5 Best Climbing Harnesses of 2024 | Tested & Rated

Oct 16, 2024

Curious about the best climbing harness? Our team has climbed in 46 different models over the past 12 years. We recently purchased 15 of today's top harnesses to test side-by-side. Our comprehensive review includes ideal all-around options, top alpine selections, great harnesses for simple sport and trad cragging, recommendations for the gym, and mountaineering harnesses. We've tested and rated every harness for comfort while hanging, standing, and belaying, and evaluated their features and versatility. Whether you like pulling on small crimps while clipping bolts, plugging cams into splitter cracks, or summiting large mountains in remote wilderness, we offer expert advice to help you find the best harness for your next climbing adventure.

Our team of expert female testers did a deep dive on the best women's climbing harnesses. If you're in the market for a new climbing rope, looking for the best climbing shoes, or just want to know what the top climbing gear is in all categories, rest assured our climbing-centric reviews will make your purchase decisions easier.

Editor's Note: Our climbing harness review was updated on August 7, 2024, with an updated selection of products.

Read more: Petzl Sitta review

Read more: Petzl Sama review

Read more: Blue Ice Choucas Pro review

Read more: Black Diamond Solution review

Read more: Blue Ice Choucas Light review

We've reviewed climbing harnesses for the last 13 years and tested over 45 models. We stay current with the changes in the climbing world and consistently add new products to this review as they become available. We buy every product (no freebies) and test them head-to-head in several scientific and subjective assessments to see how they compare. We take them sport, trad, gym, and alpine climbing. We pay particular attention to the comfort level when climbing, belaying, and just standing around. We test all their features and determine their versatility. We also carefully weigh each model and note how many pieces of gear each gear loop can handle. Furthermore, we gather information from a wide variety of testers to make sure our judgments are accurate. For even more details on our testing process, see our How We Test article.

Heading up our testing is IFMGA Mountain Guide and review editor Jeff Dobronyi, who climbs and guides all over the world, both on long vertical rock climbs and committing alpine climbs. He has guided climbers on peaks from the Alaska Range to the Tetons, San Juans, Alps, and Andes. From his home base in Colorado to the walls of the Dolomites, Jeff puts these harnesses through the wringer and has a discerning eye for which harnesses get the job done and which come up short.

To provide our overall ratings and to best understand the relative performances of each harness, we tested and assessed each one based on five different metrics: hanging comfort, standing comfort and mobility, features, versatility, and weight and packability. Each harness was compared to the others, and since this is the finest collection of harnesses we could assemble, just because a product received a low score doesn't mean it's a bad product. It's also likely that you have slightly different priorities than us when selecting a harness, so be sure to assess what type of climbing you will most likely use it for and give those pertinent considerations greater value.

Harnesses come at a wide range of price points, and many of our top choices and recommendations are not the most expensive. While high-priced harnesses usually have perks and features that may be lacking in others, the reality is that you can get a great harness for much less than the most expensive choices.

Particularly good value can be found with the Petzl Sama, which performs nearly as well as the best harnesses on the market for a fraction of the price. This harness excels at every rock climbing discipline, and our testers would have no problem using this harness for the rest of our lives on the rock (replacing it periodically, of course! No harness is meant to last forever). The Black Diamond Solution is also a great value, considering its top performance for sport climbing. If all you do is gym climb indoors and sport climb outdoors, this is an inexpensive option that will satisfy your every desire. If you need a four-season harness that can also perform on ice and mixed climbs, the Edelrid Moe isn't a bad choice.

In the lightweight categories, both the Blue Ice Choucas Pro and Choucas Light are downright affordable for the level of performance they provide. The Choucas Pro is a true all-arounder, only coming up short for hanging comfort, and it performed just fine our lead tester as his only harness over a climbing season in the Alps. The Choucas Light is the best, and most affordable, ultra-lightweight mountaineering harness on the market.

In general, climbing harnesses are not very comfortable for extended hanging sessions. Still, the sport demands a lot of hang time, so harnesses provide some respite to varying degrees of success. Some harnesses pack tons of padding into wide waist belts and leg loops, driving up weight and limiting mobility in the process. Others don't try to add much comfort, and others use wide loop designs with less padding in order to provide both comfort and mobility. Some harnesses are designed specifically for hanging comfort on long big-wall routes, so check out our Big Wall Harness Review for the most comfortable harnesses.

To conclusively say which harnesses are the least uncomfortable while hanging in them, we went to the bottom of a local cliff and spent 10 minutes successively hanging in each harness, one after the other, in a position that mimics a hanging belay (and also how you would hang at the end of the rope or while rappelling). In this position, a person's weight is distributed evenly between the waist belt and the leg loops. About half of the weight rests on the person's upper legs and hamstrings, while the lower back takes the other half.

Black Diamond's “Fusion Comfort Construction” employed on the Solution offers the most comfortable hanging experience. A large part of this is due to the wide leg loops that diffuse the load in the same way the waist belt does. This harness comes closest to making us forget that we are hanging off the side of a cliff or hanging on a belay device while our partners work out the moves on their project. If we have to spend a lot of time hanging on our objective, this is almost always the harness we reach for.

Designs that are thinner or diffuse the load with a single strap of webbing, especially in the leg loops, tend to cut off circulation and are noticeably less comfortable immediately. The soft frame construction of the Edelrid Sendero combines a load-bearing strap internal to the hip belt with a wide, well-padded back to evenly distribute weight across your back. Similarly, the wide, well-padded leg loops on the Petzl Sama, Adjama, and Aquila also offer excellent hanging comfort relative to the competition.

