Harness choice for buggered back..

[Stephen Blair]

i have ordered ny new sequioa and i have joined the gym, my new instructor is starting me off mainly on loads of hamstring stretching and core strenght, i want to include this as part of working day, my spine is fine it is just my muscles are too tight. i was at the show at the weekend and the lads at treeworker all had low slung harnesses, i have had my big red harness for years now. time o change and try and sort it out, shouldnt be a problem since we know what is causing it. just a bit of graft and discipline.

[White Noise]

Yup, these ones -

 

 

Everyone's got their own preferences, (Blair here swears by his Sequoia) but I much prefer the Skylotec - it's much more supportive, IMHO.

 

Yes thats the one .

[tommer9]

I have two discs missing which have disintegrated each side of my L4 (lumbar, fourth one up from bottom of spine) vertabra, and the L4 has moved forwards so far that in the MRI scan you can see a 90degree bend in my spine looking from the side. I have used a petzl and willans, and fing that the only thing that i can climb all day in is the weaver, which has a huge back support which is really rigid. Work positioning is key too, i find that i have to be more aware of how i am twisting, and will reposition if necessary. Staying still is bad too, so get back to excercise.

 

Oh, and tell that chiropractor to stuff it and go and see a registered physiotherapist. Chiropractors are classed as complimentary medicine at best and charlatans out for nothing but money at worst by the general medical council. They arent seen as mainstream medicine, as most of them will charge you for an x-ray they may not and should not need, and then almost exclusively treat you with manipulation(bone crunching) whether this is what you need or not, as this is how their basic training is provided. My mate had a prolapsed disc and a chiroprator nearly paralysed him for life thrugh manipulation. Obviously i am generalising, but be very very aware of who you let treat your spine.

[Stephen Blair]

mr blair here, the leg loops caused me serious injury on satuarday, maybe i didnt have them on properly so i couldnt give the harness a descent review on 10 mins of srt, i havent even tried on the sequoia, but it looks the business and i here good reports on it:001_smile:

[dryadlad]

Cheers chaps for the advice ...think i'll take a look at a new harness any excuse ! I've signed up for pilates to sort the core muscles and my fetish for licra .

[Marc]

We are all so different, different heights, weights, lengths of legs/arms thickness of bones etc etc.

 

I know climbers who've switched to a treemotion and think their backs are worse for it as it gives no/little back support, it seems maybe there is some truth here i don't know for sure as i'm no biomechanics expert. Some support has to be a good thing to help keep the spine properly aligned after all we are not always in natural positions so leaving it all upto our back muscles is that really a good thing??

I've had some problems using my treemotion, there is such a wealth of adjustment when i first adjusted it was comfortable and gave freedom of movement with little restriction i left it at that and didn't bother trying to adjust it more, then my back started playing up again I adjusted it slightly and this seemed to make a big improvement i then noticed that it creeped back and whilst it was still comfortable keeping it adjusted correctly to give a little more support to my back seems!! to make a differrence.

 

 

Just thought it was worth mentioning as it now seems that low slung harness are all the rage they certainly are more comfortable but i do feel a properly adjusted and fitting harness to your body is more important.

 

The treeflex is a good example its a good harness thats been designed to be more "ergonomic" but if your not wearing it correctly have it adjusted right nd in the correct size its no more ergonomic than a willans t22.

Edited September 2, 2009 by Marc

[Stephen Blair]

very true marc, i am going to take my new harness to my ostiopath, he is a seasoned rock climber, i will get him to adjust it and get it spot on. i remember buying a pair of climbing boots from a small store, the guy was a foot and boot expert, i had been wearing 11's for years, he made me get a 10, and showed me how to properly tie the laces and wear the boot, the difference was emense. they took no breaking in and i have had them for about 5 years now. spot on. leave it to the professionals

[not for sale sorry]

I've been off work for a month now with a doggy back ,chiropractor is treating it a a prolapsed disc [ i'm not convinced ].Anyway as i'm doing pretty much naff all, apart from watching homes under the hammer ,i thought id look into a new harness.As i have no intention of giving up climbing im trying to reduce the risk of this happening again.My current harness of 5 years is a dragonfly which is ok ,but im thinking the seat is causing my back to bannana ,which is a big no no for the posture.Ive been hunting around and the Petzl Sequioa looks pretty good as well as the treeflex .:questionmark:

 

Remember 2 hands on the bat rope .

 

hi mate,

at the end of the day it is personal prefrence, i have just got a new harness i tried the petzl i twas like wearing a g string lol then tried treeflex lovely harness! but @ £250 bit out of my budget i tried the dragonfly found the seat squshed my legs when i tried moving around the crown of the tree, i then tried a weaver bit to bulky for me, i then tried the butterfly great thats what i bought!! at the end of the day its WHAT YOU LIKE!! and no 1 else, when i was trying diffrent ones out i had bloke saying what a harness mate! and then another say i dont like that one, sooooo its total about you just go and try some on thats your best bet!!

 

ps hope the back gets better

[dryadlad]

I have two discs missing which have disintegrated each side of my L4 (lumbar, fourth one up from bottom of spine) vertabra, and the L4 has moved forwards so far that in the MRI scan you can see a 90degree bend in my spine looking from the side. I have used a petzl and willans, and fing that the only thing that i can climb all day in is the weaver, which has a huge back support which is really rigid. Work positioning is key too, i find that i have to be more aware of how i am twisting, and will reposition if necessary. Staying still is bad too, so get back to excercise.

 

Oh, and tell that chiropractor to stuff it and go and see a registered physiotherapist. Chiropractors are classed as complimentary medicine at best and charlatans out for nothing but money at worst by the general medical council. They arent seen as mainstream medicine, as most of them will charge you for an x-ray they may not and should not need, and then almost exclusively treat you with manipulation(bone crunching) whether this is what you need or not, as this is how their basic training is provided. My mate had a prolapsed disc and a chiroprator nearly paralysed him for life thrugh manipulation. Obviously i am generalising, but be very very aware of who you let treat your spine.

 

.My chiropractor is pretty good she sorted a friend and my mrs old man , but i am fully aware they can do more bad than good as there are charlatans in all trades.I tried the physiotherapist last time and basicly got dicked around so much thats why i went to a chiropractor.

[Stephen Blair]

ostio all the way here