The Best Climbing Harnesses of 2025

If there is one piece of gear that will make or break your mood during a long day on the wall, it’s your harness. Sitting in a hanging belay in an uncomfortable harness is a surefire way to squash stoke. In an effort to find the best climbing harness available, we put a range of them—from fast-and-light alpine options to feature-heavy big wall offerings—to the test this year, taking them on trips from the cold Canadian alpine to the steep walls of Devil’s Tower to overhung sport routes at The Red. After plenty of whips and hours spent projecting, six emerged as the most comfortable, functional, and breathable climbing harnesses currently available.

Updated October 2025: We added three new picks to our list of best climbing harnesses, including our new favorite all-around harness, the Black Diamond Solution Guide. We also updated info and pricing on previously tested harnesses that we still highly recommend.

Best Climbing Harnesses: At a Glance

• Best Climbing Harness All-Around: Black Diamond Solution Guide ($105)
• Best Value Climbing Harness: Ocun Twist Tech Eco ($90)
• Best Women’s Climbing Harness: Petzl Luna ($105)
• Best for Projecting: Mammut Sender ($100)
• Best for Redpointing: Blue Ice Cuesta Adjust ($110)
• Best Big Wall Harness: Singing Rock Dome ($130)

Best Climbing Harness All-Around

Black Diamond Solution Guide

$105 at Black Diamond

$105 at Backcountry

Weight: 15.6 oz
Sizes: S–XL (men’s); XS–XL (women’s)

Pros and Cons
+ Contoured hip support
+ Excellent durability
– Inefficient gear loop configuration

Tester Quintin Bassett spent months climbing across the country, getting on everything from hard sport routes and funky offwidths to long multi-pitches—and he wore the Black Diamond Solution Guide the entire time.Despite rubbing this harness against multiple chimneys and squeezing through 15 cracks over seven months, the Solution Guide showed no wear and tear, other than some dirt.

Bassett also took whip after whip in this harness. “I took hundreds of falls and [the Black Diamond Solution Guide] gets the highest praise I can give a harness, which is that I never even thought about my harness after a fall,” he said.

Black Diamond uses what it calls Contour Edge Technology for the waist and leg loops, meaning they’re more rigid in the middle, but flexible and soft at the edges for increased comfort. Bassett found that this made for a climbing harness with “fantastic” hip support. It didn’t cause any uncomfortable pressure or distracting pain points on his body, steadfastly supporting him during 10-hour days on the wall. Tester Claudia Sczpeaniak’s climbing partners tend to be heavier than her, and she found it quite comfortable to sit in when belaying these climbers on their projects.

Bassett did find an issue with the rear gear loops. The angle and positioning of the loop meant that any time he clipped gear to it, the piece would immediately slide to the back of the loop. Often, his Grigri slid so far back, it got caught in his chalk bag. Another small flaw: There’s no designated loop to clip in a chalk bag, so you’ve got to wear one with a belt.

Best Value

Ocun Twist Tech Eco

$64 at EpicTV (Women’s)

$80 at Amazon (Men’s)

Weight: 14 oz (men’s M/L) / 13.4 oz (women’s M/L)
Size: XS-XL (men’s) / XS-XL (women’s)

Pros and Cons
+ Sustainably made
+ Comfortable
– Flimsy belay loop
– Heavier than other harnesses

Ocun’s Twist Tech harness, made from 82 percent recycled and bio-based materials (including recycled polyester and polyethylene and bio-based Dyneema), proves that sustainability does not have to come at the expense of performance. Testers caught whips from climbers 50-plus pounds heavier than them, and found that the substantially thick and padded waist belt supported their lower backs well.

Despite being rubbed against rough sandstone on chimneys and off-width climbs in Jackson Falls, the Twist Tech showed no noticeable signs of wear and tear. One ding: The thin belay loop got twisted when testers were tied in while wearing personal anchor systems. Trying to thread rope through chains and untie a figure 8 knot with a belay loop that shifts or turns in on itself made cleaning routes a challenge.

Still, if you’re looking for a solid, all-around harness at a reasonable price, the Ocun Twist Tech Eco is a safe bet: It’s supportive enough to be a projecting harness, but light enough to wear on redpoint attempts.

Best Women’s Climbing Harness

Petzl Luna

$105 at REI

$105 at Backcountry

Weight: 14.1 oz (medium)
Sizes: XS–XL (men’s); XS–L (women’s)

Pros and Cons
+ Breathable and lightweight
+ Spacious gear loops
– Small size range

This year, Petzl redesigned the Luna, its women-specific climbing harness, to fit women’s bodies better. The latest edition, our pick for best women’s climbing harness, has a higher rise so it sits above the waist. And the waistbelt-to-leg-loop ratio better accommodates women’s hips.