If you are wearing a harness but aren't hanging at a belay or rappelling off a cliff, then chances are you are moving around, climbing, walking, or merely standing at the base of the crag or gym. This metric is designed to assess how comfortable a harness is during all of these non-hanging moments, which turns out to be the majority of the time while you wear a harness.

The “lingerie” feeling of the Blue Ice Choucas Pro makes it the most comfortable harness to wear while standing, belaying, or climbing. The waist belt and leg loops are made from a thin, pliable mesh that doesn't resist bending or flexing, allowing it to easily move with you.

The lightweight and thin Black Diamond AirNet is super comfortable while standing around, mostly because you can barely tell you're wearing it. It's also really comfortable for walking in since the Infinity Loop belay ring – also featured on the Black Diamond Zone – doesn't catch as you move your legs, and the gear loops are so minimal they sit really easily under a pack.

A far more versatile option is the Petzl Sitta, which is also very comfortable to wear. Its stretchy leg loops expand if you are wearing thick clothes, and the fluidity that we maintain while walking in this harness makes it an excellent choice for mountaineering. The Black Diamond Solution is also one of the most comfortable harnesses to climb in. Its waist and leg loops are very minimally padded so that there is no bulkiness to impede movement or provide a distraction. Its wide waist belt sits comfortably under the hip belt of our climbing pack, and it holds a rack of quickdraws without sagging or putting pressure on the hips. The Arc'teryx Skaha has a similar design and offers great mobility.

Of all the harnesses in our review, the minimalist mountaineering-specific harnesses are by far the most comfortable for movement. These harnesses are almost in a class by themselves for mobility. Without padding or stiff loops, the Black Diamond Couloir UL and Petzl Fly, as well as our favorite, the Blue Ice Choucas Light, all allow for a complete range of motion without noticing that you're even wearing a harness.

Features play a large role in dictating what sort of climbing a harness is best suited for. Adjustable leg loops, ice clipper slots, and many large gear loops allow one to carry a lot of protection, including ice screws or even ice tools. On the other hand, small gear loops that rest close to the body, combined with fixed elastic leg loops, allow one to cut down on weight and bulk and keep a harness streamlined and simple — ideal for sport and gym climbing.

The Petzl Sitta has an ideal feature set for almost any type of climbing, which is why we call it the best all-around option. Four rigid, easy-to-clip gear loops and super low-profile ice clipper slots are some of the things that all work really well. It even has a divider in the front gear loops that helps you stay organized, separating cams from slings and keeping critical gear near the front of the harness where it is easily accessible. The Petzl Adjama also has a great set of gear loops.

The Petzl Aquila features some of the best gear loops on the market, with two huge gear loops on each side and one extra-large loop that spans the back of the harness. We especially like this harness for trad and multi-pitch climbing since we can fit a full double-rack with tons of cams, nuts, and slings on the front two gear loops. On the rear side gear loop, we hang our belay and anchor equipment, which often has plenty of space to accommodate extra pieces of protection. This oversized back gear loop is also perfect for hanging approach shoes, a first-aid kit, a water bottle, an extra layer, and climbing gloves.

Some harnesses are purpose-built for certain climbing disciplines, while others are designed to be used for all purposes. The general-use harnesses typically omit features that discipline-specific users might want, but they also allow users to purchase only one harness for all of their climbing needs.

The most versatile harness by far is the Petzl Sitta. It's an ideal choice for any climbing discipline — sport, trad, ice, or alpine. In particular, its combination of very low weight and bulk makes it super packable for adventure climbs, but we also love how minimal yet comfortable it feels while clipping bolts.

Another versatile option is the Blue Ice Choucas Pro. This harness doesn't have any padding, making it a poor choice for climbs involving lots of hanging belays or long rappels, but for alpine climbs, ice climbs, and any rock climbs that don't involve hanging, this harness is an easy choice for its performance.

Most other harnesses aren't as versatile as these choices. Many harnesses eliminate ice clipper slots and adjustable leg loops needed for ice climbing in order to shave weight for rock climbing. The Petzl Aquila is a bit of an exception to this rule. It has great gear loops that are large enough to hold a big rack while trad or multi-pitch climbing, and the harness is also svelte enough for sport or gym climbing.

Most of the harnesses in our selection offer an adequate amount of adjustability. We all need a waist belt that can accommodate the thickness of different layers that we tuck into the harness – a tee-shirt on hot summer days versus a puffy jacket for chilly fall or winter climbing. Adjustability also allows us to share our harness if we take friends climbing or to help introduce new climbers to the sport.

The Petzl Aquila offers the most adjustability in the review. With 11 inches (28 centimeters) of waist length and 6 inches (15 centimeters) of leg circumference adjustment, this harness can fit a variety of body types. It also allows the same user to wear any combination of clothing choices while still comfortably fitting into their harness.

Another highly adjustable harness is the Black Diamond Technician. This four-season harness has plenty of length adjustment in the waist and leg loops, making it a great option for four-season climbers. Large gear loops and ice clipper slots add to its versatility for all climbing activities.

Unfortunately, the ultra-lightweight mountaineering harnesses offer very little adjustability. These harnesses don't use traditional waist belts. Instead, they employ fixed-length waist belts with small cinch straps in the front. These harnesses offer around half of the length adjustment in the waists as traditional climbing harnesses, and generally, the lightest mountaineering harnesses don't offer any adjustability in the leg loops. For users interested in these harnesses, be sure to carefully measure for the correct size before you order.

We've done our best to offer you solid recommendations for the best harness for the money, the best all-around harness, and the best for various climbing disciplines like sport climbing, multi-pitch and trad climbing, alpine climbing, and ice climbing. We hope the information provided here has been useful in your search, and we wish you happy climbing.