Harness broke during fall

Jeremy L wrote:

Evan, I'm assuming we're both stuck indoors w this winter storm so I'll engage…All I hear is yap yap yap from Monday morning QBs... 

probably covers 75% of MP posts

MP forums tagline should be "plenty of critique, low on solutions"

Covers more like 95% of posts 

Jeremy L wrote:

Evan, I'm assuming we're both stuck indoors w this winter storm so I'll engage. Which independent, non-biased company would you suggest to send it to? All I hear is yap yap yap from Monday morning QBs that are certain that they have the answer. MP forums tagline should be "plenty of critique, low on solutions"

I betcha you could get someone at the UIAA to get seriously interested in evaluating this failure.

On the other hand, I have no problem sending it to BD as well. They have pretty serious potential liability if the problem isn't addressed, but nothing to "cover up" at this point.

As if they actually need this specific harness. I’m sure they produced hundreds of the same and they are already taking a close look at their design and manufacturing process. At best, BD will issue a recall.  At worst, they will claim some external influence such as UV. Imagine subjecting your harness to UV during your outdoor activity.  How dare you. Just like their cams with an “expiration” date due to UV exposure.

How many problems has BD had since they went public?   

Samuel Puckett wrote:

I know someone who also had this happen with a fairly new mammut harness, mammut makes great stuff but Ive avoided their harnesses for that reason.

I’ll add my own personal experience of having durability issues with critical components of a Mammut harness that was not nearly as old as OP’s.

Way more common than I had imagined. Yikes!

Greg D wrote:

As if they actually need this specific harness. I’m sure they produced hundreds of the same and they are already taking a close look at their design and manufacturing process. At best, BD will issue a recall.  At worst, they will claim some external influence such as UV. Imagine subjecting your harness to UV during your outdoor activity.  How dare you. Just like their cams with an “expiration” date due to UV exposure.

Most realize that the use of sun-exposed rap tat is something to be cautious about. Unsure why, when warranted, that should not extend to other software known to be susceptible to UV. This is likely the case of a 2-year-warrantee item that spent half that time exposed to UV over the course of 5 years.

Yes, BD should take the opportunity to investigate and understand the failure. I suppose a third option is dropping the warrantee period to 1 year, though perhaps unwise if an outlier in their harness warrantees.

Not meaning to ding David M by posting any of this. Certainly, I have climbed with software past its’ warrantee / recommended replacement date. But also use some common sense. Perhaps this failure should also be a wake-up call to consider retiring similarly used gear.

I've posted before regarding my issue with the buckle wearing the webbing on a Black Diamond Solution harness very quickly. I contacted BD to have them evaluate the wear, and they basically said they didn't want to see it. Luckily, I was able to exchange the harness at REI. Unfortunately, the Solution harness that I exchanged it for is also showing premature wear. The last 13 or so years I had been wearing Arc'Teryx harnesses, and they normally last 3 years and I retire because of the age not wear. Seeing BD harnesses showing wear from the buckle against the webbing after 4-6 months is very disappointing. 

climbing00 wrote:

I've posted before regarding my issue with the buckle wearing the webbing on a Black Diamond Solution harness very quickly. I contacted BD to have them evaluate the wear, and they basically said they didn't want to see it. Luckily, I was able to exchange the harness at REI. Unfortunately, the Solution harness that I exchanged it for is also showing premature wear. The last 13 or so years I had been wearing Arc'Teryx harnesses, and they normally last 3 years and I retire because of the age not wear. Seeing BD harnesses showing wear from the buckle against the webbing after 4-6 months is very disappointing. 

If you were using the harness daily I'd say that is normal wear and tear? 

Telling us that its after 4-6 months doesn't remotely tell us how often the harness has been used either.

If used regularly, you are reporting up to a 50% error in your own estimation of usage. Hardly the stuff of accurate usuable data my friend.

Just saying, there seems to be more to this story. Maybe give us some photos of the wear? If severe, posting in a public forum will get their attention

sending it hard in my sender harness. can you guys with broken senders add the pics here? or make another thread

A millwright friend had to replace his heavy industrial harness frequently when welding. The UV.

