Misty Mountain Custom Harness Review: Continuing the Search for the Perfect Harness
Table of Contents
Here in the high plateau country of the American Southwest, the staff at Hike The Planet! are often too busy tapping away at their keyboards to actually get out and enjoy the great outdoors. We are surrounded by some of the best climbing, hiking, and beauty in the world, where opportunity abounds for fun and exploration every gosh darn day. Instead, we are reviewing gear, trying to come up with sardonic witticisms, and sometimes complaining about having to build a website on nothing but a tiny iPad.
Are we missing the point in all of this? Are we too focused on the gear, the material, fleeting stream of Patagonia advertisements and instagram narcissism that has come to facade these sports? Nope. Rather, we are continuing the search for the best harness ever, because we can’t be satisfied with only a perfectly capable harness. It needs to be a harness worthy of conspicuous consumerism.
This time, we got our hands on a Misty Mountain custom harness. Misty Mountain, based in the mountains of North Carolina, is one of those smaller, down to earth gear manufacturers. They have a pretty good reputation amongst climbers, particularly for the comfort and versatility offered by the popular Cadillac harness.
Who is Misty Mountain?
All of MM’s goods are handmade right here in the good ol’ USA, and their harnesses are renowned for their durability and longevity. Big Wall Yosemite climbers try their best to shred them up in chimneys and off widths, but to little avail. These harnesses have won the hearts and minds of many climbers, turning them into brand loyalists. After our go with an MM custom, we can see why climbers everywhere rave about them.
I don’t know how Misty Mountain got their name. Maybe it’s a reference to Led Zeppelin’s Misty Mountain Hop off of Led Zeppelin IV (let the record show that Hike The Planet! deems IV the second best Led Zeppelin album). Is Misty Mountain a fan of the Tolkien-verse?. Perhaps they really enjoy alliterations. Regardless, MM makes kick butt harnesses.
We began this quest with the Black Diamond Technician. After disappointment from the Technician’s performance, we moved onto the Petzl Adjama. In that review, we decided that the 2018 Adjama was pretty close to the perfect climbing harness. Still, we knew that we could do better.
Enter Misty Mountain. After years of adding custom harness options by request, they decided to streamline this process by installing a custom harness builder into their website. For a fee, climbers can mix and match waist belts, leg loops, and colors to create their perfect harness. With the option to add extra gear loops, ice clipper slots, and belay loops, a harness to match an occasion can be concocted.
As we mentioned in our Melanzana Microgrid Fleece review , we like gear made by grass roots companies. We feel that we don’t need copy-pasted gear from juggernaut entities. Instead, we like to sample the options provided by outdoor lovers like you and I. If you call up Patagonia, you’re not likely to get Yvon Chouinard on the phone. Climbers, Hikers, and Adventurers looking to carve out a living in the world of outdoor sports often do so because they love these pursuits as much as we do, and are enthusiastic to share that love with the greater community. Also, we are hipsters at heart.
Our Custom Harness
Essentially, our perfect harness is a better padded Petzl Adjama. This theoretical harness can sport climb as well as it can multi-pitch. It is reasonably light weight, has five gear loops for racking and organization, and can contort to match the acrobatic demands of sport climbing, while still being comfortable enough to hang in. Oh, and it needs to be durable too. We are a picky bunch, and we demand a lot from our gear.
A quick look through of the Custom Harness Builder, and we determined it to be the best option for creating the harness we desire most. Our options were a crag waist belt with quick adjust buckles, wall leg loops, and an extra gear loop. You also are given the option to choose the colors for the wait belt, the webbing, and the inner padding. We chose neutral earth tone colors, because we are tired of obnoxiously bright colored gear.
Before you can begin designing your order, MM asks that you accept their terms. Basically, it states that harnesses may take up to 3-4 weeks to be sewn. and shipped, and that no returns or exchanges are accepted. Also, a custom harness will cost you. Depending on your options, MM custom orders can dwarf the cost of harness from other manufacturers. Still, we were impressed and optimistic about the level of customizability allowed. So much so, that we shelled out the extra clams.
First Impressions
My Misty Mountain custom harness arrived in the mail in a cardboard box sporting the misty mountain logo. It arrived three weeks after I placed the order, as was to be expected. The harness was packed inside the box without a stuff sack. Instead, the harness was folded to fit within the box. Besides the harness, a packing slip, and instructions on how to use the harness came included.
