REASONS TO BUY
Unrivaled comfort while belaying and hanging
Good mobility
Affordable
REASONS TO AVOID
Gear loops are small for carrying a large rack
Not super versatile for other styles of climbing
Black Diamond Solution Review
One of the most comfortable harnesses you can buy, and our favorite for sport climbing
The Black Diamond Solution mens climbing harness
Credit: Jeff Dobronyi
RELATED: Best Climbing Harness of 2024
Our Verdict
The Black Diamond Solution is one of the most comfortable harnesses we have ever worn. Since our harness ratings are especially heavy on comfort — accounting for 55% of a product's final score if you combine comfort while standing, hanging, and belaying — it is no surprise that the Solution is among the highest-scoring harnesses in our review. While it doesn't have the absolute widest or most heavily padded waist and leg loops, the Fusion Core Construction disperses a person's weight in a way that is simply unrivaled among its competition. Despite this praise, the Solution is not the optimal choice for everyone. Its design and feature set are targeted specifically toward sport and gym climbing, eschewing many convenient and necessary features for carrying a large rack or extras up long trad climbs.
Editor's Note: We updated this review on August 7, 2024 with additional results after an extended testing period.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
Black Diamond Solution | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  Best Harness for Sport Climbing | Best Lightweight Harness |  Best Bang for the Buck | ||
| Price | $69.88 at Amazon Compare at 4 sellers | $105.95 at Backcountry Compare at 2 sellers | $79.95 at Dick's Sporting Goods Compare at 4 sellers | $89.95 at REI | $59.95 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | This harness is simply the best choice for gym and sport climbing | A lightweight harness for technical climbing adventures as long as they don't involve much hanging | This model is fashionable, comfortable, and versatile, all for a lower price than the competition | A light and comfortable harness for single or multi-pitch sport climbing | A decent all-around performer with a puzzling design that allows the nylon waist belt to slide through the padding, causing confusion and discomfort |
| Rating Categories | Black Diamond Solution | Blue Ice Choucas Pro | Petzl Sama | Edelrid Sendero | Edelrid Moe |
| Hanging Comfort (30%) | |||||
| Standing Comfort and Mobility (25%) | |||||
| Features (20%) | |||||
| Versatility (15%) | |||||
| Adjustability (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Black Diamond Solution | Blue Ice Choucas Pro | Petzl Sama | Edelrid Sendero | Edelrid Moe |
| Weight (Size Large) | 13.3 oz | 5.3 oz | 14.8 oz | 12.3 oz | 12.3 oz |
| Number of Gear Loops | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Haul Loop? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Adjustable Leg Loops? | No, elastic | No | No, elastic | Yes | Yes |
| Self-Locking Buckle? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ice Clipper Slots? | No | Yes - 4 | No | Yes - 2 | Yes - 2 |
| Waist Belt Construction | Fusion Comfort: three bands of webbing, breathable mesh, EVA foam insert | Mesh | EndoFrame: wide waistband to reduce pressure points | Soft frame construction with 3D mesh padding | Soft frame construction with 3D mesh padding |
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Our Analysis and Test Results
This harness performs well in the most important testing metrics around comfort and mobility. When you need to be comfortable hanging, making acrobatic moves, falling, and belaying your partner at the sport crag, this harness excels. If you need more versatility for other types of climbing, the Solution is less attractive.
Performance Comparison
The Black Diamond Solution at work at a hanging belay.
Credit: Eric Messier
Hanging Comfort
The Solution is among the most comfortable harnesses on the market for extended bouts of hanging. While rappelling, taking a climber's weight while belaying, or hang-dogging, this harness spreads the user's weight equally between the waist belt and the leg loops. The wide, supportive construction of these components prevents pressure points and provides a comfortable hanging experience. Sport climbing involves a lot of hanging, either working out the moves on a difficult route or holding your partner's weight while belaying them on their project.
The super wide leg loops found on the Solution do a better job of preventing loss of circulation than any of the others we tested. BD's “Fusion Comfort Construction” employs three bands of very thin webbing spread out evenly across the width of the waist belt and leg loops, efficiently dispersing the pressure generated by hanging or belaying in the harness. While it pairs a thin layer of EVA foam with some breathable mesh to complete the setup, this foam layer is nowhere near as bulky as that found on other high-performance harnesses. The result is a harness that is comfortable to wear when hanging and also provides great mobility.
The wide, supportive leg loops and waist belt spread the user's weight over a large surface area, creating a super comfortable hanging experience.
Credit: Jeff Dobronyi
Standing Comfort and Mobility
When it comes to climbing, standing around, or walking around the crag, this harness is very comfortable to wear. The leg loops and waist belt are contoured to fit the body's curves, eliminating areas where the harness flaps off of the body. These loops hug the skin, and the connecting straps don't limit the range of motion. The fit almost never catches your attention, which is a good thing. When loaded up with quickdraws, the waist belt doesn't sag, and the low-profile design is comfortable to wear when wearing a pack. While climbing at your limit, mobility is key, and this harness won't hold you back when you are pushing the grades.