Packs made of 30 denier nylon last one expedition in the Himalayas from sun damage.

Betting that thin fabric outer let a lot of UV thru.

Just throw some duct tape on it. It'll be fine.

Glowering wrote:

Just throw some duct tape on it. It'll be fine.

If you can’t duct it fuck it 

Holy Hell!  

Just stumbled across this thread and not exactly what I needed as I return to leading after a one year hiatus! 

But, it also makes me very happy that two weeks ago I looked at my harness, saw that it was manufactured in 2014 and ordered a new one that arrived last week.

Be safe folks!  God Damn!

I always look for a harness that has a piece of high strength nylon webbing that runs around my waist and into the buckle like this one. The wide part of the waist belt should just be padding. The webbing is the real thing that's connecting you to the rope. A piece of high strength nylon webbing, will last for decades, so I trust it even it's 10 years old.

If I'm looking at the pics right, it doesn't look like it failed at the area which would see the most UV. That is not to say that UV could not contribute to it.

If I'm understanding the construction right, it looks like it has several layers of different vectran laminates that are sewn together so that it can actually have a somewhat anatomical waist fit instead of just being like the outside of a cylinder.

Re: "splice" ... A splice can mean different things. Basically its just a join... but that doesn't mean hardly anything alone. It can be a taped splice like in a spool of continuous webbing, where there is zero strength and it is only to be able to continue to fill up the spool. Or it can be a fingertrap-like splice as in dyneema hollow braid ropes. Or a pneumatic yarn splice as done to allow production of long ropes using multiple cones of yarn, being able to swap a new one in when one runs out, like so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2aEHXza_-k ... Or a sewn splice where one section of webbing or fabric is sewn to another. That sewing can be done minimally like the taped splice, just to allow spooling without strength, or it can be strength preserving. You could even have a glued splice. Or welded splices in the context of metal wires, pipes. Melted in the context of fiberoptics, etc... Long winded, but just saying, please, if you are mentioning splicing, try to refer to the kind of splice so we are all on the same page.

To me, it looks like you have 3 layers of the vectran laminate in the area of the first pic. Where the black thread is "splicing" or better said, sewing, the top 2 together. The 2 layers on a diagonal were clearly cut that way on purpose, presumably by design. The bottom layer, or inner-most, is the layer that actually ripped, and is not sewn to the other 2, or at least not sewn in that exposed area to those 2.

I'm guessing there was some sort of splice done by the manufacturer in the vectran laminate fabric itself (IE not BD), in just that layer that actually ripped, some combo of heat, glue, and maybe fiber splicing (but I doubt the fiber was actually properly spliced too), and that area somehow got cut out and included in a harness, when it shouldn't have... but I'm interested to see what BD finds.

The BD Airnet looks to be a much more custom fiber lamination for the waist belt, instead of using different sewn together layers to be contour fitting, but I have not cut one open to look. I'd imagine it still has some amount of bulk fiber laminated fabric cut out, then the web look is the more custom lamination part, and all of it may be sewn together.

Yates Astroman harness, very solid construction and super comfortable for trad climbing long steep routes.
Just purchased my 3rd Astroman harness in the past 20 years.

Looks like BD finally issued that recall over UV concerns? Curious what their findings were.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGlKRCKpsPD/?igsh=YmtodHg3YzBqNHh5

Looks like BD has issued a recall due to this. 

adarsh m wrote:

Looks like BD finally issued that recall over UV concerns? Curious what their findings were.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGlKRCKpsPD/?igsh=YmtodHg3YzBqNHh5

Finally?

Anyone who has a BD Vision harness is advised to return it or routinely coat it in sunscreen before use.

a combination of heavy use, environmental factors such as UV exposure, and the unique materials and construction techniques of this harness may have contributed to the failure

Um, why is bd using "unique materials" in life-supporting harness construction? Why not stick to tried and true dyneema or nylon?