A pleasant little addition in my order was a Misty Mountain Trucker Hat. I don’t know if a trucker hat comes with every custom order. I received mine as a bonus gift after a friendly interaction with customer service (see below). Personally, I don’t think trucker hats look that great on me (I have a weird shaped head), but I have been wearing mine everywhere.
Craftsmanship
Upon the first visual inspection of my custom harness, it became immediately apparent that this harness was constructed with skill, care, and great attention to detail. The stitching was clean, my chosen colors were vibrant, and the harness has a sleek, minimalistic aesthetic.
Call me vain, but I care about how my gear looks. When gear has inappropriate bright colors and patterns, I’m less likely to buy it. In the outdoors, bright colored gear can subtract from the experience. Just about every major gear manufacturer is guilty of this. Misty Mountain has chosen to eschew obnoxious looks in favor of clean, considerate design. Not to say that the buyer is not given the option to add bright colors to their custom harness, but Misty Mountain employs thoughtful design elements.
This is a beefy harness. Everything about it feels burly. You can tell that these harnesses are designed to be used and abused. While other gear companies are continually opting for slimmed down construction, MM retains a time tested design. These harnesses are known for their longevity. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Compared to other harnesses that we have owned or tested, our MM custom harness looks like a seamstress on steroids gave a bunch of steroids to your run of the mill harness, then put it under the gun of an industrial grade sewing machine. Well, that’s an exaggeration. In truth, the most noticeable difference is a thicker, wider belay loop.
Customer Service
Misty Mountain wins points for customer service. On two separate occasions, I needed to call the Misty Mountain offices regarding my order. Both times, I was given amazing customer service by friendly employees of Misty Mountain. In my book, MM wins points simply for the care that is put in to assist their customers.
The first time contacted customer service, it was to place my custom order. After using the custom harness building tool, I could not check out due to technical difficulties. Instead, I called Misty Mountain to resolve the issue. I explained my to a sales associate. This sales associate then went through the custom harness tool, and filled in my requested design options as I told them to her. She also filled out my credit card info, and shipping information. I was very impressed with her patience and her customer service skills. Misty Mountain, if you ever end up reading this, I give a big shout out to Rachel for being a great employee.
Two weeks after placing the order, I was feeling very excited to receive my harness. Out of curiosity, I again called up Misty Mountain to inquire about the status of my order. My call was answered by a man with a friendly voice. I told him my information, and he found that my order was not due to be shipped out for another week. He saw my shipping information, and seeing that I live Arizona, he asked about which Arizona crag was my favorite.
For those curious (if any) Paradise Forks is my favorite Arizona crag. It is simply the best crack climbing around. As it turns out, it is a favorite crag of the man on the other end of the line as well. Separated by 2000 miles, I bonded with this climber, him in North Carolina, and me in the deserts of Arizona. Much to my surprise, this friendly climber turned out to be a man called Goose, the very owner of Misty Mountain. I bonded with this man over a love of climbing, through the light speed of telephone communication. He put a note on my order to get it sent out a little sooner. When it arrived, I received a handwritten note from Goose, as well as a sweet MM trucker hat. Thanks Goose!
Let it be known that good people are hard at work making your Misty Mountain climbing gear. I have always heard good things about the company. Through my own interactions, their good reputation is firmly solidified in my mind. I can’t say the same of bigger, more mainstream gear manufacturers.
Weight
Truth is, we were not expecting this harness to match the helium like weightlessness of modern harnesses. Instead, we were looking for any weight less than that of a beefcake aid climbing harness. Weight is not as much of a concern as is utility. On both multipitch trad, and sport climbing, the weight of the harness did not factor into our judgement.
At Hike The Planet! world headquarters, we lack the means to weigh our gear. Instead, we are basing it on how it feels compared to other harnesses. In comparison to the 2018 Adjama, the MM custom is slightly heavier. Yet, with all the same features and enhanced comfort, the added weight did not count for much.
Comfort
Initial testing of the comfort of my Misty harness was performed the same way as in my review of the Black Diamond Technician. A simple anchor was built using cordellete and a door frame pull up bar, with the harness connected via carabiner.
I am starting to question the efficacy of this technique. The point is to simulate a hanging belay, where the climber will feel strong discomfort. All the harnesses I test using this method feel the same, which is discomfort followed by numbness, with no discernible difference between make and model, padding, and waist belt width.
