Improvised sling harness for kids?

Might be taking a friend's kids out climbing here in a few weeks and I was wondering if anyone knows a way/ways to make a full body harness out of just some shoulder length nylon slings or maybe some tape.  They are both pretty young boys (I want to say like 4 and 7 but not sure) so I know we would want a full body harness for both likely.  If using shoulder length slings is there anyway I could put knots in them if they are too big so that I can make them fit well?

I totally agree. $40 don’t cost much versus life of a child

They aren't my kids and I don't know if they will ever climb again.....There has to be a perfectly safe way to make full body harnesses for them.

Alright let me rephrase.  Is there no such thing as a safe proven way to make a full body harness for kids out of slings/tape?

There is

But probs just best to use a real harness

Christopher Smith wrote:

Alright let me rephrase.  Is there no such thing as a safe proven way to make a full body harness for kids out of slings/tape?

Yes. But, just remember that kids are top heavy. With a regular harness around their hips they may very well go upside down in a fall. Most kids harnesses have a high tie in point.

wivanoff wrote:

Yes. But, just remember that kids are top heavy. With a regular harness around their hips they may very well go upside down in a fall. Most kids harnesses have a high tie in point.

That's what I said full body harness........

Buy one from REI and if they don't seem like they're going to use it again, return it. Maybe it's not ethical, but it's way less ethical to risk a kid's life.

The boyscouts have been teaching how to make harnesses out of webbing for the last half century.   It can be done, but is really limited to older kids.  To be able to tie a full body harness correctly would take a lot of skill and experience.  

To elaborate on the previous posters recommendation, reach out to the local climbing community, or go to your local climbing gym.  I suspect you could find another family with kids climbing harnesses who would be glad to share their gear and experiences with you. 

Another vote here for "just buy a full-body harness."   Sure, hard to justify for the one time but keep it for later use.  Still, Nate's suggestions are good.

We took my grandsons outside climbing once on a car-camping trip, and I improvised harnesses for them.  They were around 8 and 6 at the time.

While everything went well and everyone went home happy including Mom and Dad, it was not an inspiring climbing experience for anyone.

Improvising something as important as that takes time - at least for me.  So, essentially, we spend a fair amount of time getting the rig adjusted well for one of them, he'd climb, and then we'd dismantle it and start over with the other grandson.  If I recall, in the end they each climbed just once - maybe twice, while each definitely had more type 1 fun just playing in the dirt & rocks and burning sticks in the fire.

Contrast that with another time but with full-body harness where, at the end, both were racing up routes and then bounding away from the wall when being lowered.  Some of that was just being a little older (a year?).  But some was also just them being  able to easily get in some laps with little unfettered breaks in between.

I'll sell 2 for $35 including shipping. See my profile for a picture of the harnesses. They are older, but have been bin stored. Let me know if interested. -Chris

Christopher Smith wrote:

That's what I said full body harness........

Cool. Then I guess you know all about it....

Bill Lawry wrote:

Another vote here for "just buy a full-body harness."   Sure, hard to justify for the one time but keep it for later use.  Still, Nate's suggestions are good.

We took my grandsons outside climbing once on a car-camping trip, and I improvised harnesses for them.  They were around 8 and 6 at the time.

While everything went well and everyone went home happy including Mom and Dad, it was not an inspiring climbing experience for anyone.

Improvising something as important as that takes time - at least for me.  So, essentially, we spend a fair amount of time getting the rig adjusted well for one of them, he'd climb, and then we'd dismantle it and start over with the other grandson.  If I recall, in the end they each climbed just once - maybe twice, while each definitely had more type 1 fun just playing in the dirt & rocks and burning sticks in the fire.

Contrast that with another time but with full-body harness where, at the end, both were racing up routes and then bounding away from the wall when being lowered.  Some of that was just being a little older (a year?).  But some was also just them being  able to easily get in some laps with little unfettered breaks in between.

Thank you for actually giving me some practical reasons behind why a professionally built harness is actually a better idea, much more constructive than everyone else's replies.  Really wish people would stop impugning my intentions here though, but alas this is MP.  Still would be nice to know how to do one but I suppose even if I can construct it just fine some other jackass might come along and think he can follow the same instructions and fuck some kid up.  For the record I would be meticulous about it and practice it beforehand, if anybody is willing to pass along instructions maybe PMs would work better for that.  I probably will try the buy/resale or borrow route though for the reasons Bill here has listed, got a full 2 months to figure this out.

bkwrm wrote:

I'll sell 2 for $35 including shipping. See my profile for a picture of the harnesses. They are older, but have been bin stored. Let me know if interested. -Chris

How old?

PMed bkwrm. 

Christopher Smith wrote:

Really wish people would stop impugning my intentions here though, but alas this is MP.

No one is impugning your intentions, bro. We know you just want the kids to have fun and save some money, and that you don't think that rolling your own harness is a safety risk. But it is a safety risk. Your intentions are good, but the force of gravity is stronger than good intentions.

Christopher Smith wrote:

much more constructive than everyone else's replies.  Really wish people would stop impugning my intentions here though, but alas this is MP.  

Next time post on childendangermentproject.com

Christopher Smith wrote:

Thank you for actually giving me some practical reasons behind why a professionally built harness is actually a better idea, much more constructive than everyone else's replies.  Really wish people would stop impugning my intentions here though, but alas this is MP.  Still would be nice to know how to do one but I suppose even if I can construct it just fine some other jackass might come along and think he can follow the same instructions and fuck some kid up.  For the record I would be meticulous about it and practice it beforehand, if anybody is willing to pass along instructions maybe PMs would work better for that.  I probably will try the buy/resale or borrow route though for the reasons Bill here has listed, got a full 2 months to figure this out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQHlIASNTCQ  If you are talking about hauling kids up short, low angle slabs this set-up (properly tied and monitored during use) is safe enough. 

Yes, a harness can be tied from rope or slings that would be safe.  But it's going to take time, be a huge pain to get adjusted for each kid, (not sure their ages but it's tough enough getting some squirmy active kids into the regular kind), be difficult for anyone else to double check their harness prior to climbing, teach the kids nothing about harness wear, double checking each other, etc, and a big one - if you've ever worn a sling harness yourself, they're horribly uncomfortable. Even with big 2" webbing, (which you'd likely have to go out and buy anyway?) still not great. If all you have is dyneema, you might upgrade uncomfortable to dangerous (cut off circulation). I'm assuming if you're bothering to take these kids out at all, you'd like them to have a good time, positive associations with climbing, maybe even want to do it again sometime. It's well worth any steps you can take to make it more comfortable, enjoyable, easy, and fun for them and everyone else involved. 

For the record, I don't ascribe nefarious intentions to you. I doubt anyone else does either. They probably just felt like it was faster to say "get a real harness". Many of us are probably speaking from experience and the fact that it's not the advice you were looking for doesn't make it bad advice. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know and get answers to questions you didn't ask, but everyone here is just trying to be helpful and make sure you all have a safe, fun day introducing kids  to climbing.