Last year I reviewed Black Diamond's flagship harness, the airNET, and it was - as you'd expect - great; however, it was also pretty specialist and pretty expensive, so certainly wasn't for everyone. The Zone, in comparison, has much broader appeal not just in terms of its price, but also its features. It's an all-rounder that's light enough to satisfy even the most avid of red pointers, but has enough comfort (and gear loops) for those who are more into trad. It's a harness we've found hard to fault.

Functionality

The Zone was originally designed with top-end sport climbing in mind, but to say that it's exclusively a sport climbing harness would be massively underselling it. Granted, it is really good for sport climbing, being light (300g in men's medium, or 209g in women's), but not so light that it compromises on comfort (and just to be clear - this is a really comfortable harness). In light of that comfort, it won't come as too much of a surprise that the Zone makes a similarly brilliant trad climbing harness, with enough gear loops for even the loneliest of leads. If that wasn't enough, it even features space for Ice Clippers, meaning that you could also use it for alpine, winter or ice fall climbing. At £85 it sits at the premium end of the spectrum, but is by no means the most expensive out there, and considering its place in the market (as a performance all-rounder) I'd say that the price is actually competitive.

Fit and Comfort

The Zone is available in both men's and women's, each having a different fit based around body shape, although as always this is a very personal thing. 

Men's: Size-wise I have a 32" waist and tend to be medium in most clothes. However, in recent times - due to the quantitiy of running I've been doing - my legs have presented a problem, as they're a lot larger than they used to be! Fixed legs can be an issue for me due to their lack of adjustabilty, but the Zone in size medium fits both my waist and legs. The elastication at the top of the leg loops allows them to stay snug, which isn't necessarily a problem from me and my massive legs, but would definitely be a factor for those who are skinnier.

When it comes to comfort it's hard to find fault, as its construction is contoured and both the waist band and leg loops feature Black Diamond's Fusion Comfort Technology, which - in layman's terms - helps to spread the load throughout the whole harness.

Features

All the features are shared on both the men's and women's harness, so we'll cover them as one.

A feature people tend to notice with the Zone is its infinity belay loop, so named because of the absence of a single bartack. When I was reviewing the airNET last year I was genuinely curious as to whether or not this would provide a tangible benefit and I'll stick by what I said then, which was:

But in use the first thing I actually noticed wasn't the belay loop - it was the size of the gear loops. Whilst the width of the gear loops themselves is pretty standard, they don't actually poke out that far, which made me wonder whether or not they were going to be awkward to use, particularly whilst trad climbing. In practise I was actually quite surprised with how little I noticed their relatively diminutive size and I think the reason for this is because how far your gear loops stick out isn't actually the issue, providing they stick out far enough (which these do). What really matters is their width, because if that's sacrificed then you encounter all sorts of problems, as you've got to be able to fit on a couple of sets of wires, a full rack of cams, a whole load of quickdraws and room for a wee bit more in order for it to become a fully fledged trad climbing harness. If they're too narrow it can bunch everything together, which makes racking and re-racking a complete nightmare (particularly whilst in extremis!). The shape of the gear loops also helps, as the Zone's are gently curved outwards to make them easier to catch whilst re-clipping.

On the back of the harness there's a fifth gear loop, which is something that North American brands typically eschew in favour of a haul loop. The Zone thankfully features both, although for a UK audience I suspect that the belay loop will be used significantly more than the haul loop, unless you're heading further afield! The rear gear loop is constructed differently to the other four, without the plastic housing, and is much lower in profile. This is great for those who are using it with a pack on, when a stiff rear loop can sometimes dig in.

Summary

The Zone is a great performance all-rounder, which is hard to fault despite our best efforts. It's an attractive harness on several levels, not least that it's capable of doing a bit of everything, and doing it well, irrespective of whether you're climbing sport or trad, winter or alpine. The fact its fully featured, light and durable makes it even more appealing. In light of this, it feels like it justifies its price tag of £85.

Black Diamond say:

Designed for the lightweight sport climbing redpoint, ice route or alpine mission, the Black Diamond Zone Harness is a versatile powerhouse. High performance, lightweight and breathable, the redesigned Zone now features our patented seamless Infinity Belay Loop, which is durable, low profile, and eliminates the dreaded belay-loop-shift when the loop-seam catches while dogging a route. Fusion Comfort Technology ensures that you'll have ample support when on the wall, while the stretch woven outer fabric adds breathability. Finally, the contoured fit maximizes comfort for the inevitable big whips that come from pushing your limits.

• Sizes: XS-L (women) S-XL (men)
• Weight: 307g men's size M
• Patented Infinity Loop for belaying, which is durable, lightweight and seamless.
• Fusion Comfort TechnologyTM
• Speed buckle adjustment
• Fixed leg loops
• Contoured fit
• Four pressure
• molded gear loops with rear fifth loop
• Two ice clipper slots
• Material: Four-way nylon stretch woven, 3D AirMesh