chest harness

[balaban9331]

advice needed on a chest harness for support while climbing.saw the vario and was wondering if any of you have used this system.thanks.

 

[moss]

First off, are you referring to the Black Diamond Vario chest harness? As opposed to the Petzl Navaho Vario Harness which can be combined with the Petzl Chester harness.

Take a look at this page, it might be helpful:
Caving harnesses

Notice how the Petzl "Chester" harness has a D ring at chest height. You'll need some kind of attachment point similar to that on whatever harness you choose. This is so you can clip in a 'biner or pulley to run your rope through, this will help to keep you more vertical in your saddle.
-moss

 

[balaban9331]

moss,i am refering to the black diamond.if i put a biner on it and run my rope through it,won't that get in the way of my other equipment?what if i hook it up with a biner both on the harness and my belt?

 

[moss]

moss,i am refering to the black diamond.if i put a biner on it and run my rope through it,won't that get in the way of my other equipment?what if i hook it up with a biner both on the harness and my belt?

I don't think so, you want the standing part of the climbing rope (as Jepson calls it) attached to your belt/saddle only (assuming DdRT) and then have the standing part run up through a pulley or biner or D-ring attached to the chest harness roughly at the sternum, then up over the branch and back down (the running end). Your hitch is attached to the running end of the rope with a friction knot as in a traditional DdRT rig. This would not get in the way of the the bridge or split-tail since only the "up" or standing part of the climbing rope is running through the chest harness link. Does that make sense?
-moss

 

[balaban9331]

that makes perfect sense moss.actually,now that i look at the set up,the knot end will be more out of the way of the other equipment.if i get the harness,i'll post pictures as to how well it worked.thanks,robert.