Petzl also updated the polyester mesh patterning on the inside of the waistbelt to have more of a “waffle” type texture. Climbing’s Editor-in-Chief Maya Silver praised its breathability after climbing on 80- and 90-degree days in Utah.

Silver put this climbing harness through its paces on trad and multi-pitch climbs, wherein she appreciated the spacious gear loops. “There are five loops on the harness, three of which overlap in the rear. I clipped my chalk bag and ATC to the rear loop and had plenty of room on the remaining four gear loops for my personal anchor and to rack up for a trad route,” she said. The front loop on each side is more rectangular and rigid to keep gear on an even plane, while the rear loops dip more like semicircles for extra room.

The Luna came in clutch for Silver on a 5.10 offwidth in the San Rafael Swell in Utah. She was leading her first offwidth, with her right hip jammed into a corner, when gear problems struck. “I only had two #4 cams,, so I had to bump a #4 cam up for most of the route. Then it got stuck. It was a heinous struggle, but my harness never got in the way. It was easy to pull cams from my harness as needed, and the Luna never twisted uncomfortably or pulled down lower on my hips,” Silver recounted.

However, the Luna runs small compared to other climbing harnesses we tested. The XL size only goes up to 36 inches in the waist and 26 inches in the legs, so the Luna might not fit those with larger bodies. If you need more inclusive sizing, we recommend the Petzl Corax.

Best for Projecting

Mammut Sender

$90 at REI

$63 at Backcountry

Weight: 11.3 oz (M)
Size: XS, S, M, L, XL (unisex)

Pros and Cons
+ Available in wide range of sizes
+ Comfortable to hang in
– Only available in one color

Mammut’s Sender harness offers a surprising amount of support for its low weight. The blend of nylon and elastane is flexible and moves with you, and the padding on the waistband is soft and slightly spongy, but still comfortable to hang in. The laser-cut, mesh-like fabric also makes it extremely breathable even in warm temps.

All this makes it a great choice for climbers who have big projects on their to-do list. Tester Benjamin Rathbun practically lived in the Sender last fall when he was working on his project in Rifle, Colorado—a place that’s know for steep, cryptic sequences and a lot of hanging in one’s harness. He appreciated how much this harness supported his hips and lower backs during long periods of dogging.

“I likely spent around four hours of active weighted time in the Sender, and I’m so glad it wasn’t any other harness,” he said. Rathbun finds that his lower back and thighs often start to chafe when he’s in a harness that long, but that wasn’t the case with the Sender. Other testers agreed. Tester Becca Stephens, head routesetter at Climb Iowa, said it was so comfortable that it became her go-to harness for forerunning.

Normally, I’m skeptical that harnesses with nonadjustable leg loops will fit me right, but these had the most stretch and give of any nonadjustable loops we tested. It’s worth noting that it only comes in the color—safety orange—which is just as loud and bright as it sounds; this can be a pro or con depending on if you want to look like a traffic cone on the wall.

Best for Redpointing

Blue Ice Cuesta Adjust

$110 at Backcountry

$106 at Dick’s Sporting Goods

Weight: 10.9 oz (medium)
Sizes: XS–L

Pros and Cons
+ Affordable
+ Comfortable on skin
– Flimsy gear loops

Ultralight harnesses often come with an ultra-high price tag, but not the Cuesta Adjust from Blue Ice. It weighs nearly the same as the Arc’teryx Skaha (10.9 ounces vs. 10.5 ounces), but costs $70 less. If you’re looking to shave ounces without adding dollars, we recommend considering the Cuesta.

This harness also avoided common pitfalls many harnesses have when it comes to on-skin sensations. Tester and professional mountain guide Andy Hansen wore it sans shirt on hot days in Colorado, and he was pleasantly surprised. “This harness never created the ‘heat itch’ around my waist like other harnesses have,” he said.

To test the long-term comfort of this climbing harness, I wore it during auto-belay workouts, climbing in 10-minute sets without coming off the wall. I also tested it during pulley-assisted hangboard sessions, spending up to an hour hanging in the harness. In all of my testing time, I never noticed any pain points or developed any hot spots. Sometimes, when hanging in a harness, I find that leg loop buckles can uncomfortably dig into my thighs, but that didn’t happen with the Cuesta Adjust.

As with most ultralight harnesses, the Cuesta Adjust doesn’t excel at carrying gear. In fact, the gear loops are rather light and flimsy. During our testing process, routesetter Cyrus Yoder put a drill on the gear loops while setting. The loop immediately sank and gave way under the drill’s weight. The Cuesta Adjust can handle some quickdraws and a personal anchor, but that’s about it. Therefore, this harness is a solid choice for sport climbing, single-pitch redpointing, and gym climbing, but not a good pick for trad routes or climbers searching for an all-around harness.

