UKC

Has anyone cracked their testicles when you've fallen hard on those leg straps...... 

Yeah, caught one once. 

It suuuuucked. 

Someone in my uni club did exactly that very early in my climbing career, and I've been paranoid about it ever since. My strategy is to always cinch the leg loops up nice and tight so they can't move about too much and hopefully nothing can slip inside.

You guys have no idea. 

I started climbing in the latter era of Whillans harnesses. 

https://smhc.co.uk/collection/whillans-harness/

"The central crutch strap on the Whillan’s was said to have rendered several male climbers impotent and they were not the most comfortable for abseiling, though they did probably prevent lots of male climbers from falling off as the resultant damage to the nether regions was unthinkable!"

Nearly. When younger and even more stupid I once did a big free hanging abseil on a rainy day. Was wearing trousers and waterproof over trousers as well. These acted as a smooth V shape so the leg loops could slide upwards.

As I got past the committing point something shifted in the left leg strap trapping left test icicle. Not sure what proportion of my bodyweight was used to squash it. But lifting that leg up didn't help in any way.

I was in so much pain and discomfort I thought I might let go of the rope or pass out or throw up and let go or something, and it was a fight of all my willpower not to do so about 25m up and no backup device (said I was stupid!) so letting go would have been terminal. When I got to the bottom I collapsed for 5 minutes and wasn't the same for a couple of days. (But physically recovered after that)

A lesson NEVER forgotten. I'm meticulous now to keep leg loops tight and pulled down, adjust them yet again when starting any descent or rope ascent, and pull some trousers up through the leg loops for a little slack so they don't make a V shape to funnel the legs.

The harness was a black diamond Alpine bod, and I replaced it after that, nothing wrong with them, I just don't fancy wearing one again.

Personally, I think this old chestnut (!) is vastly overstated. My earliest harness was a Whillans and I carried on using it through the eighties long after more 'advanced' models came onto the market. I found it comfortable for abbing and also took big lobs in it on several occasions. As far as I can tell, both plums are still fully functioning. Even when I eventually retired it from actual climbing I still preferred the Whillans for hanging around gardening on new stuff.

The unique feature of the Whillans was that the rope went down from the tie-in point through a karabiner on the crutch strap.  In the event of a fall this was intended to pull you into a sitting position so you ended on your backside rather than your bollocks.

I'm sure there must have been occasions when this didn't work properly, with uncomfortable results. It was important that the krab was not too big and the tie-in knot not too bulky, and of course it was essential to remember to clip in! Falling in an awkward position might also end badly. However in the majority of cases it worked. Things can still go wrong with modern harnesses.

I only took a couple of falls in mine, but they were fine. Abseiling was also fine, although before the Whillans I had been abbing in an improvised harness made from a tied webbing sling, so anything would have been an improvement.

It's many years since I had my Whillans on. I used to keep a short length of tape with it which I pushed through the two loops at the front then clipped into the belay krab. I never saw anyone else doing this (although Whillans harnesses were pretty much off the scene anyway!) and I'm not sure how or where I got the idea from if I didn't dream it up myself. It made the whole thing feel much more stable and comfortable in various situations. I always felt more secure than in subsequent leg loops type harnesses.