How to Make a Harness With Tubular Webbing

With a breaking strength of 4,000 to 6,000 pounds, tubular webbing is a logical choice for use in the vertical world of climbing and mountaineering. Tubular webbing is something every climber should keep in the climbing kit. One technique to learn with the tubular webbing is how to make an emergency rappelling or climbing harness, known as a "hasty" harness. This tool is critical should you find yourself in situations requiring self or team rescue and don't have enough climbing harnesses for the crew.

Things You'll Need

  • 10 to 12 feet of 1-inch tubular webbing
  • Locking climbing-carabiner
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Instructions

    • 1

      Fold the tubular webbing (10 or 12 feet worth) in half, forming a "bight" in the center of the webbing. A bight is an open-ended loop on a rope or piece of webbing. Take the folded tubular webbing and push the bight into the center of the waist on your trousers.

    • 2

      Pull the two ends of the tubular webbing between your legs, going across the upper thighs and to the back side of the body. Pull the two ends around your sides and wrap them through the bight loops on the front side of your thighs.

    • 3

      Take the ends of the tubular webbing and bring them behind you to the rear side of the waist. Cross the ends of the tubular webbing behind the back and wrap them around the front of your waist. Be careful not to get the straps too high as they tighten and impede the diaphragm, making breathing hard.

    • 4

      Make two more wraps around the waist with the two tubular ends. Tie them in a square knot the your body's side and tuck the ends into the waist coils.

    • 5

      Unscrew the twisting lock on the gate of the climbing carabiner. A locking carabiner's lock is barrel shaped and slides over the gate on the device. Turn it clockwise to close and counterclockwise to open.

    • 6

      Slide the open carabiner up through the tubular waist straps on the now-formed hasty harness. Close the gate on the carabiner and turn the gate closed, turning counterclockwise. As a safety precaution, turn the gate open by one-quarter of a turn. This prevents the carabiner's lock from getting stuck in the closed position when placed under weight.