AlpDesign Compact caving harness

The tape on the waist buckle of my Petzl Fractio was wearing through so it was time for a new harness. I first started out with a Petzl SuperAvanti, a simple, no frills harness that lots of people swear by but I always thought that the waist belt sat a bit low at the back and sides. After that I tried a Petzl Fractio, the added waist belt provided more support and the metal attachment points made attaching your central maillon very easy. I occasionally bemoaned the lack of decent gear loops but the extra waist belt did actually make the harness feel more secure.

The problem I always had was with jugging. I'm a stocky build and top heavy so I always end up having tired arms as I pull my self into the rope. I'd started out with a strap with a buckle as a chest strap but quickly moved on to a Petzl Torse. This was much easier to adjust but I still got tired arms. The addition of a Petzl Pantin helped and when I saw a Beast Bra Chest Harness at Inglesport I tried that. This was much a better setup. Jugging felt much more efficient because I was kept closer to the rope. The Beast Bra wasn't the easiest item to adjust, although the new one has different buckles, and there was a certain amount of piss taking from friends when you put it on.

Dave at Inglesport mentioned that they were getting some AlpDesign kit in and I was very interested in their Compact harness. It has a built in chest strap, similar to the Torse, two gear loops and two leg loop holders or whatever you call them. I sat in one in the shop and bought it. Currently it's been used in an indoor wall practicing mid rope rescues, it's squeezed into Large and New Rift Pot and it's been on a vertical trip into Hurnell Moss Pot so this is only an initial review.

Firstly it feels more secure than either of my two Petzl harnesses. Whilst still having a low attachment point the waist strap seems to be cut to sit higher at the sides and back. The leg loop retainers don't snag like I thought they might and they are a bit of a bonus when crawling, no more leg loops dropping down to your knees. The gear loops also don't snag and because they are stiff they hold kit well. On my Petzl harnesses I had crabs clipped in to my harness and waist belt so I could hang stuff off it and it was always a bit fiddly, the system on the compact is much better. It's marginally heavier than a Fractio and Torse but only by 35grams and as I used two carabiners as gear loops with my Fractio it works out lighter. The waist belt buckle is a normal threadback type but the leg loop buckles are quick release. I was wary of these at first but have had no quick unrelease issues.

The main reason I bought it though was for the built in chest strap. It is brilliant. It's incredibly easy to crank it up and keeps me in really close to the rope. My recent trip into Hurnell Moss Pot resulted in no arm ache at all. In fact you can crank it up so tight that it starts to cut off the blood flow to your brain. It's a bit fiddly to thread through the buckle at first and the buckle works the opposite way to what you would expect but it works well. I'm not sure why as it's basically the same system as a Torse. It's also removeable, as are the leg loops holders.

Downsides? There is no wear protector webbing flap for the rear buckle on the waist belt. This is easily fixed though by either threading a bit of mountain bike inner tube over it or wrapping it in gaffer tape. 

The leg loops feel like they pull quite tight across the groin. I think this is a combination of waist belt length and leg loop tightness so a bit of experimentation is required. There is also no protective cover on the leg loops as with the Petzl harnesses but I've never had an issue with leg loop abrasion anyway, it's the rear buckle tape which goes first on my harness.

Conclusion

Pros:

1. As light as my previous setup, in reality lighter due to not using two carabiners as gear holders.
2. Gear loops work better than two tiny loops with crabs hanging off them.
3. Inbuilt chest strap works superbly, the best setup I've ever used.
4. Simple design.

Cons:

1. Leg loops are initially uncomfortable, probably just due to  not setting it up correctly.

Update: 27/12/12

A trip in and out of Titan proved how much better at jugging this setup is. Used with a Pantin, I had no arm ache at all. It's actually possible to crank the chest strap up so tight that it crunches you over, puts your nose almost next to the rope and restricts your breathing! I found it best to slacken it off slightly, I prefer breathing easily to jugging efficiency.