The riser bungees are slightly tight when raising our legs as high as we can, although this never affected us while climbing. Similarly, with its fixed leg loops, the stretchy elastic provides a slightly snugger fit around our upper legs than we would have if we had the option of adjusting the leg loops ourselves. These issues are minor and don't prevent us from recommending this harness for acrobatic sport climbing and gym climbing.
The Solution is comfortable to wear while climbing or standing on ledges, like the summit of the 3rd Flatiron above Boulder, Colorado.
Credit: Eric Messier
Features
The Solution is a minimally featured harness to maintain a simple setup for sport and gym climbing. It has fewer features than nearly any other harness, but we think they all perform excellently. Its single auto-locking buckle on the waist works fabulously, and we also like its heavily reinforced tie-in point, which is usually the first place to wear out on a sport climbing harness. We also like how easy it is to clip quickdraws to the rigid plastic gear loops.
If we have any complaints, it would be that the four gear loops are all relatively small. Each gear loop holds about eight full-size carabiners, meaning you can bring 16 quickdraws up a climb using just the front gear loops on each side. The rear gear loops hold about six carabiners each, which is plenty for carrying some extra draws up those long, rope-stretching pitches or a personal anchor lanyard for cleaning routes with ring anchors. However, the gear loops don't have enough room for a full trad rack and slings for harder trad climbing. It also lacks ice clipper slots for winter climbing, and its haul loop is not as large or easy to clip as most others.
The Solution's front gear loop holds around eight pieces of gear; the back loop holds roughly six.
Versatility
While this harness excels at sport and gym climbing, it lacks the versatility necessary to be an all-around workhorse. This is due to the small gear loops and lack of ice clipper slots. If the gear loops were larger, this harness would be suitable for trad and multi-pitch climbing, but as it stands, this harness remains an excellent sport climbing and gym-specific harness that advanced users will appreciate. If you are looking for one harness that can do it all, look elsewhere.
The Solution's fixed leg loops and small, unrated haul loop further limit the versatility of this harness, meaning it isn't useful for big wall climbing or climbing in cold weather where the user might wear thick layers on the lower body. This harness is best purchased by someone who spends 90% or more of their time at the sport crag or in the gym. It can be called into service for a bit of trad cragging or ice climbing, but it's not an optimal choice for those disciplines.
The Solution is versatile enough to carry a small trad rack for easy alpine adventures, in addition to its sport climbing prowess.
Credit: Eric Messier
Adjustability
The Solution offers a wide range of adjustability in the waist belt but does not have adjustable leg loops. It does, however, feature elastic leg loops, which help the harness fit a variety of thigh sizes. These leg loops seem to work for most users, ensuring a comfortable fit for most body types. Still, other users may prefer the increased adjustability of other harnesses with leg loop buckles.
Since this harness is designed specifically for sport climbing and gym climbing, users probably won't be wearing bulky clothing, hardshell pants, or multiple layers underneath this piece of gear. This means that the slight decrease in adjustability due to elastic leg loops isn't as much of a problem, and we never found ourselves wishing for more length adjustment.
The Solution's self-locking buckle is large and easy to manipulate.
Credit: Andy Wellman
Should You Buy the Black Diamond Solution?
We love this harness for sport and gym climbing, and if you only climb in these disciplines, this is the best harness for you. This is a great choice if you climb all disciplines but want a niche harness for your sport climbing days. It is relatively inexpensive, making it easier to justify purchasing a sport climbing-specific harness, and we think dedicated sport climbers pushing the grades might even feel a performance enhancement while climbing in this harness, compared to a heavier and bulkier all-around harness. But, if you are looking for one harness for all climbing disciplines, you should look elsewhere.
The Solution is a great choice for gym and sport climbers, and can also pull double-duty on trad climbs that don't require a large rack.
Credit: Eric Messier
What Other Climbing Harnesses Should You Consider?
The Black Diamond Solution is one of the most comfortable harnesses we tested for this review, and it's also one of the most affordable. If you are looking for a similarly comfortable and affordable harness with larger gear loops for trad climbing, check out the Petzl Sama. If you want the most versatile harness on the market, the Petzl Sitta is the best harness that money can buy. And if you want a harness with great performance in all rock-specific activities, the Petzl Aquila is another great choice. If you are looking for a do-it-all harness that can also hold ice screws but can't quite afford the Sitta, the Black Diamond Technician is a more affordable option that can still handle every climbing discipline. And if you want an even more specialized harness for redpoint attempts and gym climbing, the Black Diamond AirNet is a good choice too.
—
Jeff Dobronyi & Andy Wellman
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