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Topic Date User

Chest Harness 27-Apr-2012 At 6:45:03 AM Richard Delaney

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Hi Olivia,
Interesting situation. What part of you spine?
I know of one person who received a lumbar spine injury when he fell 6m before being arrested suddenly by his belayer - and he was effectively lying flat looking up at the sky at this point. The harness attachment point at his waist resulted in him being folded in half the wrong way.

The UIAA published a paper many (15?) years ago addressing this kind of situation and recommended that climbers wear full-body harnesses or sit/chest combinations - particularly if wearing backpacks ( think mountaineering and falling into a crevasse). I think they also found that this could, in some situations, increase the potential for neck/whiplash type injury as a high attachment point well away from the centre of gravity will tend to spin the body towards its neutral hanging position.

Some of the details here may be a bit fuzzy as it's been 15 years since I read this article - I tried a quick search but couldn't find it - I'm sure you will with a bit of persistence.

With regard to chest harnesses - every manufacturer has their own specific instructions and these often vary - particularly in respect to whether you're tying into the end of a rope or adding the harness to another situation. You may even find a light weight full-body harness serves you better.
Richard