Black Diamond Technician
The Black Diamond Technician is one of the newer harness offerings from Black Diamond. Released in 2017, it aims to combine the weight, maneuverability, and design of a sport climbing harness, with the function of a trad climbing harness. The result is a jack-of-all-trades harness in a slimmed down, minimalistic package.
I had decided to purchase this harness after I made the transition from Sport Climbing to Trad Climbing. On multipitch trad climbs, my poor Petzl Adjama harness was having trouble. Overloaded with cams, nuts, and slings, the poor thing would sag off of my waist. This was uncomfortable, and above all, unsafe. If I was going to keep climbing like that, I knew that I needed a new harness. It was time for something more capable, one that would adhere to my waist better, and ideally had more real estate for trad gear.
The search was on. The only caveat was that I did not want to buy a whole separate harness exclusively for trad and multipitch climbing. It needed to be able to climb sport as well as it could climb trad. Instead of a hulking, encumbering big wall harness offering like the popular Misty Mountain Cadillac. I needed a lighter, more versatile harness. Don’t get me wrong, these harnesses certainly have their time and place, but they were not what I was looking for.
It wasn’t long before I stumbled upon the Black Diamond Technician Harness. It was exactly what I was looking for. Built like a sport climbing harness, but with extra comfort and a fifth gear loop for the trad climber. I was skeptical, however. It was (and still is) a new harness. There were few, if any objective reviews on the internet. I decided to bite the bullet, and give this harness a try.
Trad Harness
Table of Contents
As a trad harness, the Black Diamond Technician appears as though it would perform. With five gear loops, the Technician has space for a rack, including cams, nuts, alpine draws, anchors, and anything else you need to climb and descend a multipitch trad climb. Black Diamond also advertises that the harness can distribute the climbers weight throughout the waist band, creating a comfortable climbing experience in lieu of extra padding.
Unfortunately, due to weather, I have not been able to test this this harness out in a multi pitch environment. As I mention later in the review, I test this harness’ efficacy at hanging belays by hanging from an anchor constructed from a doorframe pull up bar.
Sport Climbing Harness
For Sport Climbing, the Black Diamond Technician can climb just as well as any other. You will find no shortage of room for a rack of draws on the Technician. Due to it’s lightweight build, and minimal design, the Sport Climber should have no problem working their project with the Technician.
On single pitch sport climbing, the Technician Harness performed well. It allowed for plenty of movement, and was fairly comfortable in this capacity. I did not experience any discomfort while hanging off of a draw, or while cleaning on rappel. As a sport harness, the Black Diamond Technician performs well.
Gear Loops
As I mentioned, the Black Diamond Technician Harness comes with five gear loops. That sounds nice on paper, but I felt somewhat disappointed. For one, the four main gear loops on the sides are smaller than the gear loops on other harnesses, including other Black Diamond harnesses. The fifth gear loop in the back does serve its purpose by allowing for a good spot for slings, anchor gear, and a belay device.
To test out the efficacy of the gear loops, I decided to load them up with all the trad gear that I own. I started with a double rack (Black Diamond doubles in .3-4, a set of nuts, and a few Metolius TCUs), which all fit pretty comfortably on the front two gear loops. On the back two, I clipped five alpine draws on each loop. On the rear fifth gear loop, I added anchor gear, two belay devices, a chalk bag, and anything else I could think of, including extra lockers and slings. The goal of adding all this gear was to simulate how it might feel if I was climbing a long multipitch with varied styles of climbing.
Locally, the weather has been out of season for multipitch climbing, so I have not been able to use the harness in this capacity. Despite the small gear loops, the Black Diamond Technician performed well. It handled all the gear I could throw at it with ease.
For comparison, I loaded up my Petzl Adjama with the same rack of gear. Though it only had four gear loops, the Adjama had no problems with handling a rack. Yet, without a fifth gear loop, gear organization was more of a concern. The Technician wins in regards to gear organization.
Ice Clipper Slots
As advertised, the Technician does come equipped with enough features to be a do it all harness. Included are Ice Clipper Slots. I have never ice climbed, so I cannot speak to the efficacy of this addition. Still, if I was ever granted the opportunity to go ice climbing, this would be a nice feature to have.
