UKC

Hiya,

just after some advice on my new harness. It’s a Beal Morpheus and I bought it less than a month ago. It’s been used twice outdoors and once indoors.

After inspecting the harness this evening I can see that some of the stitching is coming undone on the belay loop and on the bottom tie in loop. 

This is my first harness and I’m not that experienced, so I just wanted opinions on whether this is a safety issue or just some untidy stitching. The bar tack stitches look to be in tact. 
 

Thanks 
 

Just out of curiosity to kick things off, where did you buy it?

It looks only cosmetic to stop the loops separating, as it's the bar tacks which add the strength. 

But, I'd take it back and swap it as that's poor build quality or failed quality control checks and not really acceptable. 

It’s from Up and Under in Cardiff. I had excellent service from them, I tried on lots of harnesses and this one was the most comfortable. They did say there is no return on safety gear however, so I’m wondering whether I should contact Beal and see what they say.
 

I don’t really mind that it’s untidy, I just need it to be safe! 

Your contract is with the shop, not Beal - if the harness is defective, it's Up and Under that needs to sort it out. Regardless of any policy they may have re PPE returns.

They are ace, they won't be the least bit offended if you go back in. It's probably the best outdoor shop I've known, been using it since the early 90s. 

If it were me, I'd probably not even bother taking it back. After 3 sessions, in or out, I think it's not unreasonable wear and is just cosmetic. 

Personally, I think that's pretty poor wear for just three sessions. My 18 month-old indoor/sport harness has no loose threads and looks in better condition than that. I wouldn't have tremendous confidence that Cara's harness is going to last as long as one might reasonably expect.

The no return on safety equipment should be in relation to you deciding you no longer want it for some reason.

A manufacturing defect is different. They should process it. They might need to send it away before you can get a refund or replacement.

I suppose it depends on how much climbing and belaying gets done in those sessions. I find it hard to believe after 18 months typical use, that your harness is in better condition.

But there's no harm in trying to return it if there are concerns.

I'd definitely take that back. It may just be cosmetic but it's not good enough and it willl play on your mind if you keep it. As others have said the shop will take it back as it's a fault, not just you changing your mind. 

It’s pretty debatable whether this is actually a fault. Loose threads are very common on harnesses - you’d end up binning a huge number of perfectly good harnesses if you set the bar this low.

I’d advise contacting the shop anyway though…

It's hard to be certain from the pictures, but I think that is over-stitching - i.e. a length left when the stitching is complete, often run back over itself and then snipped off.  In this case not snipped off flush, but unimportant.

That's how it looks to me, I see nothing wrong in the picture.

The briefest touch on the thread (thread only) with the flame from a lighter should shrivel it up and get rid of it and prevent it getting any tattier

Yep, that’s how it looked to me from the photo.