Black Diamond Aspect Climbing Harness **FAILURE** warning long post

Wait a minute...there's a whole bunch of you guys out there with this harness and you're having the same exact problem?

The harness's waist belt it coming undone under load with NO outside interference from as little as BODY WEIGHT?!?!

Somebody has got to be able to replicate this if it's happening to so many people. I want to see the video.

Did BD really make a HARNESS THAT CAN SUFFER COMPLETE FAILURE UNDER BODY WEIGHT? If this is true it should ruin them and I would hope that others would consider making the decision to never buy another BD product.

There is NO excuse for fucking up something as ridiculously simple as a buckle. ANY FAILURE is unacceptable.

Seriously guys this is really difficult to believe. Has BD's QA gone to shit that fast?

Pure speculation here as to what happened to the other folks' harnesses but I know with the speed buckles on my one (women's lotus) if the outer edge of the buckle gets pulled at the same time as the normal force they can slip open.
As in exactly what was shown (intentionally or not) in the video.

This happened to me once with my leg loop, I had a huge clusterbomb of gear on me and my nut key hooked onto the buckle as I sat back into my harness, causing the leg loop to slip.

Though realistically the chances of both the waist and leg loop buckles catching on something, at that angle, while sport climbing, with relatively little cluster around are slim to none. But weird shit happens sometimes.

I don't have any other harnesses to play with here, though I presume that with all speed buckles if they get caught in this manner while loading they will slip. The more force on the "normal" part the harder it is to make the buckle slip, though with something well hooked onto the edge of the buckle applying a lot of force it can still move. Yet another strike against speed buckles I suppose.

I just tried to recreate it with the waist buckle, with luckily no success.

Update:

I have been in contact with two representatives from BD via email, one being the 1st person that I spoke with and the other being the "Warranty Service Development Manager." After I complained about my incident here on MP and direct actions from other MP users, the "Warranty Service Development Manager" quickly emailed me right away with a sincere apology and wanted to fix anything that was wrong. BD has already emailed me a UPS tracking lable to send my harness back to do further testing, which I will packaging and sending them tomorrow after work. They also offered to send me whatever harness I wanted from them or refund the full retail purchase price of the harness via check. I am glad that BD has stepped up very quickly on trying to handle my concern and the concerns of the other users here that believe me.

RNclimber wrote:Update: I have been in contact with two representatives from BD via email, one being the 1st person that I spoke with and the other being the "Warranty Service Development Manager." After I complained about my incident here on MP and direct actions from other MP users, the "Warranty Service Development Manager" quickly emailed me right away with a sincere apology and wanted to fix anything that was wrong. BD has already emailed me a UPS tracking lable to send my harness back to do further testing, which I will packaging and sending them tomorrow after work. They also offered to send me whatever harness I wanted from them or refund the full retail purchase price of the harness via check (I took the check). I am glad that BD has stepped up very quickly on trying to handle my concern and the concerns of the other users here that believe me.

Google 'swami belt.'

alleyehave wrote: Google 'swami belt.'

http://pimpinandcrimpin.com/2009/06/25/what-your-harness-says-about-you/

alleyehave wrote: Google 'swami belt.'

I don't need to google what a swami belt is, I already know. And why are you referring me to this search?

Ian McG wrote:Actually, About two weeks ago, we were closing the course for the day, and I had to climb an element, using energy absorbing tethers. I leaned back in my harness and the webbing on the swami almost slipped almost entirely through the buckles. This was not a fall, I was merely sitting back and putting my weight onto my tethers.

Ian, just curious where/how you attach the tethers to your harness?

They are similar to a standard VF Rig. I had it clipped directly to my belay loop with a single steel locking biner.

I had little to nothing else on my harness. I don't remember what Gear I had on my harness at the exact time of the incident, but I went up with nothing on my harness oher than my tethers, and came down with two pulleys, and a few locking carabiners.

Two of my friends (both very experienced) have had BD harnesses slip in the last year. Luckily nobody was hurt. One of them it was just the leg loops that slipped but the other one it was also the waist that slipped.... while on El Cap. In both cases, BD sent them new harnesses that don't slip but it's still an issue that isn't brand new.

And, for perspective, I love BD. I have friends that work there and I use all sorts of their stuff. Doesn't change the fact that this harness issue is really an issue. Be safe out there people.

RNclimber wrote: I don't need to google what a swami belt is, I already know. And why are you referring me to this search?

I saw you were in the market.

This is how I've been dealing with "speed buckles" on the various harnesses I have... leg loops as well as the waist. The down side is that it's no longer as convenient, but I don't usually have to get in and out of a harness that many times in a day.

Peter Stokes wrote: This is how I've been dealing with "speed buckles" on the various harnesses I have... leg loops as well as the waist. The down side is that it's no longer as convenient, but I don't usually have to get in and out of a harness that many times in a day.

A harness should do what it is designed to do without any modification.

alleyehave wrote: I saw you were in the market.

Refer to my first couple of post of me comparing my Petzl Harness to the BD. I have a harness, thank you though for caring so much.

RNclimber wrote: Refer to my first couple of post of me comparing my Petzl Harness to the BD. I have a harness, thank you though for caring so much.

Caring is your job focker. I'm here to increase morale.

I'm appreciative of all the constructive information being shared on a serious gear issue.

I'm bored by the knee-jerk, non-constructive opining that's peppered in among that information.

So I just got a reply from Black diamond's Warranty service. This is a similar reply to what others have been recieving. I'm gonna send it in, and see what happens.

Hi Ian,
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We’d really like to take a look at your harness and investigate your experience in greater detail. The description you wrote below will be very helpful, but to really dig into what’s going on we’ll need to get your harness into Black Diamond so our QA engineers can take a look at it and do some testing. If I send you a UPS shipping label, can you print it out, box the harness up, and drop the package off at a UPS retail store? I’ll just need your standard shipping address to create the label.

Our QA team will probably have some additional questions for you. I’ve already forwarded this email to them and someone will contact you once we’ve had a chance to investigate further. In the mean time, do you need a harness to use while yours is here at BD? I can send you a different model if you’d prefer. Let me know what size you need.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly.

Thanks,

Chris Txxxxx
Diamond Equipment

I will be in Yosemite for the next week without a harness (oh the horrors), so I will fill you guys in on later details as soon as I can.

-Ian

Ian McG wrote: I will be in Yosemite for the next week without a harness

Ian.
I might be in the valley around the 8th. If you're still around and need a harness I can help you out.

Cheers,

josh

RNclimber wrote: A harness should do what it is designed to do without any modification.

Yup- it should... and I'm gonna keep on modifying mine anyway.

Thanks Peter, that's a simple and elegant backup. I just "modified" the tail on my harness.

butt hurt