There are two main types of harness - Sit harnesses and Full Body harnesses and Sit harnesses. The type you should choose depends on a number of factors including child's age, confidence, and body shape. Chest harnesses are also available which offer additional security to sit harnesses. We'll look at each in turn below.
Full-Body Harnesses
Younger children have a high centre of gravity compared to adults, and therefore require a higher attachment point than a sit harness offers. In addition, children may not have a waist with enough definition to retain the waist-belt of a sit harness in the event of an inversion. In this event, the shoulder straps of the full body harness act as the retainer. For these reasons, full-body harnesses are recommended for smaller children.
A full-body harness can also offer confidence for new climbers as the high rope attachment point can feel more secure than waist-level attachment. On the other side of the coin, a full-body harness can feel restrictive for a more confident climber, so older/more confident climbers with the physical attributes to safely use a sit harness generally progress in this direction quite quickly.
Children's full body harnesses are rated for safe use for children up to 40kg. A child over this weight who may still benefit from a high attachment point (be it due to high centre of gravity or not enough waist definition, or low confidence on the wall) can combine a sit harness with a chest harness to achieve a similar result.
The most important factor is whether your child is safe. If they are under 40kg and have either a high centre of gravity or not enough waist definition to retain a waist-belt, you should choose a full-body harness.
Sit Harnesses
A sit harness is the most popular form of harness in climbing. They come in a variety of designs aimed at specific styles of climbing. The children's sit harnesses that we stock are all-round harnesses for the type of climbing your child is most likely to do. Sit harnesses are composed of an adjustable waist-belt and leg loops connected by a belay loop, and generally come with two or more gear loops that can be used to rack equipment, or clip a belay device to when not in use.
Sit harnesses offer a feeling of freedom over full-body harnesses, and the gear loops are useful as early on, it is likely that you child will be using a belay device to belay friends on the wall.
It is important to note the minimum and maximum sizes for waist and leg loops (we detail this on each product page). Most harnesses have a lifetime of 5 years (unless otherwise noted), but it is likely that your child will grow into the next size before this age is reached.
Chest Harnesses
Chest harnesses can be used in conjunction with sit harnesses. They are simple to set up (the rope is still tied into the sit harness attachment points, but runs through the chest harness loops also to heighten the effective attachment point. Chest harnesses can be used to help build confidence in climbers, or allow the use of a sit harness for children without a suitably defined waist or a particularly high centre of gravity.
Safety over style!
Kids often have strong feelings about colour, or having the same type of harness as a friend etc. However, the most important criteria in selecting a harness for your child is safety. A little measuring and research on our site should allow you to present a few different options for your child to choose from.