The Best Entry-Level Climbing Harnesses

The most important thing to remember about caring for a climbing harness is if the construction of the harness fails, your entire safety system can fail. So take care of it. What, exactly, does that entail? Your harness’ biggest enemies are wear-and-tear and chemicals. Regularly inspect your harnesses tie-in points and belay loop, and when you notice fraying on the outside of the webbing, it’s time to buy a new harness. At not much more than $50, investing in a new harness every couple years is more than worth the money when it comes to safety. As for chemicals, don’t toss your harness into the back of a car or a pickup bed where something might have been leaking (e.g., car battery acid or gasoline), or even onto the tarmac in a parking lot. Just keep your harness clean and in a backpack whenever you’re carrying it to and from climbing, and you should be fine.