The Biggest Rock Climbing Harnesses

In the past it’s been challenging to find harnesses that fit well if you need a size bigger than a standard Large. The variance in harness sizing between XL and XXXL is all over the board. We’ve noticed many “XL” harnesses are actually bigger than the few officially rated XXXL harnesses. The sizes are so inconsistent that WeighMyRack had to make our own harness standardization. [Read more about the brand’s inconsistent harness sizing and WeighMyRack’s sizing strategy in this post.]

Most manufacturers don’t officially list XXXL harnesses as a sizing option. But it turns out, many of their one-size-fits-all “Large” or “XL” harnesses actually go well beyond those sizes. Since we’ve re-categorized harness sizes on WeighMyRack, we can now clearly see the harness options for bigger climbers.

Big Harnesses Made for Rock Climbing

These climbing harnesses will all fit a waist size of 45″ and some of them go up to 61″ (114 cm – 155 cm). The full body harnesses max out with a waist of 78″ (200 cm).

Alphabetically listed. *A star means there is no US distribution.

Black Diamond Momentum Waist : 100-114 cm / 40-45 in Legs : 66-76 cm / 26-30 in
Beal Aero Classic* Waist : 65-115 cm / 25.6-45.3 in Legs : 40-75 cm / 15.7-29.5 in
Beal Aero Team IV* Waist : 45-115 cm / 17.7-45.3 in Legs : 26-72 cm / 10.2-28.3 in For a “kids” harness, it has a surprisingly large range.
Blue Ice Choucas III* Waist: 100-120 cm / 39.4-47.2 in Legs: 70-95 cm / 27.6-37.4 in Optimized for mountaineering.
BlueWater BW Flash Men Waist: 81-114 cm / 32-45 in The Women’s version only goes up to 44 inches.
Blue Water Jim Gyde Waist : 41-114 cm / 16-45 in
CAMP Group II Waist : 65-150 cm / 25.6–59.1 in Legs : 40-100 cm / 15.7–39.4 in
Cilao IKKO* Waist: 50-123 cm / 19.7-48.4 in Legs: 40-81 cm / 15.7-31.9 in
DMM Brenin Waist : 55-155 cm / 22-61 in Legs : 50-85 cm / 20-33 in Distributed to the US, but we’re not sure where to find it.
DMM Centre Alpine Waist: 60-150 cm / 24-59 in Legs : 50-90 cm / 20-35 in Distributed to the US, but we’re not sure where to find it.
Edelrid Solid Full Body* Waist : 100-140 cm / 39.4-55.1 in Legs : max 90 cm / max 35.4 in
Edelweiss Mygale Waist : 60-117 cm / 23.6-46.1 in Legs : max 90 cm / max 35.4 in Distributed to the US, but we’re not sure where to find it.
Edelweiss Explorer II Waist: 155-200 cm / 61-78.7 in Distributed to the US, but we’re not sure where to find it.
Kong Indiana Waist : 60-120 cm / 23.6-47.2 in Legs : 42-66 cm / 16.5-26 in Distributed to the US, but we’re not sure where to find it.
LACD Start* Waist: 87-130 cm / 34.3-51.2 in Legs: 60-84 cm / 23.6-33.1 in
Lhotse Lhotse New* Waist: 105-120 cm / 41.3-47.2 in Legs: 60-70 cm / 23.6-27.6 in
Misty Mountain Cadillac Waist : 104-114 cm / 41-45 in Legs : 69-76 cm / 27-30 in Also available in a manual doubleback version.
Rock Empire Speedy* Waist: 60-140 cm / 23.6-55.1 in
Rock Empire Streak* Waist: 75-115 cm / 29.5-45.3 in Legs: 53-69 cm / 20.9-27.2 in
Rock Empire Spectrum* Waist: 80-130 cm / 31.5-51.2 in Legs: 56-75 cm / 22-29.5 in
Skylotec Sitz 2.0* Waist: 85-115 cm / 33.5-45.3 in
Singing Rock Brio* Waist : 60-116 cm / 24-46 in Legs : 42-72 cm / 17-29 in The Brio II is the same but has easier to adjust leg buckles.
Singing Rock Top Waist : 60-120 cm / 24-47 in Legs : 42-66 cm / 17-27 in Distributed to the US, but we’re not sure where to find it.
Singing Rock Top Padded Waist : 60-120 cm / 24-47 in Legs : 42-66 cm / 17-27 in Distributed to the US, but we’re not sure where to find it.
Singing Rock Dome Waist : 70-120 cm / 23-47 in Legs : 44-72 cm / 17-28 in Distributed to the US, but we’re not sure where to find it. GearExpress carries it! (thanks to Sarah in the comments)
Trango Gym Waist : 112-142 cm / 44-56 in Legs : max 89 cm / max 35 in

*A star means there is no US distribution.

There are additional larger harnesses made that may work for rock climbing…

WeighMyRack catalogs all the recreational use harnesses and does not catalog professional use. Professional use harnesses are made for Search and Rescue, Fire, Police, Arborists, Construction and more. Since these harnesses are not made specifically for recreational rock climbing we don’t catalog them and can’t vouch that they would be a good fit for rock climbing. Some of them have steel parts or other features that are made specifically for industry use.

That said, some of those harnesses will work for rock climbing. For example, we’ve checked out the Petzl Falcon Mountain harness that is made for Mountain Rescue (Professional use vs Recreational). Waist: 31.5 – 55″ / 80-140 cm. Legs: 23-29.5″ / 60-75 cm. We took time to look into each feature, checked the standards, and found that it would still be suitable for climbing. Contacting the manufacturer would be the best way to check if a professional use harness could be used for rock climbing.

Safety Note

Although most of the harnesses listed in this post are sit harnesses (only going around the waist), a chest harness might be a great investment as well (homemade with webbing or commercially manufactured). This would help for balance and prevent top-heavy climbers from accidentally inverting while hanging on a rope.

Summary

Harness sizing is not standardized and can cause serious frustration and grief for any large climber. Most brands and manufactures don’t even recognize the XXXL harness range, which seems absurd because many of them make harnesses that have a much bigger range than “Large” adequately describes.

This post catalogued the largest sized recreational rock climbing harnesses. This data was last updated in mid-2016. For the most accurate listing (updated daily), go to weighmyrack.com/harness and use the size filter to narrow down on your preferred sizes.