Which harness as an alternative to bosun's chair?

skyflyer

skyflyer

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I hate heights! But I hate paying a rigger to replace an anchor light bulb, even more!

I don't feel secure in a bosun's chair - particularly as I am tall, it always feels as though I could tip over backwards at a moments notice and fall out or be left dangling upside down by my feet!

So I thought for a few extra quid I would get a safety harness, but there seems to be a bewildering array. If I have to go up the mast I use a self climber device that means I do the climbing work and the safety rope is winched in solely to take up slack, but t would be nice, once up, to be able to take up a sitting position rather than have all one's weight on the balls of your feet on a rather thin climbing step.

So - a harness that enables you to sit.

So I emailed one of the companies that do these things and have come up against 'elf and safety. A "fall arrest" harness or "rescue harness" is not designed/approved to be sat in and worked from, it seems. A harness for working in a seated position is double or triple the cost - e.g. £200-£300.

So - what I would like to know is whether there is a problem using the less expensive harness for very occasional short periods? If it can take my weight after a 4 metre fall (the design standard) it shouldn't have a problem with the static load. There is so much variety it is bewildering 3 pages of safety harnesses here http://www.fallarrest.co.uk/safety-harnesses or choose from £47 to £280 here http://www.totalaccessonline.co.uk/Products/Harnesses/Full-Body-Rope-Access

Has/is anyone used/using a harness of this sort - either type - and how do you get on?

Cheers
 
I was up my mast yesterday, thick wooden ply seat and an old version of this safety harness

51e6zSAnDHL._SL500_SS100_.jpg
 
I am a climber, and so use my climbing harness (sit harness) for going up the mast. Any £50 climbing harness will be perfectly safe to hold the static load. The issue is that after a while sitting with your feet dangling free, the straps under your thighs will get uncomfortable because that is where your weight is. Ways to deal with it - more expensive harnesses with wide padded leg straps, or put some stiff material between your thighs and the harness to spread the weight, or use a plank as well as the harness, with the harness tied on to the rope with a few centimetres of slack compared to the plank, so the plank takes your weight but the harness stops you falling off the plank. I dont bother and just use the harness on its own, but I never plan to be up the mast very long.

If you wander into a decent outdoors shop selling climbing harnesses they should have a hook on the ceiling so that you can test the relative comfort of each model while dangling and estimate how long you can stand it for.
 
PS - I tried a 'new' method of going up
Short ladder on one line, me on my seat on another line.
I climb ladder, seat gets locked off by mate at bottom.
Sit back on seat, ladder get raised till I am at the bottom rung.
Ladder gets locked off, I climb ladder, seat gets locked off.
etc., etc.

About half way up the mast we had trouble keeping the ladder square to the front of the mast, even though we were using lines from the bottom rung to deck cleats in an A shape, and I had trouble gripping the mast when climbing the ladder.
I found that it was easier to climb one rung, get the seat locked, then climb to the next rung.
After climbing about 3 or 4 rungs like this I had a flash of enlightenment, this is exactly how you do it with an ascender! :cool-new:
Next time I will make some feet stirrups or look out for an ascender!!
 
For anything longer than a minute, you would be far better with a bosun's chair. I fail to see how you could possibly tip over backwards from a properly designed and equipped bosun's chair. Mine has a seat, sides, and a back, and has a waist belt and thigh straps.
 
http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/activity/rock-climbing/harnesses and if an RYA member you can get 15% off unless the item is already reduced.


TheEcho said:
I am a climber, and so use my climbing harness (sit harness) for going up the mast. Any £50 climbing harness will be perfectly safe to hold the static load. The issue is that after a while sitting with your feet dangling free, the straps under your thighs will get uncomfortable because that is where your weight is. Ways to deal with it - more expensive harnesses with wide padded leg straps, or put some stiff material between your thighs and the harness to spread the weight, or use a plank as well as the harness, with the harness tied on to the rope with a few centimetres of slack compared to the plank, so the plank takes your weight but the harness stops you falling off the plank. I dont bother and just use the harness on its own, but I never plan to be up the mast very long.

