During expeditions to assault the cliff faces after work, I gravitated towards the closest ones. Luckily, that was always to Tisá. A warm-up on an easy classic where the ring is fun, about face, didn’t even untie my shoes and right up a banger that’s been the talk of climbing pubs for decades. For the locals it’s their everyday playground. I love this type of climbing, because I don’t need much. A light backpack, mostly only carrying lunch and the 40 metre rope.
When Rock Empire came up with their Slight super-light harness, it became my most trusted friend among the rocks and on the wall in winter. For myself I chose the version with one buckle. This harness has all you need for sport climbing and nothing more! You can hardly feel it while climbing, but you know you can rely on it when you need to. The gear loops are just the right size to carry all the runners that I manage to attach on my way up and there’s still enough room for the ones that end up being just for decoration. Either way it was always big enough, even for all my multi-length climb gear.
Whether pulling in slack to the top of a tower or fixing points on multi-lengths, I appreciated the harness design. Unlike traditional harnesses with a padded load-bearing strap, the Slight is load-bearing over the whole surface of the strap, both the waist and the leg loops. So even if I have to wait for my lazy friend at the fixed points a bit longer, nothing itches, it’s one of the most comfortable harnesses I’ve ever had.
It’s a great harness not just for modern sport climbing, but the versions with 3 or 4 buckles make it a universal harness for multi-length climbing or for the mountains. That’s because the 3B/4B multi-buckle variants also allow you to tighten the leg loops and the two buckles at the waist, giving a more universal range of sizes. In summer, I’ll tighten it up and in winter I’ll loosen it around all the layers of warm clothing. With the SLIGHT 3B and SLIGHT 4B variants this makes it a versatile universal harness for all kinds of climbing activities.
When packing for and approaching a mountain climb, its low weight and packing size are a big advantage. The harness can be folded into a small, light package the size of a couple of chocolate-bars that won’t take up space in even the most minimalist approach backpack.
To end with, I’d like to mention that the harness is produced in Bohemia, specifically Děčín. That’s a great plus for me. That’s why I’ll always have a place for it in my pack, mainly because it’s the size of a couple of carabiners.
In Tisá it doesn’t matter if you lose a few quickdraws, you’re on an adventure after all!
Petr Brož, certified sports climbing instructor, Rock Empire product tester, Height specialist, Product consultant for work at heights
