I'm sure it will be fine for using while kiting, but I'm a little worried about taking it back to rock climbing? Does anyone have experience doing both?

I sport climb which is where you start on the ground, attach the rope to your harness and begin climbing. Every 6-10 ft there is a bolt, where you hook a quickdraw (carabiner connected with webbing to another carabiner). You clip this to the rope and continue to climb. Basically, however high you are above the bolt, you fall twice that distance and end up that far below the last bolt you are clipped to.

I'm just worried that these potential types of falls are definitely going to be causing much more force than snowkiting. With my harness being exposed to North Dakota winter conditions which consist of -20 degree temps, as well as the harness being dragged across the snow if I get yarded, how much do I need to worry?

I was advised by some rock climbers just to go and get another harness because then I would KNOW that it will hold me. Problem is, serious climbers always air on the side of caution and consider many things unsafe.

They were talking about the possibility of water getting on the webbing/fabric of the harness on the inside, then freezing and cutting away at the core of the material.

What are your opinions?

i agree with your other friends on the idea of error on the side of caution. besides you can retire the current harness for your snow kiting. there is a reason rock climbers consider many things throw away after slight nicks dings and damage. when ya hit the end on a long fall the stress can be at the max the gear can hold. you want your gear to perform better than rated, failure is not an option. id pay 200 bucks to not splat.

well there is my vote

+1 for agreeing with your friends.

Time for a new one for climbing. Yep.

I have never known anyone who has used a rock climbing harness for kiting that has not given it up for a real kiting harness. Usually sooner than later. And it's not because I sell harnesses; it's just what I have seen so many times. Ozone harnesses are light like a climbing harness, but have critical differences that make them suitable for the sport.

If you stick with climbing harnesses, get a big wall harness. Those babies are meant to hang out in. Aid climbing type action where you're constantly putting force one them. Something like the Yates harness:



http://www.spadout.com/w/climbing-harness/#nwikisect116

They're like waist harnesses with leg loops and built tough. Sport harnesses are light for quick ascents. Since you live in ND, you're probably just climbing plastic in a gym most of the time anyway? If I was headed to Yosemite well then I'd get a new harness. In the gym you could get away with a makeshift webbing harness if they would allow it! The key to safety in climbing is always inspecting your gear. If your harness starts to look shady, retire it.. from both climbing and kiting. After every outing I pass my rope through my hands entirely to check for wear, harness too. Just make sure you keep an eye on it and you can use it to it's full life. It's not meant to hang on a wall and look pretty, it's meant to be used. Actually, I date all my webbing too. When I get it new, put the date on it. After a few years whether it looks worn or not, replace it. Even if you can't see deterioration happening, better safe then sorry. So use the crap out of your climbing harness, watch for wear, and get a new one every few years. If climbing harness couldn't handle snow, then alpine ice climbers would be screwed.

Excellent link rudeboy; thanks. Besides climbing the walls here with this long winter (for us), I don't know a lot about climbing harnesses. This is helpful as it provides context for describing harness products to kiters that might know climbing.

No prob! I always thought the Metolius Waldo looked alot like the Ozone harness:



No spreader though. Although if you are really into jumping high with your kites, climbing harness have to meet some pretty rigid standards and testing where as the ozone ones will say right on them, not made for jumping.. probably mostly to cover their ass. So, if your a climber and don't unhook, a big wall harness isn't a bad idea so you can get dual function. Just inspect it often like you should be anyway.

+1. Do not use you climbing harness for any other puropse than climbing. Sure it will work, but when you bring it back to the rock do you really want to bet your life on it? That's how I tend to think about my rock equipment. In fact I waterfall some rock equipment to kiting (when its not in a poisition to kill me).

I've been using an old climbing harness, since retired, for kiting. Great for the mountain board, ok for the buggy. Very compact compared to kiting specific harnesses. In the buggy, no pinch from the spreader bar (cause there is no spreader bar, just clip the chicken loop into a biner. I can get the bar closer to my body this way, which allows me more room for depower that I can reach to)