The ice clipper slots, combined with its low weight, makes me think that the Technician is an ideal candidate for alpine climbing. I’ll admit that I don’t know much about alpine or mountaineering, but I do know that low weight is preferrable.
Comfort
This harness foregos extra padding for a slim design that promises to evenly distribute weight. I found that this feature is a good idea, but falls short. While sport climbing, hanging out in the harness felt fine. Belaying, rappelling, and hanging all felt comfortable with a light sport rack.
To simulate a multipitch trad climb, I set up a cordelette anchor on a door frame pull up bar. I sat in my harness, double rack laden and all, hanging from this ad hoc anchor. After ten minutes, I switched to my old Adjama to compare the two. Despite the Technician advertising as being capable for big wall climbs, which I read as comfort, there was no obvious comfort advantage over the Adjama. In fact, I found the Adjama to be slightly more comfortable.
In a medium sized Technician harness, my 6’1”, 170 lb frame sustained pressure points where the waist belt contacted above my hip bones. Depending on how I sat in the Technician harness, the leg loops would pinch my thighs, causing tingling and numbness. This barely changed when adjusting the buckles and position on my thighs.
I’ll admit that I was disappointed. I was looking for a comfortable harness precisely for long multipitch climbs. Oh well. I think I’ll just stick with my trusty old Petzl.
Weight
At 13.3 ounces, this is a light harness. As I mentioned, this makes it a good harness for alpine climbing, where weight can be a priority. Black Diamond took some interesting design liberties to shave weight, some of which I find suspect. For example, the Belay Loop on this harness is thin-maybe half the width of a typical belay loop. This brings into question the long term durability of the Belay Loop. It may be adequately rated for belaying, but I believe that it would require more inspections more often to ascertain safety and wear.
The slim design of the Black Diamond Technician is also intended to reduce weight. At it’s widest point, the waist belt measures only 2.5 inches in width. Black Diamond claims that the Technician is designed to distribute a climbers weight to ensure comfort, but I felt that this fell short of its goal. This harness would have benefitted from a wider waist belt. I would have gladly taken an increase in weight in exchange for more comfort.
The Black Diamond Technician Harness- New and Improved?
All these design choices bring into question the motivations when creating the Technician. It’s predecessor- the Aspect, was a popular and well respected harness. The Technician is likely a replacement. Like the Technician, the Aspect had a fifth gear loop. Both Harnesses are advertised as being lightweight, do everything tools. Yet, the Technician does not improve on the flaws of the Aspect.
One complaint about the Aspect was that the waist strap was difficult to loosen and undue. Instead of pulling on the buckle, the user had to grab both ends of the waist belt, push them together to allow some slack in the strap, and loosen the strap with your fingers. This was an annoying feature for many climbers, but was often looked past due to the Aspect’s good performance. The Technician retains this feature. I found this to be rather annoying at times, especially after a long day of climbing where all I wanted to do was get out of my harness.
Likes
- Five Gear Loops
- Lightweight
- Packs Down Small
- Can hold a double trad rack, with all the fixin’s
- Fits Well
- Good for Sport, Ice, and Alpine Climbing
Dislikes
- Uncomfortable for Hanging Belays
- Waist Loop Buckle is Difficult to Loosen
- At $80, it is More Expensive Than Comparable Harnesses
- Narrow Belay Loop Raises Questions About Long Term
- Durability and Safety
- Not Ideal for multipitch trad climbing.
Overall
The Black Diamond Technician is a harness that promises much, but falls short in several key categories. It could have been great, but instead proved to be average. This harness is adequate as a sport and trad harness, but offers no clear advantage over lighter and more comfortable sport harnesses. The Black Diamond Technician is not a bad harness by any means, but any climber could do better for the price.
Where to Find the Black Diamond Technician Harness
Check Prices On Amazon: Men’s, Women’s
Related: 2018 Petzl Adjama Harness Review
Misty Mountain Custom Harness Review
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