Harness for the kid

[darstog]

Wondering if anybody had recs for kids harnesses. I took the 4 1/2 year-old lassie to French's dome the other day and I built one out of webbing, but it would be nice to have a real harness. I'm debating between the petzl simba full-body harness (which I've used for belaying kids at a number of institutions) and a the BS wiz kid, a child's seat harness, which I've never used. I've never climbed in a full-body harness, but it seems like it would be somewhat bothersome to climb in. Then again, I want her to be as safe as possible. But if the seat harness fits (haven't tried it), why would it be any less safe?

[Alpinfox]

I can't offer any advice about the pros/cons of various kids harnesses, but if you live in Seattle, this might be a good deal:

 

Craigslist ad for kid's climbing gear

 

p.s. The ad is not mine, it's just something I came across while shopping for Jerry Falwell memorabilia.

[olyclimber]

The Trango Jr Harness is pretty nice. <--click here

 

My son has used this harness since before he turned two (he is now almost 6 and still using it).

 

I really like it, and would recommend it.

 

[MountaingirlBC]

I used a petzl full body harness for my kids until they were about 10. Another option would be to use the seat harness and rig up a chest harness with some webbing. The little ones are just too top heavy. They flip over if something isn't holding them upright.

[ketch]

 

Go with a full harness or a chest harness. I prefer the hip and chest seperate. Kids don't have sufficient hip structure to stay in correctly when they are little. As noted they also tend to be top heavy which is not good for no hips.

 

Some of my kids got hips earlier and liked being without the chest harness. One of the others didn't grow hips until they were almost 11. You know your kids best.

 

Once they were bigger than little tykes I found the Black Diamond Vario set to be great as it's range of adjustment allows it go from little kids to medium adult.

[RuMR]

BD Whiz kid harness...

 

 

for routes that have sideways action on them, i just take a shoulder length runner, tie it into an "8", stick his shoulders into and clip it off with a locker to the rope to prevent flip overs...

 

my kid is pretty "body selfaware" though...he falls like a cat when he leads, so i don't know if he's standard...