I was first able to test out my Misty Mountain Harness on Sedona Scenic Cruise, a five pitch, 700 foot route in beautiful Sedona, Arizona. All of the belays on this route are on comfy ledges, but this did not stop me from hanging around. It was pleasant enough to find that hanging in my harness, whether from a belay anchor, or while following a pitch, was comfortable and supportive.
After several hours of wearing the harness fully loaded, I began to experience discomfort on my lower back. A pressure point had materialized. It became distracting enough that I repeatedly tried to adjust the harness. I do not attribute this to the Misty Mountain. Rather, it is most likely the result of a recent weightlifting injury acting up as a result of climbing and hiking all day. Any harness, loaded with the same amount of gear, would likely cause the same discomfort.
The last pitch of Sedona Scenic Cruise is an unrelenting, slightly over hung chimney 600 feet off the deck. Following this pitch, the MM custom felt comfy capable. As he struggled up through the sandstone, dark thoughts crept into our gear tester’s head. Exposed, struggling, and tired, our tester suddenly thought it foolish to trust a new harness so far above the abyss. Luckily, he made it out alive. Good for us, because we are running low on gear testers.
For comfort, I would say that the Misty Mountain ranks high above all other harnesses that I have worn, aside from more comfort dedicated harnesses like the Misty Mountain Cadillac. My custom options hit that fine compromise between comfort, utility, and mobility.
Fit
In my order, I specified a medium crag waist belt, with small wall loops. This combo fits well, and the quick adjust waist and leg loop buckles securely cinch down. The size small leg loops can be tightened around my thighs, with the sacrifice of some mobility. It is nice to have that option, especially when hanging around.
A constant problem that I have with harnesses is that my waist seems to fit in a grey area between Medium and Small waist sizes. I generally find that the Medium waist belt fits me a tad better, but medium sized leg loops are often too large for my skinny chicken legs. I attempted to remedy this by purchasing a custom harness with a medium waist belt, and small leg loops. So far, this combo is working well.
My only small complaint is that the leg loops see to ride too high at times. I’m afraid that a fall might result in smashed um uhhh ahem offset stoppers. Then I compared it to my old Adjama, a harness that I have fallen in many times, and the leg loop position is similar enough to assuage my fears. On actual rock, the leg loop position is fine. The elastic straps that run behind the legs are very adjustable, and the quick adjust buckles on the loops allow for easy positioning. When climbing, I have found that I prefer to looser leg loops, as it allows for more freedom of movement.
Gear Loops
The Crag belt comes with four standard loops. For added gear storage, I paid the additional fee to have a fifth gear loop sewn on. The gear loops are a tad smaller than the 2018 Adjama loops, but are positioned more consciously. For example, they don’t have the issue of overlapping, thus negating the small risk of clipping into two loops simultaneously.
Misty Mountain sew their gear loops so that they stick out perpendicular to the waist belt, rather than laying flush to the side ala any other harness. It is claimed that this orientation prolongs the lifespans of the gear loops. I can’t verify this with experience, but Misty Mountain harnesses are known for their durability. At first, I thought that this made for an awkward look, but I have come to admire it.
A cool little bonus feature is that the harness came with a rated haul loop. Though we may not be doing much hauling in the near future, this feature will be nice for when we inevitably do decide to haul something up a wall. In the mean time, it has been used to attach a tag line.
Maneuverability
Thus far, this harness run the gamut from flashy sport climbing, to splitter crack climbing, to burly off width. With the right leg loop adjustments, this harness could facilitate any move with ease. Our customization choices have made it a perfectly able harness for any style. This may just be our imagination, but you can feel the bulk of this harness, whereas in others you cannot. We chalk this up to a weird twist of perception.
Conclusions
For those looking for a harness perfect for their individual needs, Misty Mountain has what you need. Their craftsmanship, customization options, and great customer service all come together to make a quality product. With our choices, we have made a harness equally viable in both single pitch sport, and multi pitch trad settings. If you are willing to shed out the cash, a harness can be made to suit any setting and style. It comes highly recommended that you consider this option.
Pros
• Plenty of customization options and colors
• Renowned Durability
• Quality Craftsmanship
• American Made
• Great Customer Service
Cons
• Expensive
• Some may not like the unique, modest look and feel of MM harnesses.
Thanks for reading. We hope that this review, and others like it, can help guide your choice in searching for the perfect gear that suits your needs!
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