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Climbing, Adventure, Gear & Choss
Black Diamond Chaos Harness Review
I’ve been wearing Black Diamond harnesses for years. I think I happened to stumble upon them early in my climbing days, and I always liked the fit. I do remember, however, seeing those fancy Arc’teryx harnesses come out and thinking they were pretty damn nifty. Too expensive though for me at the time, and it’s not like a few ounces of weight savings really means a whole lot when you’re already carrying a triple set of cams.
Fast forward to 2009. Black Diamond has entered the realm of the super slick harness with three new offerings: the Chaos, Aura, and Ozone. The Chaos is their all-around harness, and has been redesigned using the revolutionary Kinetic Core Construction. That’s a simple name for some fancy technology (it’s also used in NASA space suits), and while I didn’t understand all the techno-jargon I read about it, suffice it to say it serves to reduce bulk and weight while maintaining a high strength and comfort level, which of course is perfect for climbing.
I got my hands on the Chaos before our recent trip to Red Rocks in March, and spent a week putting it through the motions. My very first impression upon handling it was that this is a beautiful harness. Clean and elegant lines, and very simple. A prethreaded buckle, four gear loops, haul loop and belay loop. The rear elastic risers are adjustable via a system I’ve never seen before but it seemed to work really well.
We were climbing over 1000′ each day, and I was comfortable the entire time in this harness, which I suppose is thanks in part to the Soft Edge construction used in its design. Basically this translates to a better fit and less “digging in” to your sides that you get with some harnesses. It fits me well and as such I had no complaints about any rubbing or hot spots. The gear loops are stiff, making it easy to get gear on and off quickly. This is also my first time with a prethreaded buckle, and it’s a nice safety feature for sure. The harness appears to be pretty durable, we’ll check back in once we’ve had a couple months of hard use on it and let you know how it’s holding up.
Bottom line, this is a fantastic harness, and the only thing that is going to make people think twice about buying it is the sticker price. At $124.95, it’s substantially more expensive then their other all-around offerings. I did really enjoy it on those long climbs though, so if you spend a lot of time off the deck, it may worth a little extra cash to kick down and rock it in style and comfort all day long. Plus it’ll give all the parties you pass something to talk about as you whiz by using your new speed climbing techniques!
Buy the Black Diamond Chaos at Backcountry.com
7 Responses to Black Diamond Chaos Harness Review
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Any thoughts on this versus the Arcteryx R320? How does it size beyond being comfortable? I have always had adjustable leg loops and am worried how well fixed leg loops will work. Were the legs loops properly proportioned to the waist? Are the gear loops big enough to have a triple set of cams?
Thanks for the review. I want to take a look at one in person but I haven’t found them in stock other than at online stores.
Hey Luke,
I’ve never tried on the Arc’teryx, so can’t speak to that. As far as size goes, I’m 6′ 1″, 175, about a 34 waist, and I wear a large. If I were any smaller, I’d need a medium. The legs loops are roomy on me. I have a friend who got the medium, and he had to get a large cause the leg loops were too small.
And yeah, you can fit plenty of cams on the loops. They aren’t huge, but big enough, especially if you also climb with a gear sling.
I also haven’t seen it in many stores yet, not sure what the hold up is.
Luke, I had to go with the large as the medium leg loops were way too tight. My waist is 33/34 and I did not think my quads were anything like Earl Campbells (80’s football reference), but they did not work with the medium. The large waist is almost too big for me, I have it cinched way down.
While this harness is low bulk, I think it is a bit more “bulk” than the Arc’teryx. My advice is to wait until you can try sizes on and see if it really fits your body .
Thanks so much! I have tried on the Arcteryx and fit a small (31 waist) but need a medium for the leg loops. It sounds like I may have a similar fit issue with the Chaos. I will definitely try one out before buying.
REI seems to have the Chaos in stock online so perhaps it will come to the San Diego store sometime soon.
Luke, I think you are wise to wait and try on before investing. If you can get the right fit, I am sure you will enjoy the harness.
Bet your weather in the big SD is better than here in Carbondale today.
I have had a chance to try both the R320 and the Chaos. I found the sizing to be almost identical medium to medium and large to large. I’m 5’11, 155 pounds, waist of 33, long through the waist with short stumpy legs. For my body size and shape here is a summary of what I found.
– The leg loops of both the R320 and Chaos medium were tight on me and sat uncomfortably high on my legs.
– The rise on the Chaos was marginally longer than the R320 and felt more comfortable but they were still too tight for my liking
– The leg loops on the large size R320 are just a hair too large but for me it was better than the too tight on the medium
– The large R320 waist is sinched almost all the way down on my waist to get a proper fit, I probably have a 1/4 inch left before it can’t go any more. This leaves a huge tail of webbing to flop around of probably 12 inches. It does make it easier to put on though without having to unthread the buckle
– The medium Chaos and R320 waist “ends” don’t quite touch each other when worn on my waist and are both harder to put on without unthreading the buckle. It can be done but invlovles some “tucking in here and pulling there”
Some non-fit related findings:
– The R320 is much thinner and therefore packs much tighter than the Chaos
– I found the Choas padding to be the same size thickness as the 2008 Momentum and pretty much the same shape and comfort
– The R320 was more comfortable for me to stand around in, hang in and fall on
– I like the Chaos gear loops better than the R320
– I did not like the drop seat implementation on the Chaos, although they adjust just fine I can’t see it working too well getting the elastics off the loops while wearing the harness
I can’t vouch for durability since I haven’t climbed enough in either to say if one holds up better than the other. Keep in mind that I only climb sport and my local rock is limestone and quartzite so your mileage may very greatly from mine. In the end I went with the Arcteryx large mostly because of the increased comfort and lack of bulk compared to the Black Diamond.
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