UKC

Hello everyone,

I recently acquired a new harness (a BD solution guide) and have noticed some minor damage on some stitches of the belay loop and was wondering if it was something I should worry about. I am a bit surprised as I only used the harness for 2 sessions on some autobelays.

From my understanding only the big horizontal stitches, of a different colour than the rest of the belay loop, are the load carrying ones, which would make the minor defects irrelevant. However this led to me slightly questioning the durability and I would highly value additional opinions to help me determine if my concerns are legit or just silly.

Here are links to some pictures:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s3GNhfvsVGYO7ZYgG7tCi0nYlPO0HBhm/view?usp=...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GTcDmY9KqzW23F_L7gAfTB2DAdicQvnR/view?usp=...

Thanks in advance

I think it's fairly normal to have a couple of these as they are the ends of lengths of threads cut short and sealed.

I have just checked my old Edelrid Orion and they are definitely present on the belay loop for that.

It looks fine to me, just the thread ends.

Good that you inspect your harness though, a great routine to get into.

Great, thank you so much for your help and time

I'd be 100% ok with that

No worries, knowing how to inspect your equipment is a really valuable skill to have.
Next time you are in a climbing shop take a look at bits like this to see what they should look like from new to give yourself an idea of what "good" looks like.

The dark coloured stitches are "bar tacks" and this is what gives it strength, they look just fine to me. (First pic)

The lighter coloured stitches are to tidy the ends and are not structural, they look a tiny bit tatty but still in normal range, but they don't really matter, they are cosmetic (second pic).

I'd be 100% happy if it was mine 

If you are unsure, always ask..