Harnesses
A harness is arguably the first piece of equipment you should purchase for yourself. As the pictures to the right show, a harness is composed of a waistband and two leg loops.
To fit into a harness, one must put each leg through the loops witht he waist buckly in the front. Pull the harness up, with your legs in the leg loops. When the leg loops are near your crotch, pull the waist band around your waist, but above your hips. Like a belt for your pants, the waistband is threaded through a buckle, only 3 times, instead of going in and coming out like an ordinary belt. Instead you thread into it, back out, then you go back and put it through again. The harness should feel snug but still comfortable.
At the top of the waist band you'll find little loops that go entirely around the waistband. These loops are to hold equipment like carabiners, webbing, and chalkbags. They are not load bearing!
Directly in the front and rear of the harness you'll find two loops that are vertical on the harness. In the front it will connect the leg section and waist section of the harness. This is also not a load bearing loop and should be treated as such! However, the small loops that this loop runs through on the waist and leg sections of the harness needs to be recognized. These two small holes are where the rope will be tied to the harness. But this will be treat later in the Figure Eight section of this webpage. The rear loop is also not a load bearing loop! But usually is only used to attach a chalk bag, carabiners, webbing, or whatever is necessary for the climb.
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