UKC

I’m after a new harness for rescue work and was wondering if anybody has any thoughts on the Falcon Mountain? 
 

I do mountain rescue stuff where we use normal harnesses plus a chest harness when necessary, plus we support the fire & rescue’s tech rescue team who use full-body harnesses so the Falcon system which can do both looks appealing. 
 

It’s approved for use with the MR, helicopter winch work and it has the industrial certs so it ticks all the boxes, but I only know one person who uses it so I was looking for other opinions before splashing the cash. 
 

Thanks

We tried the Falcon (mountain version I think) a while ago. It was very comfy for working on the crag face but bulky and heavy compared to regular sit harnesses and not so good for general mountaineering use. Since we carry our harnesses up the hill regularly we decided to go for DMM renegades instead as a compromise between comfort and weight and bought a modular chest harness thingy off DMM which team members can use if they want. We've got a bit of brand loyalty to DMM as well since they're a Welsh company.

Thanks, that matches my first impression from looking at the one example in the team. I spent well over an hour hanging from a suspension bridge’s cables last summer and started to really come around to the idea of buying a beefier harness than my BD Technician but as you said, all of that padding doesn’t pack down. We have the benefit of never really having a long walk into a crag though, so I might find space for it. 

I just bought an Arcteryx 395a for personal use and it's super comfy and light and packable. Better on every count than the DMM and my old BD solution. Spendy but you can get a decent discount if you sign up for the pro scheme.

I looked at a few options for when I run rescue training and ended up going for the Black Diamond big gun.

Has 2 belay loops, really large padding, double back buckles and loads of gear loops.

However I do have the petzl full body for WAH stuff so have the option to mix and match when I need a full body.

Well it depends on the use you want it for out of those.

Current MREW guidelines 2019 currently don't specify a harness type or compliance if you are an attendant and exposed to fall arrest. However for such, where fall arrest might be required (bad edge transition) WAH would see you using a full body harness either EN361 or EN358 harness, or an EN12277 chest harness used in junction with a an EN813 sit harness... Which the Falcon is... Climbing sit harnesses (with an EN12277) are a little different and comply to a different standard but would still dissipate the maximum arresting force throughout the body...and probably still to the 6KN max... If you getting to that you've got much bigger worries! . You can justify this option for MR (or more so your team can) but for work  only the certified harnesses and combo will cut it. For other roles e.g. edge edge operator or working the DCD you should never get in fall arrest terrain/conditions so only need to satisfy work restraint? So a sit harness is fine. 

Problem for MR is the Falcon like all the EN813 harneses is a bit big a bulky. 

Not sure where the helicopter winching bit comes from pretty sure Bristows would treat your harness be it sit or full body the same and risk assess against their operating procedures and benefits over strop winching? 

I should have mentioned that I'm not based in the UK, our helicopters fly with only a doctor on board. If they need technical help for a rescue then they'll pick up a rescue specialist from the MR on the way. I'm not qualified to do that yet, but it's certainly a goal.

We get nothing from the teams, (not even a t-shirt) but there are small discounts available on kit. Looking through the list there was the standard chest harness (Edelrid) but I also noticed the Petzl set-up. Despite being very different it does say it's allowed on the helicopters, there's nothing in our SOPs about it though so I'll have to investigate how it's actually used on a winch. 

@stuartholmes: funnily enough the Big Gun was also on my radar. I don't know anybody with one though, so I guess I'll order both, have a hang and see what I prefer.

Thanks for the feedback everybody. 

Thats interesting ...which country is this that you operate? I would def be talking to your heli operator and other crew who do this already. Good luck with your future missions

Germany, there are 5 different helicopter operators in our area but honestly in the 2 years I’ve been with the team we’ve winched a casualty out once, so it’s not a big deal. 
 

I had a hang in the Falcon Mountain today - first impressions are that it’s very comfy, it’s pack size is huge when all of my kit is hanging on it and that the rear gear loops are rubbish for such a big harness. They’re floppy, very far back and because there’s only four in total all of the stuff I normally have on the 5th/rear loop was spread to the 2 back loops and they were totally full.