I am considering saddle hunting and am wondering if anyone on her uses just a climbing harness? Which harness?

[Cam]

I am considering saddle hunting and am wondering if anyone on her uses just a climbing harness? I am most interested in comfort and cost as i am an all day sitter.

 

[dlist777]

An RC harness by itself probably won't due for comfort. You can match it with a sit/drag. Your best option if you want all-day comfort and are willing to sacrifice a bit of weight and bulk is the JX-3.

 

[CharlieTN]

Yes, you technically could get away with a rock climbing harness but they are not designed for actually sitting in for long periods of time, simply to catch you if you fall. If you sit in them too long they can cause some damage to the blood vessels in your leg as well as some serious back pain. Even the padded ones designed for big wall climbers aren’t intended to be sat in for long periods of time.

The saddle spreads out the pressure from just a thin band behind each leg and the small of your back.

I’m on a tight budget and getting into saddle hunting so I’m using my existing HSS safety harness in conjunction with a sitdrag type of seat made by Mike Isbell. It’s very comfortable and easy to use. Down the road when funds allow I’ll upgrade to a regular saddle I’m sure.

 

[gcr0003]

I was curious about this as well. At the very least I wanted to see how a climbing harness felt. I stopped by REI and tried a few on. Let me tell ya, I sure hope saddles are more comfortable because rock climbing harnesses surely are not. Talk about crotch infringement. Surely saddles are not nearly as bad at crushing the reproductive region. With saddles it appears the majority of the weight goes to the "saddle" versus the leg straps in a climbing harness. Is this true? Though, from the pictures I've seen, the saddles look like just that, a climbing harness with a part to sit on. Thoughts?

 

[mtsrunner]

I was curious about this as well. At the very least I wanted to see how a climbing harness felt. I stopped by REI and tried a few on. Let me tell ya, I sure hope saddles are more comfortable because rock climbing harnesses surely are not. Talk about crotch infringement. Surely saddles are not nearly as bad at crushing the reproductive region. With saddles it appears the majority of the weight goes to the "saddle" versus the leg straps in a climbing harness. Is this true? Though, from the pictures I've seen, the saddles look like just that, a climbing harness with a part to sit on. Thoughts?

Lots of factors determine how your weight is distributed. Lower tether and longer bridge will put more weight on your butt. High tether and short bridge transfers more weight to your feet. Somewhere in between and you can distribute it between butt, feet and knees. Knee pads or a foam pad strapped to the tree help a bunch.

 

[gcr0003]

Lots of factors determine how your weight is distributed. Lower tether and longer bridge will put more weight on your butt. High tether and short bridge transfers more weight to your feet. Somewhere in between and you can distribute it between butt, feet and knees. Knee pads or a foam pad strapped to the tree help a bunch.

How does all of that effect the crotch comfort?

 

[bj139]

I was curious about this as well. At the very least I wanted to see how a climbing harness felt. I stopped by REI and tried a few on. Let me tell ya, I sure hope saddles are more comfortable because rock climbing harnesses surely are not. Talk about crotch infringement. Surely saddles are not nearly as bad at crushing the reproductive region. With saddles it appears the majority of the weight goes to the "saddle" versus the leg straps in a climbing harness. Is this true? Though, from the pictures I've seen, the saddles look like just that, a climbing harness with a part to sit on. Thoughts?

You're not doing it right. Once you put the harness on crouch down and get your junk away from the leg loops and make sure there is enough slack in your pants for them. The harness should put all the pressure on your upper legs and back. If you have a platform to stand on from time to time it should work fine. I have hung from RCH for up to an hour and it was OK. I am thinking of going back to my RCH with a DIY fleece sitdrag. I sewed a panel of stretch fabric to the back of my harness to distribute the weight and it helped.

 

[gcr0003]

You're not doing it right. Once you put the harness on crouch down and get your junk away from the leg loops and make sure there is enough slack in your pants for them.

The way you described adjusting is the way I did it. No comfort for my junk to be found. I was also talking to an employee and he brought up the obvious, but I thought I'd share. Those straps on the sides are for accessories only, they are rated for body weight. You aren't using them for your bridge are you? The only place rated for weight on the RCH is the loop in front.

Still curious to hear how the saddle disperses the weight, and if it provides any better relief to the crotch.

 

[bj139]

The waist belt is load bearing as well as the leg loops but not the accessory loops.

 

[gcr0003]

The waist belt is load bearing as well as the leg loops but not the accessory loops.

Thanks for showing. So you have a bridge tied off of your waist belt. Then you have your linemans belt attaching to the waist belt as well while being held out to the sides by the accessory loops. Is that correct?

 

[Dewayne]

A regular rock climbing harness will work but as mentioned above comfort is almost nonexistent.

 

[bj139]

Thanks for showing. So you have a bridge tied off of your waist belt. Then you have your linemans belt attaching to the waist belt as well while being held out to the sides by the accessory loops. Is that correct?

The bridge is attached to the sit drag which I am also wearing. The LB is only hitched to the RCH. The accessory loops just hold the LB ends apart. If I were to fall while using the LB it would be helpful if the ends would pull together cinching me better to the tree. While using only the RCH I just attached my tether to the belay loop. People say you need a bridge but I found that untrue for me. The belay loop was fine and kept the two bridge leads out of my 10 and 2 positions.

 

[jspradley]

The bridge is attached to the sit drag which I am also wearing. The LB is only hitched to the RCH. The accessory loops just hold the LB ends apart. If I were to fall while using the LB it would be helpful if the ends would pull together cinching me better to the tree. While using only the RCH I just attached my tether to the belay loop. People say you need a bridge but I found that untrue for me. The belay loop was fine and kept the two bridge leads out of my 10 and 2 positions.

So you have one end of the LB girth hitched to the belay loop, ran through the accessory loops then the other end through the loop on the other side then clipped back to the belay loop? I'm trying to figure out how folks are using LBs on the RCH

 

[bj139]

So you have one end of the LB girth hitched to the belay loop, ran through the accessory loops then the other end through the loop on the other side then clipped back to the belay loop? I'm trying to figure out how folks are using LBs on the RCH

Huh. Didn't I post pictures? Just look at them.

 

[jspradley]

Huh. Didn't I post pictures? Just look at them.

Weird... they aren't showing up on my computer. Wherever they are hosted must be blocked through my work firewall. I'll look again when I get home, my bad!

 

[bj139]

Weird... they aren't showing up on my computer. Wherever they are hosted must be blocked through my work firewall. I'll look again when I get home, my bad!

They are on Flickr. I don't know why they might be blocked.