If you wander into a decent outdoors shop selling climbing harnesses they should have a hook on the ceiling so that you can test the relative comfort of each model while dangling and estimate how long you can stand it for.
Click to expand...
 
TheEcho said:
I am a climber, and so use my climbing harness (sit harness) for going up the mast. Any £50 climbing harness will be perfectly safe to hold the static load. The issue is that after a while sitting with your feet dangling free, the straps under your thighs will get uncomfortable because that is where your weight is. Ways to deal with it - more expensive harnesses with wide padded leg straps, or put some stiff material between your thighs and the harness to spread the weight, or use a plank as well as the harness, with the harness tied on to the rope with a few centimetres of slack compared to the plank, so the plank takes your weight but the harness stops you falling off the plank. I dont bother and just use the harness on its own, but I never plan to be up the mast very long.

If you wander into a decent outdoors shop selling climbing harnesses they should have a hook on the ceiling so that you can test the relative comfort of each model while dangling and estimate how long you can stand it for.
Click to expand...

+1.
Used a bosun's chair for a year and moved to a climbing harness after that. I generally do not have somebody winch me up, but climb up the main halyard using petzl ascenders and an etrier. A spinnaker halyard is back up - which a person on deck keeps snug via a coach roof winch.
The climbing shop I went to had a massive eye bolt high up so I could try out various harnesses. I have been up there fighting with VHF cables for an hour, but I defy anybody to find it comfortable for much longer....
Order a kettle and go below for a breather!
 
I have a Fred Dibnah style plank with the rope crossed underneath, plus a scaffolder's fall-arrest harness in case I should slip off it...

Pete
 
Skyflyer..

I agree with you about reservations with using a 'traditional' bosuns chair when actually doing a quick climb of the mast whilst those on deck just take up the slack in the halyards...

But - Have you seen the type of bosuns chair that are just fabric/webbing and therefore can fit your shape exactly...

I go up a mast somewhere or other most weeks of the year and use a Lazilas Professional chair every time. It straps around the waist and has enough slack to be able to climb with no restrictions.. yet is then comfortable to sit in whilst resting or at the top because it provides support all over..

Check them out here for example.. http://www.seamarknunn.com/acatalog/Lalizas-Professional-Bosun-s-Chair-LA10210.html

I know the picture makes it look like it's got a solid base.. but believe me, there is nothing but fabric and webbing under you...
 
Martin_J said:
Skyflyer..

I agree with you about reservations with using a 'traditional' bosuns chair when actually doing a quick climb of the mast whilst those on deck just take up the slack in the halyards...

But - Have you seen the type of bosuns chair that are just fabric/webbing and therefore can fit your shape exactly...

I go up a mast somewhere or other most weeks of the year and use a Lazilas Professional chair every time. It straps around the waist and has enough slack to be able to climb with no restrictions.. yet is then comfortable to sit in whilst resting or at the top because it provides support all over..

Check them out here for example.. http://www.seamarknunn.com/acatalog/Lalizas-Professional-Bosun-s-Chair-LA10210.html

I know the picture makes it look like it's got a solid base.. but believe me, there is nothing but fabric and webbing under you...
Click to expand...

Makes sense - the other problem I had with the old bosuns chair we had was that when you stand upright to climb, the chair slips up off your bum, up your back. Then when you are ready to sit, its nigh impossible to pull it back around without using both hands, but then you can't get your weight off it and so on!

Are you saying this one stays pretty much in place as you stand upright?

Otherwise i think this climbing 'seat' types with leg straps would be the answer as they cannot ride up.
 
Skyflyer.. this soft chair can't ride up either.. The strap from the lifting ring that goes between the legs is adjustable...

That strap I adjusted when bought it. All I do nowadays to put it on is to step into it then pull it up like a pair of shorts.. and then pull the waist strap adjuster tight.

