Petzl Corax Climbing Harness

I’ve been climbing for about a year and a half and I’ve owned this for about a year.

It’s been the greatest harness, because before I used to borrow other people’s and rent them from various places, so I think I’ve gotten a pretty good feel for all sorts of harnesses. And this has been by far the most comfortable.

It’s a harness where you can lead because it has the loops for cams and quick draws, which is helpful if you want to advance your climbing career and learn to lead.

Something that I didn’t know when I purchased it is that this (green loop picturing directions) is not a picture of bugs. I thought that it was spiders and scorpions and outdoor themed. But really, if you look closely, it’s showing you how the harness should actually go. It’s actually very good to know and not get caught up in the idea that it’s insects.

It shows you how to tie the rope, and that it should be this way and not upside down. While it may seem common sense, sometimes the leg can get twisted upside-down and it really does come in handy. Now you can be wiser than I was and know that it’s not bugs.

I used to have a bad problem with the harness getting flipped and sometimes you don’t notice that it’s flipped because it still looks fine in the front—until you put it on and you try to tighten it like this, instead of like this. But something that my friend taught me about this harness in particular is that with this Petzl, you can always know which way is right-side up because the Petzl logo should always be right-side up. That was really helpful and it keeps me from looking like a fool.

So it’s very easy to tighten, you just pull on these loops and the stretchy guard loop. What I also like about this harness, as opposed to other harnesses I’ve used, is that there are several strap holder guard loops to put the excess material left over by the strap when you tighten it. Because if you’re like me and you have straps hanging down, it’s very bothersome because I’m always concerned I’m going to connect the strap to the rock instead of the rope. There are 3 places to put the excess cord in total.

There’s also this little loop on the back, which I find very, very helpful for my chalk bag. I spent a lot of months slinging my chalk bag to one of the more obvious loops, because that was easier for me. But then someone pointed out that if your chalk bag is here, it’s perfectly centered right behind you and it doesn’t hang very low. Sometimes, if it’s lashed to the side, it can hang very low, which is very uncomfortable when you’re climbing. That’s a nice benefit of this harness in particular. Maybe others have that same loop and I wasn’t clever enough when I used them, but that’s something that I enjoy about owning this harness.

And how many stars out of 5 would you give it?

I would give it a 5 because I haven’t died yet!

And anything you dislike about it?

No, I don’t think so, it’s very comfortable.