Safest harness?

So I’m a slightly bigger person and I have a number Of harnesses.

I want something that I feel secure in. I have a petzel Sama now and I hate it. It fits horribly. The rise is way to short from my hips to the thigh

I was looking at a Waldo or big gun

here is my question 

Do the big wall harnesses offer anymore security? Are they stronger?  Are they safer?

I like the wide belt on the Waldo but I’m just sport climbing. However at 204 lbs when I take a whip I don’t want to worry about my harness snapping 

any ideas ? 

As far as safety goes, no marketed harness is going to snap at 204lb even if you take a 50 footer.  You only need to worry about sliding out of it if it doesn't fit you right.  Just find one that's comfy and fits you correctly and you're good to go.

they are comfier for hanging belays. that's it. more gear loops too... only notable aspect of security is that the Waldo has full strength gear loops, do with that information what you will. not much I can think of. might come in handy if hauling or rescuing but I doubt i'd make use of them there either

i'm pretty sure most harnesses just have a single piece of 1" webbing threaded inside the waistbelt that is the load bearing portion of the waist belt. More expensive harnesses may use a fancier system for load distribution (for comfort, not safety).

there's tons of references on fall factors and forces generated, so go find one and do the math. I expect you'd never see more than 8kN force on your harness with a factor 2 fall.
Belay loops are rated to 15kN minimum breaking strength. Waldos have two... but who cares? you're not tied in on the belay loop anyways.

don't trip, spend your mental energy on something else

Women's harnesses will have a longer rise in most brands (in particular, the Selena, which is the women's version of the Sama you have now, has a longer rise than the Sama --- visible on the Petzl site by comparing the length of the belay loops). 

In general, if two harnesses have been made by reputable manufacturers, they're going to be roughly equally safe. Obviously there are exceptions, but the concept of a "safer" harness has very little currency if you're looking at new, activity-appropriate harnesses from BD, Petzl, Edelrid, Mammut, Arc'Teryx...and if you're using the harness properly.

Comfort is a function of three things: 

(1) The fit of the harness

(2)(a) the distribution of your weight across the load-bearing surface of the harness, combined with

(2)(b) the padding in between the load-bearing surface and your body.

With that in mind, there are a couple of ways harnesses are built:

- A single straight piece of webbing (1"-2") with either EPE or EVA foam padding attached to the inside. See Black Diamond's "Dual Core Construction" (EPE foam), Petzl's "Frame" construction (EVA foam), many other harnesses.

- A variation of the above option that is designed to distribute weight more evenly across the webbing, accomplished with either a wider, specially shaped piece of load-bearing webbing (Petzl's Endoframe, seen in Sama/Selena), multiple pieces of webbing spread out across the harness (Black Diamond's Fusion Comfort Tech, Petzl's Fuseframe), or similar. Also padded with some kind of foam, but often less foam than the previous design (because theoretically, this design should be more comfortable to begin with).

- A matrix of thin Dyneema or nylon straps that (theoretically) distribute weight evenly across the entire harness. Arc'Teryx calls this Warp Strength, Black Diamond put it on their airNET harness and also called it airNET technology, Petzl's is on the Sitta and is called Wireframe. These harnesses are almost never padded with extra foam.

It sounds like you at the VERY LEAST want a longer rise. In general, the easy button for that is going to be a harness marketed towards women, but more specifically, the Big Gun doesn't seem to have a long rise. Waldo seems to have a considerably longer rise. Both of these harnesses are chunky variations on the first harness construction method listed above.

It's possible that you'll respond better --- for whatever reason --- to a harness made using the second or third construction methods above. To that end, consider going into a store and trying on a women's version of some of the harnesses listed up there. Arc, Petzl, and BD all have women's-specific harnesses in these designs:

- Arc Warp Strength: C-Quence Women

- Petzl Endoframe: Selena, Luna

- BD Fusion Comfort Tech: Solution Guide Women's, Technician Women's

See what works!

Bobby Swrote:

So I’m a slightly bigger person and I have a number Of harnesses.

I want something that I feel secure in. I have a petzel Sama now and I hate it. It fits horribly. The rise is way to short from my hips to the thigh

I was looking at a Waldo or big gun

here is my question 

Do the big wall harnesses offer anymore security? Are they stronger?  Are they safer?

I like the wide belt on the Waldo but I’m just sport climbing. However at 204 lbs when I take a whip I don’t want to worry about my harness snapping 

any ideas ? 

I'm roughly the same weight. The Edelrid Jay is probably the most comfortable 'regular' (i.e. not big wall) harness I have found so far.

As has already been said, you don't need to worry about your harness snapping.

R 3wrote:

As far as safety goes, no marketed harness is going to snap at 204lb even if you take a 50 footer.  You only need to worry about sliding out of it if it doesn't fit you right.  Just find one that's comfy and fits you correctly are you're good to go.

Nice, concise and accurate post.

I should include some background 

I got dropped 40 feet to the deck 10 years ago 

Have not climbed since.

I am very sensitive to this and terrified mostly of climbing but trying to over come my fears. Just so info as to why I care about this 

before I got dropped I would let anyone belay me and had a super light duty petzel sport harness 

Now getting back in, I’m most concerned with the strongest safest gear 

My issue is mostly mental. I’m trying my best but a 50 foot top rope still scared me when I used to lead 5.10

It’s a really hard thing to come back to 

I’m trying desperately 

Generally, all climbing equipment is certified to EN and UIAA safety standards. You can access the UIAA standards for free at https://www.theuiaa.org/safety/safety-standards/..

Climbing harnesses are all certified to one level of safety, so the only differentiators are durability, fit, comfort, and features (i.e., gear loops).  

Reading these standards helps you understand how the equipment is designed and tested, which helps with understanding how it can be safely used.  It also helps to read the safety instructions that come with each piece of gear.  

What happened when you decked?

Have your belayer use a safe belay device (after practicing) - lots of new models to choose from.

And fall test your belayer this time while you're near the ground.  

I think the Waldo is technically safer with full strength gear loops via the safe tec technology metolious uses

The Metolius Safe Tech harnesses have an adjustable rise, which enables you to fine tune the relative pressure on waist and thighs when hanging.  This should address your concern with the Petzl Sama.

tom donnellywrote:

Have your belayer use a safe belay device (after practicing) - lots of new models to choose from.

And fall test your belayer this time while you're near the ground.  

What do you mean a safe belay device

I got dropped on a gri gri of all things 

Ex girlfriend was belaying , I had just made a clip and let go because I was pumped out.
i figured I would just fall a foot or so. She was squeezing the gri gri because she had just fed me some rope. She never stopped squeezing it until I hit the ground 

it’s been a very very difficult mental game sense for me

Bobby Swrote:

What do you mean a safe belay device

Take a look at the revo or click up