Women's Quick Adjust

Men's Quick Adjust

NOTE: There are two different kinds of Cadillac Harnesses - the quick adjust and the regular. The regular has buckles that require doubling back. The quick adjust is just that - quick and easy to adjust and there is no need to double back.

Misty Mountain, Cadillac Quick Adjust Review

Rating
I'd buy it again!

The Why

This is an expensive harness (~$150 U.S.) but well worth the money. I needed to replace my old harness, which lasted many excellent years. Prior to finding the Cadillac, I purchased three new harnesses and stopped using them within a couple of climbs (talk about expensive!). When you climb a lot, you can really begin to notice the differences between harnesses.

• The Yeahs
  • The material on the front of the leg loops is stiff, making them stable and sturdy, but, more importantly they do not get twisted in the pack! I can pull my harness from the pack and it is ready to put on - no fussing or untangling!
  • The leg-loop padding and wide padded waistband are really comfy on a hanging belay. Nothing digs in somewhere or made my legs fall asleep.
  • The leg loops are attached by a insert-style clipping plastic buckle in the back: This is especially nice for the ladies so you can take a pee without removing the harness and its easy to re-clip. My old harness was much more difficult because you had to slide a small metal piece through a little tiny elastic loop in the very back. It was like threading a needle behind your back, often requiring me to ask for help. No more - just go then re-clip!
  • The gear loops: There are 6 loops, 3 on each side, placed at different levels which allow gear to be sorted and separated and easy to find. This is great for trad and multi-pitch climbs where you tend to have more equipment. There is room for everything!  The loops are large, stiff, and lift off of each other (refer to the photos above and you will see how the upper gear loops are pointing upwards when there is no gear on them).  The gear loops make it easy to clip and remove carabiners. One of my "failed" harnesses had soft gear loops in the back. The sales person said that feature made it more comfortable to have a backpack on with the harness. In concept that made sense, in reality, it was really difficult to clip and remove gear, which, I found to be way more important to me than back pack comfort.
  • The quick adjust buckles allow for easy entry into and exit from the harness. The webbing extends far enough that you do not have to disconnect it from the buckle, which keeps the harness hooked together and easy to step into (without things getting twisted and confused). These buckles also do not require you to double back.
  • The double waist buckles allow equal adjustment on both sides of the harness. This prevents the gear loops from being lop-sided. (A single buckle can result in one set of gear loops being closer to your front, the other set wrapping around your back, making certain loops more difficult to reach.)
• The Neahs
  • It's comparatively heavy and bulky. The extra padding makes it bulkier, as a result it doesn't cram into a pack as well, but I often wear my harness on the approach and return from the crag (or strap it to the outside of the pack if there is no room). I'd rather be as comfortable as possible on a multi-pitch climb trading that feature for packability.
  • It's pricey (about $130), but a well constructed harness that handles my excessive gear is worth it. I have had zero issues with stitching, tearing, or general wear and tear on the harness.