Best Big Wall Harness

Singing Rock Dome

$120 at Singing Rock

Weight: 1.4 lbs (M/L)
Size: S, M/L, XL (unisex)

Pros and Cons
+ Plenty of features
+ Highly adjustable
– Not enough padding
– Not breathable

Featuring two waist buckles and adjustable leg loops with a wide berth, Singing Rock’s Dome harness can accommodate a variety of body types and allows users to get their ideal fit. “I love the double-sided adjustment on the waistband and that the legs are so adjustable,” Hänna Hagen, a Devil’s Tower enthusiast, said. Testers also appreciated the proprietary Rock&Lock waist buckle, a quick-release system that makes for easy on and off.

Not surprisingly for a big wall harness, it was not the most breathable harness we tried, with testers noting heavy back and leg sweat during air-conditioned gym sessions. And, while it is certainly better padded than an average sport climbing harness, for a big wall model, testers felt it could have given them more support. “When it comes to comfort, it falls a bit short compared to others known for their versatility and comfort,” said Dirksen.

The Dome may not be the most comfortable big wall harness on the market, but it is a solid value (up to $50 cheaper than most comparable offerings). This feature-rich harness—which includes two belay loops, seven gear loops, and a rear haul loop—would be overkill for sport climbers, but trad and multi-pitch climbers may still appreciate the features and the comfort of the Dome.

Other Climbing Harnesses We Tested

• Wild Country Mosquito Pro ($130): This lightweight climbing harness is advertised as a versatile all-arounder, but testers found that it lacked back support. They also struggled with the fit—testers wearing extra-small and small sizes couldn’t tighten the leg loops enough around their thighs.
• Petzl Corax LT ($70): Compared to the Corax, this climbing harness is slightly lighter, but at the cost of losing the high level of adjustability that we loved about the original Corax we included in our top picks.
• Petzl Sitta ($185): This performance- and alpine-oriented climbing harness can carry a ton of gear, but it’s expensive. The Arc’teryx AR-385a/AR-395a is a slightly more affordable workhorse.
• Wild Country Flow 2.0 ($85): This climbing harness has a hard, inflexible waistband that made it uncomfortable to wear for extended periods of time. If you’re looking for a do-it-all harness in the $80 price range, the Mammut Sender is a better pick.
• Edelrid Moe 3R ($70): This climbing harness is made with partially recycled materials, which is commendable, but that doesn’t make up for its faults. The material is scratchy and abrasive on the skin, and it’s only available in three unisex sizes (which run extremely small). If you’re looking for a sustainability-made harness in this price range, go with the Ocun Twist Eco.
• Black Diamond Zone ($110): While this climbing harness is relatively affordable, it didn’t impress us in the fit, breathability, or comfort departments. If you’re looking for a lightweight redpointing harness, the Blue Ice Cuesta Adjust is a better pick.

How We Test Climbing Harnesses

• Number of testers: 18
• Number of products tested: 25
• Number of pitches climbed and belayed: 1,500
• Longest single period on the wall: 10 hours

We evaluated each of our potential best climbing harnesses based on comfort, durability, breathability, freedom of movement, versatility, and ease of use to determine overall performance, while also taking price point into account.

A minimum of two testers tried almost every climbing harness for at least five climbing sessions, both inside and outside. The team took harnesses from the gym to crags in Colorado, South Dakota, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, California, Nevada, Arizona, Kentucky, Arkansas, Utah, and Missouri, climbing sport and multi-pitch routes on limestone, granite, gneiss, and sandstone in temperatures ranging from the 40s to the 90s (Fahrenheit).

Meet Our Lead Testers

We assembled a multi-faceted team of testers to put these harnesses through their paces. Lead tester Mary Andino is a PhD, editor, and writer whose residence in Missouri dictates that she regularly travels across the Midwest to climb. Primarily a sport climber who loves technical sequences on vert, her favorite crag is Jackson Falls in southern Illinois.

Our weekend warriors included self-described giant Morgan Miller (6-foot-four, 220 pounds); Benjamin Rathbun and Claudia Szczepaniak, both regulars at the hard, overhung routes in Rifle, Colorado; and Quintin Bassett, who spent seven months living on the road and climbing in his dirtbag era.

Experts included Maya Silver, Editor-in-Chief at Climbing; Matt Samet, a regular contributor to Climbing and Outside with decades of climbing experience; and Andy Hansen, an AMGA/IFMGA Licensed Mountain Guide based in Colorado.

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