Something I've been wondering for a long time: why aren't double adjustment buckles harnesses more popular? It seems like double buckles are only a thing on entry-level or rental harnesses.

I'm yet to find a harness with only one adjustment buckle that will fit me snug enough and without one of the gear loops ending up quite far back, rendering it unusable.

I'm currently trying the Edelrid Jay, which does only have one buckle, but also has a floating waist band, so you can have the harness properly aligned. It seems like such a simple solution, yet I'm only aware of two harnesses that have this feature (the Jay and the DMM Renegade).

I can't believe that I'm the only one with this issue, so why isn't something done about it, instead of focusing on 'leopard print' and 100 grams harnesses (seriously, who needs those?)

Well to counter that, I really dislike harnesses with two waist buckles. It seems one more than necessary to me. For a well fitting harness the gear loops should be correctly positioned anyway without a second buckle being needed. Having said that, I can see that if you use one harness for all your climbing, then you might want more adjustability when winer/alpine climbing to sunny sport. However virtually every company offers harnesses like this, I think they just didn't show them off at the Munich show.

Alan

I currently have 5 harnesses - so definitely not averse to having more than one (that being said, I only have 5 because they never work as well as you thought they would when you briefly tried them in the shop)

Fit is problematic for me as I have big thighs, but a relatively small waist: for example, I have a Petzl Calidris in size 1 which is perfect for my waist, but the leg loops are way too tight, even when fully extended. If I went for a size 2, then leg loops would be fine, but the waist would be too large. I also don't want to go too large on the waist size because they then slide down when you rack up. So it's a trade-off between leg loop size and waist size. With all single buckle harnesses (apart the Jay, but that's because of the floating waist band) I have tried where both the waist and the leg loops fit me okay, one of the gear loops is pushed back - which is why having two buckles is essential for me as it allows the gear loops to be centered.

I was actually climbing with someone last Saturday whose harness was exactly the same - one of the gear loops was too far back, but he hadn't even noticed (and he was much slimmer than me). I reckon that this is actually a way more common issue, but people don't notice because they don't actually need all the gear loops (how many trad climbers are there compared to indoor-only climbers?)

Yes, pretty much every company has a 2-buckle harness, but they are mostly entry-level models which are not the most comfortable (and, as a big, heavy dude, I need a properly padded harness, especially on hanging belays). The only high-end, two buckle harness I have found was the Calidris, which does not fit my legs.

If the gear loops aren't symmetrically centred then I would say that the waist loop is too small for you. If that means the leg loops are tight then adjustable leg loops for me would be what I would go for.

I don't think this is right.

Edelweiss Placebo - http://www.edelweiss-ropes.com/placebo2.html Grivel Apollo - https://grivel.com/collections/harnesses/products/apollo Ocun Quattro - http://www.ocun.com/en/products/harnesses/quattro.html Edelrid Duke - https://www.edelrid.de/en/sports/sit-harnesses/duke.html BD Momentum DS - https://eu.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_GB/climbing-harnesses/momentum-ds-BD6510652_cfg.html#cgid=harnesses&start=16 Climbing Technology Wall and Ascent - https://www.climbingtechnology.com/en/outdoor-en/harnesses/wall Mammut Ophir 4 Slide - https://www.mammut.com/uk/en/p/2020-00841-00148/ophir-4-slide/

Also probably worth a look at this where we covered a couple of those - https://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/climbing/harnesses/lightweight_sport_climbing_harnesses-11798

Alan