Black Diamond Ozone Review |
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Overall avg rating 4.3 of 5 based on 3 reviews. Most recent review: July 22, 2011
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Street Price:
Varies from $45 - $100 | Compare prices at 8 resellers
Pros: comfortable, light
Cons: only two gear loops, no haul loop
Best Uses: sport climbing, gym climbing
Manufacturer:
Black Diamond
| Review by: Chris McNamara ⋅ Founder and Editor-in-Chief, OutdoorGearLab ⋅ January 5, 2010 |
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Overview
The Ozone was one of our favorite sport climbing harnesses. This harness is simple, light, comfortable and has the basic necessities for sport climbing (and nothing more). It only has two gear loops but they are big enough to handle a lot of draws. There is no haul loop, for that you should consider the Black Diamond Chaos. The Women's version of this harness is the Black Diamond Aura.
OutdoorGearLab Editors' Hands-on Review
Likes
This harness is very comfortable considering how light and compact it is. Surprisingly, a few testers found the women's version, the Aura, more comfortable than the Black Diamond Chaos, which is beefier, more expensive and is supposed to be more comfortable. It could be that our testers (all men) fit better in women's harnesses. