UKC

Recently bought a DMM Coulier (sp) harness. The leg loops have those "clip in" fasteners (like you get on rucksacks), don't know the proper term.

On 2 subsequent abseils into Sennan the same clip popped out. Problem with the harness or problem with my use of the harness?

In reply to Skip: Done up to tight to start with? The buckle is not a load bearing part of harness. Don't worry, just keep them slacker.

In reply to Bimbler:

Thanks, that's what i suspected/hoped !

In reply to Skip: Daft thing to check is if the buckle is upside down or not as well. Some buckles have slight differences (my macpac pack did) so if it's in the wromng way it can pop out. Might have been threaded wrong or had a twist in it.

Just a thought.

In reply to Skip: did you have a backup prusik on the leg loop that popped? Ta.

In reply to David Coley:

no i don't use a backup prusik, perhaps foolhardy, but although i am not an experienced climber i am an extremely experienced abseiler and very confident in that respect

In reply to Skip:

Experienced abseiler but not climber!?? WTF do you mean?

And you do realise it's very stupid not to use a back-up on an abseil however 'experienced' you are at it, as however many times you done it won't make any difference if you lose your grip on the rope or get hit by a rock and lose consciousness.

It's not nothing to do with confidence, you're just showing your lack of experience.

In reply to Skip: use a prusik mate, doesn't take a lot to get carnaged

In reply to JayPee630:

while i can't or won't argue with regarding the stupidity aspect, i can assure you that i have abseiled 100's of times, not only rock climbers abseil

advice accepted, attitude not accepted

In reply to andyb211:

will do

thanks

I have the same harness and my fastex buckles tend to pop when weighted too.
If I have them slack enough not to then the leg loops try to castrate me.

In reply to David Coley:

attaching a prussik to your leg loop is unnecessary anyway, but would seem a particularly bad idea on a nappy style harness. At least the Couloir has a belay loop, my old Bod didn't but anyway much better to extend your belay device and clip your prussik into the main tie in point.

In reply to TobyA:

My question was to see if this might have been the reason it came undone - it seems not. However as clipping the prusik to the leg loop is very common, I'm also very concerned that someone might do this with such a harness - which I guess could be fatal.

In reply to Skip:

You don't mean "issue". You mean "problem".

HTH

In reply to Skip: aye it's an alpine harness designed for slipping big cumbersome boots and salopettes into and then clipping it tight after. Clip isn't load bearing though as the leg loops are connected together directly and then back to the harness so more there for taking a bit of slack out rather than safety.

In reply to David Coley: I don't see how it could be fatal unless someone clips the prussik to the plastic fastex buckle and relies on that to hold them, and that is Darwin award territory. But be that as it may, people should understand their gear and how it can be used safety. These style of harnesses don't have leg loops as such so it doesn't really seem that much to expect people to learn the better way of abbing with a prussik. Or of course buy a harness with leg loops if you insist on using that method.

In reply to Skip:

I have one and while it's never happened to me, I know it's happened to someone else while wearing the harness. I think it's just if the leg loops are to tight.

In reply to TobyA:


Toby, I agree. However people can do strange things, especially in the dark. I just think it would be a good idea to point out how bad an idea it would be in the instructions that come with it.

In reply to David Coley: Totally take your point, although I guess you end up with those huge labels with all sorts of statements of the incredibly obvious on them!

I remember back in the day people have long debates about whether a maillon would make an OK belay loop for BD Bods back when they didn't have them. Clipping metal to metal always seemed like a bad idea to me so I never did it but I did always think - why didn't people just buy a harness with a belay loop if they couldn't work out how to work around not having one!

In reply to Skip:

thanks for the info and advice everyone