then just buy one of the harnesses that don't have adjustable leg loops.  It's also pretty trivial to adjust them if needed.

As for the sizing, that's the penalty for not checking the size chart.  Come back next week to enjoy the thread where we compare the differences in a size 45 climbing shoe and mountain boot from La Sportiva, Scarpa, and Black Diamond.

IDK, I got the first Skaha in about 1994.  Their very first product.  The most expensive harness I could find at $75 in '94.  Billed as very comfortable. It was.

Now the Skaha is back again at $188.  Probably the most expensive you can buy.  It tempts me for that reason alone.  Very light weight.  Seems a bit minimal but still, it has the Gucci factor.

Also, Petzl has brought back the Corax 1 & 2.  Damn solid and perfectly comfortable. It's what I need to contain my lard-ass.

Arc'teryx seems to be going for being the top designer-label for gear.  Bless those folks from BC.  May they all become wealthy, and even more, really cool.

The discontinued FL-365 is the best harness of all time. 

Mo Cheng wrote:

Change my mind but here is my experience. I recently blew off the dust on it to climb a multi and remembered why I hated it so much. 

1. Slanted gear loops. The thought was to push all your gear towards the front of the harness. Great in theory, super hard clipping and unclipping from it because of the gear being too close together and cramped. A lot of the times, not paying attention, you'll clip into both the gear loops, and the wire gate of another cam. Super fun when placing while cruxing out.

2. Bottom gear loop gussets. There is a gusset at the bottom of the gear loops. Combine that with the cramped fashion the gear already is in, these gussets catch your carbiner all the time. Forget about care free days of taking gear directly out of a gear loop. The gear loop design has got you playing a small guitar solo with your cams on every other placement. SO FUN.

3. Gear loops suspenders pop off the harness all the time. Do you like your leg loops to hang like an 80 year old mans nut sack? Look no further. Arc'teryx has got you covered. No more snug leg loops. 

4. Collapsible bottom loop. Every harness has static / non adjustable top an bottom loops. But the Arc'teryx is adjustable? Which means the bottom loop is constantly slipping out of its tension lock. Hope you got tiny fingers and 10 minutes of time weekly! 

5. Arc'teryx sizing is off. Ordered a medium, ended up having to wear the harness sideways by quite a bit. I'm medium perfectly in every brand: Petzl, BD, Elderid, etc. 

What are you even talking about? What is a "bottom gear loop"? What is a "gear loop gusset"? What is a "gear loop suspender"? What is a "bottom loop"? What is a "tension lock"? While I agree that ARC'TERYX has lost its way with its harnesses, what you wrote is unintelligible. Edit to add: I’m genuinely interested in this topic.

Welp. I guess I picked a fight with a beehive

Mo Cheng wrote:

Welp. I guess I picked a fight with a beehive

I vote we make this the official MP tagline. 

Josh Janes wrote:

What are you even talking about? What is a "bottom gear loop"? What is a "gear loop gusset"? What is a "gear loop suspender"? What is a "bottom loop"? What is a "tension lock"? While I agree that ARC'TERYX has lost its way with its harnesses, what you wrote is unintelligible. Edit to add: I’m genuinely interested in this topic.

C'mon Josh don't you know what the thingamabob is? The tallywhacker racker is too pronounced and the dingaling loop is all topsy turvy. Not to mention the jingle jangle is all wonky

This was a good rant. Command of technical terms is a big meh from this pleb. Play on!

I think “top and bottom loop” refers to waist belt and leg loop respectively, and the fact that you can detach the leg loops from the harness by unthreading the webbing from a little flat metal buckle which if you are me (or seemingly the OP) loses tension on its own all the time which results in a lot of slop at that connection point, which can cause uneven tension on the leg loops when hanging in the harness.  This is the one gripe here I agree with.

“Gear loop suspenders” I think means leg loop suspenders? Like the little elastic straps that attach to the back side of each leg loop. Not as sure about my interpretation here as I’ve never had the problem OP describes but it’s the only way I can interpret it that makes sense.

No idea what “gear loop gussets” are. Maybe OP removed the plastic pieces from the gear loops and there’s something on the webbing underneath that catches on biners?

Mo Cheng wrote:

Welp. I guess I picked a fight with a beehive

What did you expect?  What was the point of your rant/post?

Mo Cheng wrote:

Welp. I guess I picked a fight with a beehive

That was the point of the title and rant, right?  Were you expecting a round of beer for your effort?

I can send you my mailing address if you want to get rid of that piece of crap. I like them.

I'll even send you a nice BD harness in return. 

The "off center" issue is just sizing. Every single-side pull harness can have the same issue depending on where you are in their sizing.

nowhere wrote:

I think “top and bottom loop” refers to waist belt and leg loop respectively, and the fact that you can detach the leg loops from the harness by unthreading the webbing from a little flat metal buckle which if you are me (or seemingly the OP) loses tension on its own all the time which results in a lot of slop at that connection point, which can cause uneven tension on the leg loops when hanging in the harness.  This is the one gripe here I agree with.

“Gear loop suspenders” I think means leg loop suspenders? Like the little elastic straps that attach to the back side of each leg loop. Not as sure about my interpretation here as I’ve never had the problem OP describes but it’s the only way I can interpret it that makes sense.

No idea what “gear loop gussets” are. Maybe OP removed the plastic pieces from the gear loops and there’s something on the webbing underneath that catches on biners?

If you're correct (in the bolded part above), then I think we can get some idea of why OP is so upset: he's using the LEG loops to rack on. That makes me really curious where he's putting his legs!

Cosmic Hotdog wrote:

C'mon Josh don't you know what the thingamabob is? The tallywhacker racker is too pronounced and the dingaling loop is all topsy turvy. Not to mention the jingle jangle is all wonky

This morning I spoke with an ARC'TERYX engineer and he told me their next generation of harnesses should address all these concerns:

The new ARC'TERYX Turbo Encabulator Harness

Can't wait.