Big wall Chest harness... Pros?? Cons??

Hey all! I was thinking, gosh i sure hate deracking the leader harness before starting my haul everytime.
A chest harness would make it certianly easier and faster to de-weight myself every pitch before hauling.

I don't see much discussion about them, so here are my rough draft ideas on pros and cons. Does anyone that's used them have any differing opinions?

Pros:

1. More gear room on harness
2. quick to de-weight self for hauling and transition rack to new leader (if they too, use a chest harness)
3. a little tiny backpack on some for snackies and other little goodies.

Cons:

1. Harder to free climb
2. more stuff to buy
3. Might hurt shoulders to be super weighted down?

Anyone have any chest harness feedback? if so which ones do you prefer?

The two options i see out there:
https://blackdiamondequipment.com/products/iad-double-gear-sling?variant=49702276727101&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=18561748528&gbraid=0AAAAAD4soIsOmS6nBl6KO7YsHqE3ns5qp&gclid=Cj0KCQjwl5jHBhDHARIsAB0Yqjwd34A38y7uNVwTUeeVMWmk4xnuUDC4byPG0P9jeY8l1iRI89BOA4kaAjd-EALw_wcB&view=sl-20409132

https://www.metoliusclimbing.com/bigwall-gears-slings.html

I have the metolious one and like it. It's very convenient for starting to haul and staying organized. Free climbing in a loaded chest harness is a hassle, but its never easy with a full aid rack. Most people I meet on walls don't start using them until you need a heavy rack around c3/a2. One of my partners prefer the standard metolius gear sling, but i think the chestie is less likely to slide around. On mine I passed webbing through the shoulder straps to act as suspenders for my harness and possibly help in an inverted fall, it also can be used for frog jugging or TR soloing. The webbing also acts as a convenient way to clip it to the anchor before hauling.

Second the metolius chest harness. The one with single big loops. I think my favorite part about it is the small loops up near the shoulders where I clip my ladders to. Makes them super easy to unclip and keeps your daisies from tangling in the gear on your waist. Its never hurt my shoulders. I take the whole thing off with the remaining rack on it before hauling every time. Only time I wish I didn't have it, was on a chimmney, but that was my fault. 

I have the Trango Chest harness.  I love it and use it on all aid climbs.  Super nice to keep all the gear organized and I love all the little daisy chain clipping spots on the front shoulder straps.  Great for things like rivet hangers on a rivet ladder, a spare carabiner, or other temp clipping spots.  It is super comfortable and low profile enough I can put a jacket on over top if I want at belays.  And yes I always take it all the way off before hauling which is super nice.

Using a chest harness is a game changer for hard aid. The comfort provided for long leads with lots of gear is unmatched. Last year I got the new BD heavy metal harness and am loving it.

I've carried a quad rack + beaks and hooks + power drill and bolting gear for 6hr+ leads without any discomfort.

At the belay, I just run a sling from the shoulder clipping point to the anchor to secure from dropping and take it off before doing any other work. My anchor biners, haul kit and personal gear are on my regular harness for access after taking it off.

I've tried the IAD and that metolius style harnesses in the past, they're not nearly as good in my opinion, front-loading the gear makes the harness pull weirdly and feel unbalanced, even so much as sliding around, and the lack of around the chest strap makes the weight feels insecure. I really prefer the other style. BD heavy metal, Trango double rack, Yates big wall, can't go wrong with any of these options.

i always use one. way too much stuff on the climbing harness without. i have the flimsy bd zodiac. its worked fine for everything ive done but not much to it.

also, im always chicken when switching aid to free mid pitch. just c3 your way through that 5.5   

I have a Metolius double D gear sling. I mostly have the double D loop off for regular climbing. But put it on for walls, for more space but more importantly better weight distribution. I haven't done hard aid so it's been sufficient.

Gloweringwrote:

I have a Metolius double D gear sling. I mostly have the double D loop off for regular climbing. But put it on for walls, for more space but more importantly better weight distribution. I haven't done hard aid so it's been sufficient.

I've used a Double D since I first started climbing nearly 20 years ago and still use it all the time for multipitch, so I'm a big fan. But when I brought it up my first couple walls, I found it really isn't comfortable loaded down with a wall rack. Digs into your shoulder way too much. 

Even a lightweight wall chest harness like the IAD will be an order of magnitude more comfortable than any gear sling like the Double D.

+1 for the metolius. The way I see it, what makes free climbing hard on a wall is having an enormous amount of stuff on you, not where you rack it. 

Two additional points I have not seen addressed here in this thread regarding chest rigs:

1- If you run your tie-in rope through the harness before tieing into the waist belt / leg loops, it will orient your head & shoulders up in the case of a head first fall.  Think about this, if you are falling parallel to the ground, back first when your rope comes tight, you are putting lots of stress on your back right above your pelvis.  You can sustain a lot of damage in this scenario which is not good in any way, shape or form.  I'm pretty sure some climbers have suffered spinal damage in falls like this.  If you have a chest rig the climbers center of gravity is swung up by the sternum and your hips would swing into a better orientation as the fall is arrested.

2 - A chest rig allows the climber to get more horizontal on really steep rock without straining your abdominal muscles.  When I did South Seas on El Cap, having a chest rig was quite helpful on that 1st pitch. 

I like the combo of a relatively sporty harness and a Yates chest harness for steep pure aid pitches. It’s nice to spread the rack out a bit and still feel agile and athletic. A little off topic but I also like wearing some comfy free climbing shoes (megas/tcpros) it’s slick to be able to stand on natural edges and bust free moves. A lot of pitches often have some mandatory free climbing and it’s nice not sketching out in approach shoes.

Might be worth separating out chest slings from chest harnesses...

Personally,  I move better and faster without a chest harness.  Use a tag line to tag gear up to you to keep weight and clutter down.