We're just back from the annual summer gear-fest that is the OutDoor trade show. As Europe sweltered in the heat the world's outdoor industry gathered in Munich to network, drink beer and showcase their shiny new stuff. For us it's a great opportunity to catch up with brands both big and small, and check out some of the products that'll be hitting the shops in the near future. Here is a roundup of the most eye-catching and shiny new climbing gear:
Black Diamond - Z4 Cams
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Replacing the X4 + C3, the main feature of these ca,s is that they are stiff when placing but soft and flexible when placed. They've also shaved he anodising off the cam lobes so that they're nice and grippy out of the box. Offset versions are also available.
CAMP - Impulse Harness
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The Impulse is CAMP's top end harness, balancing weight and comfort courtesy of its wide webbing. Adjustable and Fixed versions are available, meaning there is something for both trad and sport climbers alike.
CAMP - Energy Harness
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An entry level harness with a whole lot of options: fixed legs, adjustable legs, single buckle, double buckle, and a women's version. As if this wasn't enough there are also three different colours.
CAMP - Updated Screwgate Range
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CAMP have updated all their screw gates for 2020, with a new gate, nose, colours, and safety marking. Again, options abound with different shapes and sizes so that there's something for everyone.
ClimbOn - Range Overview
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ClimbOn will be familiar to many, but there's been a few developments, changes, and updates to the range for 2019.
Edelrid - Sendero, Astana, Sirana
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Fitting in above Edelrid's popular Jay/Jayne harness, the new range features everything you'd want, including a fifth gear loop, and are a bit more performance oriented. These hopefully bridge the gap in price and performance between their entry level harnesses and the super tech 3D construction range.
Edelrid - Protect Rope Edge Test
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Edelrid have been developing a new edge test for the past five years, the culmination of which is a new piece of machinery. They are hoping this testing procedure is adopted as standard by other brands in order to increase the safety of all ropes.
Edelrid - Swift Protect Pro Dry 8 9mm
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This lightweight single - which was reviewed on UKC earlier this year - has received an upgrade courtesy of Edelrid's new edge test, giving it an extra safety margin. Ideal for people wishing to save weight, whilst maintaining durability like it was a thicker rope courtesy of the aramid fibres. 1g per metre heavier than the original Swift, but given how light that was this is unlikely to be a problem!
Grivel - Multi Matic Binding
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Designed to solve the fit issues that surround the new generation of ultra light boots. This binding allows for a narrower and more flexible boot, with a cinch on top of the boot to provide a more secure fit. This will be available throughout the Grivel range, so you can select the harness that's right for you. The new heel clip has been simplified, with additional space to put the excess tape.
Grivel - Trend Harness RRP £80
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Grivel have taken a technical harness and made it more fun, with four jazzy finishes. The UKC favourite is undoubtedly the Leopard print, which is also quite furry (one for the image conscious Scottish winter climber?). Besides this it is a fully featured harness, with four full size gear loop.
Mammut - Sender and Comfort Knit Harness
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New range of breathable harnesses built for performance. the Comfort Knit has an open knitted construction whilst the Sender has a laminated construction with perforated holes for comfort.
Mammut - Crag Sender MIPS helmet
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All-mountain, wear all day climbing helmet. Mammut have added MIPS protection to acknowledge that head injuries don't just happen with impact from above.
Petzl - Fly Harness RRP £97
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How do you make a harness any lighter than they currently are? Answer: do this!! Without a buckle in sight, the Fly strips it back to the bare minimum. Upon first acquaintance, it's a bit knacky to get on, but once one it feels surprisingly secure (given the absence of buckles and abundance of knots). 130g with foam, 100g without.
Petzl - Borea Helmet RRP £54
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The latest in Petzl's women's line of helmets, with a hybrid construction of ABS outer, EPP inner, and EPS at the top. It also features side impact protection for those more awkward falls.
SNAP - Guts + Grand Guts Bouldering pad RRP £380 & £475
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The Guts is a hinged version of the popular Wham (formerly known as the Wrap). The air cells mean it works in a completely different way to most bouldering mats, without a single/triple layer of foam, and instead having multiple cells that release air when impacted.
8BPlus - Chalk Bags, Rope Bags and Boulder Buckets RRP £26 - £35
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8b Plus is an Austrian company who are relatively new to the UK. They make a range of crazy chalk bags. They also come in Boulder bucket size with lots of useful features.
Beal - Phantom Harness
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The Phantom is made using ripstop material constructed from recycled polyester. It's part of Beal's Intensive Line. It's an updated version of the Quantum harness. Perforated material inside and durable material in the outside using laser-cut webbing. Four solid gear loops.
Beal - Birdie and Orient Express RRP £60 for the Birdie
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The Birdie is Beal's auto-braking belay device and the Orient Express is their specific belay carabiner. It's got an internal gate to prevent movement and cross loading. A solid all-metal device, the Birdie takes 8.5 to 10.5mm ropes. The shape of the internal cam enables it to lock the rope. The rope exits the front of the device to reduce kinks in the rope. Very smooth lowering action.
Climbing Technology - Berry Carabiner and Quickdraws
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Featuring a free gate (clean nosed) wiregate carabiner on the rope end to eliminate snagging. Flat wire gate for easy clipping. Designed for sport and trad. Available with thin medium and thick slings. Colour matched to the harnesses.
Climbing Technology - Dedalo, Musa, Quarzo Harnesses
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The Dedalo has 5 gear loops and adjustable leg loops making it suitable for trad, alpinism and multi pitching. The fifth gear loops is flexible on the back for belay plates etc. The hip belt and leg loops are a bit wider for comfort whilst hanging and belaying. The Musa is the women's version with a female specific fit. The Quarzo harness has 4 gear loops, wide loops at the front and two flexible rear loops, and fixed leg loops adjustable with elastic making it suited to sport climbing. It's extremely light (300g) and comfortable. Single buckle and light belay loop and an ergonomic belt.
DMM - Half Nuts and Shadow HMS RRP £84.99 for a set of nuts. £14.99 for Shadow HMS
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A new set of lightweight protection. Featuring the same tried and tested profile as the classic Wallnut but they've been chopped in half! As such they're great for narrow placements such as peg scars. They have a single stainless steel wire to reduce their profile. The smallest size is rated at 4kN. Seven sizes in total. Ideal for complimenting your current rack for additional placement options. The Shadow HMS completes the lightweight set of locking carabiners. Weighs in at 70g with a major axis strength of 26kN. Clean nosed with a short gate and big biner which gives it a lot of work space for such a light biner.
Metolius - Training Aids RRP £40 - £55
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A range of ergonomic training aids and wooden finger boards which are great for warming up at the crag as well as training at home. Easy to hang off a bolt or tree at the crag. The classic Rock Rings still feature in the range but the wooden products provide a lighter alternative.
Ocun - Harness Range RRP £44.95 - £59.95
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The Twist is a range of harnesses from Ocun. They range from 4 to 6 gear loops but all have the same construction. The Quattro has 6 gear loops and is Ocun's trad and multi-pitch climbing harness. The Tech has 5 gear loops for alpine or multi-pitch sport climbing and the Twist has 4 gear loops for and is designed for sport climbing.
Comments
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
Out of your list, I have the Grivel Apollo and the BD Momentum DS: they're both okay to sit in, but rather rubbish for hanging belays. The Momentum DS also slides down a lot when you rack up.
Edelweiss Placebo, Edelrid Duke and Ocun Quattro don't seem to be available in the UK, and I'm not going to keep buying harnesses over the internet without trying them on first (I already have five that I'm unhappy with!!!)
I'll look into the Climbing Technology and Mammut ones, cheers.