Occasionally, we have a 30' rappel on an otherwise 3rd-class hike. We may do long, convoluted, sketchy traverses to avoid the rappel.

It would be nice to have some very light harnesses; presumably one doesn't need all the whiz-bangs for 30'. I wonder if it is worthwhile to look for ultralight harnesses, or just tie Swiss seats, as it is hard to beat the weight of a 16' piece of 11/16" tubular nylon.

Opinions?

I researched the same thing last spring.

Some of the new ultra light harnesses weight just about the same as the 16 ft. of webbing.

The big difference is in the volume and ease of packing.

Get one of these instead of the one above.... you'll be more comfortable.

Trust me.

I own both and wear this one (for that past two seasons) on a regular basis for all my Sierra fast alpine ascents & descents. Does awesome job on long raps as well as short ones that you describe. Ya never know when you'll run into a full rope air rap. If you do, yu'll appreciate the AIR instead of the ALP.

It's light, comfi and does a far better job than the ALP 95.

CAMP AIR 8.5 oz.

dulfersitz

-CS

I regularly use the ALP95 for alpine and rappels when soloing. Fine by me and like 3oz. On sale for $25 regularly too so I have one for me and one for the wife.

I am tempted by the CAMP, but chose the Mammut Alpine Light as a much more versatile harness. It's similar to the one Chief posted.

Mammoth Mountaineering has an old one with no belay loop for $32, and may have new ones too. Call before you order if you care which one you get.

http://www.mammothgear.com/shop/shopexd.asp?id=11152

I have a lightweight "just in case" kit, usually used for companions with exposure fears. 35m 9.1mm rope (4lb), a few Spectra slings and light biners, and 48" nylon runners and lockers for diaper-seat harnesses. A lousy way to rap, but a diaper seat is faster and lighter than a Swiss seat. I Munter too, saves the weight of an ATC.

But, your mileage may vary. As always, try it out in a safe place before commting youself in the backcountry!

http://edelridna.com/e/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=29806

About $10 an ounce.

I sometimes will carry about 25 feet of sling and 1/2 of a twin rope in case I encounter a very short section that requires a rappel and or belay. I also have one of the very lightweight harnesses, but tend to carry that if I am certain that there will be some roped climbing. Not nearly as light as my lightweight harness, but in a pinch does the job just fine.

What's interesting is the number of variants there are to tying one. Fred ties his differently than me.

Thanks all! I selected a light harness from the above (I won't say which until I've tried it!), but will still carry a specific piece of webbing for the Swiss seat. The problem with harnesses is that we tend to get a lot of different sizes of people on our trips. Often only one or two want to rap instead of downclimb, but it is hard to know what size these folks will be before the trip.