Kids are natural climbers. When mine started to scramble up the hallway door jamb at home I knew they were ready to hit the gym. But kids have different anatomy than adults, and they need different gear — they are disproportionately top-heavy and have narrow hips, meaning children climbing in adult harnesses are prone to flipping over in a fall.
For this reason, it’s important that small children use a body harness, as it raises their center of gravity when climbing with a rope. It’s unfortunate that a lot of body harnesses are like climbing into a cat’s cradle, leaving a wreckage of webbing trailing out of every buckle.
When I saw Petzl’s form-fitting Macchu harness and Body shoulder strap I knew my kids needed to test it out. Here’s our first look.
The Gear: Petzl Macchu Harness and Body Shoulder Strap (available now; $80 for the package).
Where to test It: Climbing gyms and crags (top-roping).
Made For: Preschoolers to junior climbers.
Boring But Important: It’s critical that we differentiate the two items here: The Macchu is a seat harness; the Body is a chest harness that raises the child’s center of gravity when paired with a seat harness. The Body should never be used by itself.
Seat Harness: The Macchu is a mini version of a model in Petzl’s adult harness line. It has a padded waist and leg loops, gear loops, and dual front buckles. A double-webbing design spreads the load over the straps rather than focusing it over a single band. Its ergonomic cut is wider on the sides, narrower in the front and back.
Shoulder Harness: The Body is a simple vest with adjustable, double-back shoulder straps. The backside is padded for a comfortable fit. Two tie-in points on front feed the rope to the harness and help keep a child upright in a fall. (The Body is sold separately; if you own a child’s seat harness from another brand, I’d recommend purchasing the Body to balance a current harness.)