Generally I get up a 50ft mast in under a minute... and it usually takes that long for sbdy on deck to take up the slack.. I've never worried about the chair moving out of place!

FWIW - Exactly this time last week (yes it was dark by the time I came down).. I had been up the 50ft mast in my avatar for about 3 hours..

I went up using three prussic loops, drilled out the old Autohelm ST50 wind MHU bolt heads and removed the unit, cut off the old mounting bolts, pulled the old cable out (using a 100ft mouse line from the top of the mast), pulled a new NMEA2000 cable back through the mast, drilled and tapped new holes and fitted a new B&G MHU then came back down again abseiling on a figure 8...

The bosuns chair was the least of my worries... It fits like a glove then just folds away and goes back into it's bag.
 
I have a "nappy" type bosuns chair that came with the boat. It is very comfortable for working aloft and has attachment pockets and rings for tools etc.
At work however, I encourage my teams to use a belay seat such as the Petzl Podium in conjunction with a conventional harness when working at height for prolonged periods. This setup means you can have extended periods aloft in relative comfort and have yet to come across a better system.

http://www.angloaccess.co.uk/harness-accessories/petzl-podium-seat.html
 
skyflyer said:
the other problem I had with the old bosuns chair we had was that when you stand upright to climb, the chair slips up off your bum, up your back. Then when you are ready to sit, its nigh impossible to pull it back around without using both hands, but then you can't get your weight off it and so on!
Click to expand...
I don't have that problem with my plank! I have a strap round it that comes up between my legs.
 
I have done more mast climbing than most on here (albeit not always on boats!) and agree with much that has been said. Bosun's chairs are designed to be sat in and there are some that are comfortable. But, as stated, once you stand, you are liable to slide forward.

They should not be capable of letting you fall out. Crutch and chest straps should prevent that.

Conversely, harnesses do not suffer that problem (although some, in safety tests, have allowed inversion). However, unless you can afford around £200, they dig into your thighs and can restrict circulation. (The local climbing centre has had claims for dvt).

I am told there is a "nappy" type chair used during free fall waterfall descents but I have not been able to find one.

I advocate (for what it is worth!) you look after your own ultimate safety (I use an ascender attached to my safety harness clipped on to anything within reach) and, if you have one or better both hands free, you hug the mast while climbing. If the boat is at sea, the closer to the mast you are, the less it hurts when you swing into it.

The other benefit is that, as you straighten your legs, most of that lifting effort works vertically. If you are holding the shrouds or a line, most of your effort results in you pushing out away from the mast.
 
My friend and I share a Defleffs mast ladder - by far the easiest way to get up the mast. Wearing a standard deck harness and a strop twice around the mast, you can lean back and have two hands free. With a safety halyard as well of course. Our ladder uses sail sliders which just feed up the mast slot, one size for his boat and another size for mine on the opposite side. Easy to rig up, haul up the mast with the main halyard, tie off the bottom and tension with main halyard. Very easy to climb as has solid rungs. An excellent piece of kit.
I don't think they are made any more but may be wrong.
CORRECTION - See Deffee Ltd. - still apparently available, just googled it...
 
Last edited:
NormanS said:
Yawn. Mast steps are wonderful.
Click to expand...

why all this thread drift about mast steps and ladders? The OP is asking for advice about harnesses - something you need whatever means you go aloft.

The only benefit of a step or ladder is that your weight can be on your feet and so reduce harness discomfort. You could also rig a foot loop of any description at the mast head to put your weight on your feet.

Going back to the OP's original question - a cheap climbing harness will suffice and (in my humble opinion) will probably feel a lot safer than a bosuns chair. More expensive ones may have greater comfort and be easier to adjust. Some harnesses may be more appropriate depending on the method of ascending e.g. if you are caving SRT-ing then a lower attachment will be better. However, if you are just being hauled up the mast then basically any harness will suffice. However, I would not advocate a rear attachment point because you are unlikely to be able to get to the top of the mast as far as you'd like.
 
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