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Harness advice 1-Jun-2009 At 3:43:29 PM torque

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Hi All,

Just a question on harness types.

A friend of mine has a sit-style harness - without a belay loop. In place of the belay loop is a HMS style biner (ie: the biner connects the waist band and the leg-loop attachment point). I think this is an "Alpine Style" harness, or at least this is what the shop assistant told him when he bought it. It was cheaper than the default climbing harnesses (with belay loop, padded waist band, etc).

When belaying, the belay device is attached directly to the biner (in place of the belay loop). When climbing, the rope is tided through the leg loop attachment point and the waist band.

My question is - how appropriate is harness for leading and/or belaying a climber on lead. My concerns are around loading on the biner when a lead fall is taken (while belaying). The biner seems to be more inclined to slip around while he is belaying, the result being that the gate is caught around the leg-loop attachment points.

Does anyone have any experience with lead belaying/climbing in these type of harnesses?

Thanks in advance...