Thoughts on the Metolius Safe-Tech All-Around Harness?

I'm currently looking to buy a second harness to use outdoors. I currently mostly top rope outdoors, but am looking to start leading both sport and trad outdoors in single and multi over the next couple years. Does anyone have thoughts or recommendations for the Metolius Safe-Tech All-Around harness, particularly in terms of sizing?

I think it is a good, comfortable harness and runs a bit small in the sizing. If you are on the border for the size, go to the larger size.

It's really bulky since they make everything full strength. I understand the problem they are trying to solve, but I think it's unnecessary in most cases. I would suggest something lighter and less bulky. Look at Edelrid. They make some of the coolest harnesses out there, they are great value for the money, and most importantly they have a plastic insert attached to lower tie-in point which drastically increases the lifespan of the harness.

This harness may have saved my life. My partner had a PAS girth-hitched to their harness and clipped the girth-hitched loop instead of the harness belay loop when putting me on belay. Luckily, the PAS was clipped to one of the full-strength gear loops, so when I took a lead fall the whole thing didn't unravel. I would have said we were always safe and meticulous, but we both screwed up by not carefully checking the belay setup (after 10 years climbing together). I'm not saying you should rely on this harness to make up for bad practices, but in this one instance it provided that little extra margin that made all the difference. Needless to say, I recommend it.

I own the safe tech trad harness and generally like it a lot. The most important element in my decision is the adjustability of the harness. I'm right between sizes in several brands so the ability to adjust the rise between the leg loops and the waist belt was important. When the sizing is fine tuned it's a very comfortable harness. IMO, the full strength loops may be a little bit over-the-top, but seem to have come in handy for at least one climber! One complaint about the loops: they aren't as stiff as some other designs so when you load them up with gear they tend to sag and collapse. Not a huge deal for me as I mainly rack with an over the shoulder gear sling, but still kind of a pain. I wish they would wrap those high-strength gear loops with a rigid plastic sleeve rather than the soft plastic tubing currently used (I think it would be worth the added weight)

Michael J. Martin wrote:This harness may have saved my life. My partner had a PAS girth-hitched to their harness and clipped the girth-hitched loop instead of the harness belay loop when putting me on belay. Luckily, the PAS was clipped to one of the full-strength gear loops, so when I took a lead fall the whole thing didn't unravel. I would have said we were always safe and meticulous, but we both screwed up by not carefully checking the belay setup (after 10 years climbing together). I'm not saying you should rely on this harness to make up for bad practices, but in this one instance it provided that little extra margin that made all the difference. Needless to say, I recommend it.

That gives me the creeps. Glad that things turned out well for you!

I have a Metolius Waldo harness and I like it a lot, though it is a big, bulky pig of a harness. I bought it to wear during rope-soloing, and it is perfect for that. The double belay loop and the 'rated' gear loops are awesome!

20 kN wrote:I would suggest something lighter and less bulky.

Honestly, the cheapest way for me to save 4+ oz is to loose some body weight. Sitting at a desk all day is not helping me in any way though.

Thank you all for your advice!

:)

Bought my 1st one years ago, then bought a 2nd recently (has double belay loops, I'm not sure I really love that modification vs the old single)
Cons- yes, it's a bit bulky in the pack going to the crag, but not so much more than most "full" harnesses.
Pros- I really like the idea that gear is hanging from a strong loop. Also, if your tag line is clipped to a gear loop, it's nice to know it's a full strength clip "just in case".

I think this is a great harness! I've been using it for years and have no complaints. It's really well designed for trad climbing and is a great all day harness. I rack everything on my harness and the gear loops can handle it all. At first I thought the two belay loops were gimmicky (and I just about cut one off!), but now I think they're great. On multi-pitch climbs, I routinely clip into the anchor with one and belay from the other. Super convenient and I'm surprised other companies haven't copied the design.

It definitely runs small!

The gear loops are annoyingly overlapped.

teece303 wrote:It definitely runs small!

Yep!

I had one of these for years.

One thing that's nice is the degree of adjustability in the leg loops - both their girth and the rise between the leg loops and waist belt are adjustable. So you can really dial in your fit. However, this is cumbersome to do, unlike with most modern adjustable leg loop harnesses where you can just pull through a buckle, so not easy to do on the fly.

It is, however, heavy, bulky, and lacks the slick sculpted design of more recent offerings. The gear loops are small and not shaped to let the gear hang farther forward, as many now are, which is minor feature, but one I like.

I ditched it for an arcterryx (with zero kN gear loops) and for my purposes am happier with the new one.