Petzl Corax harness

[snowfire]

Anyone tried one/own one? How does it stand up for top rope, lead climb, rappel use?

[Will]

Anyone tried one/own one? How does it stand up for top rope, lead climb, rappel use?

I have not, but....

Every harness fits everyone a little differently. Petzl generally makes good shit, so I wouldn't be too concerned about durability or such; the main question is how it feels. If the store where you're thinking of buying the harness allows you to, try the following:
- put the harness on
- clip into a rope or piece of webbing attached to the ceiling
- hang there with your feet off the ground
- keep at it for a while, at least five minutes (read a climbing magazine while you wait)
- Have your legs gone numb? Do your kidneys hurt? Is the buckle digging into your belly? If the answer to any of these questions is "yes" then try another harness.

[wintermittent]

I have a Petzl Calidris, which is very similar. The leg loops are very comfortable. The newer Corax/Calidris models have dual main buckles; no single buckle that can bite into your waist or get the tie-in point off-kilter. Durability has been good for me (3+ years), but I don't climb very frequently.

There is quite a bit of sizing overlap between Petzl sizes "1" and "2." I am a 32-ish waist and I went with size "1". It was the right choice for me, but if you're in the same general "M" boat that I'm in, I would try on both sizes if you can.

I don't think you'll be disappointed with the Corax. Good luck!

[AltaPowderDaze]

i have the corax and like it a lot. it packs well, has lots of features and is the most comfortable that i've been in. the only thing needed for my purposes is a rear belay loop which i fixed by putting a sewn spectra thru the rear of the waist belt.

i don't climb much but i've hung in this one for a little while. still very comfortable.

[mcsquared]

I bought a corax when they first came out a couple years ago and used if for about a year before growing weary of it. Now my girlfriend sports it. It was comfy and lightweight. But not really burl enough for hanging belays and long days with lots of hanging (aid, trad, etc). The double buckles that you don't have to double back are cool and all and make putting the harness on simple (which is good for lending to a beginner or if you are a beginner) but I found the harness to loosen up over the course of the day and constantly need to be re adjusted depending on how much gear i had hanging from it. Also I didn't like the plastic gear loops. They carried gear awkwardly and jabbed you in the kidneys when you were laying down, wearing a pack, or squeezing yourself into something. Also the lack of a rear haul loop is a big ommission. A decent harness but for the money I think there are better harnesses out there.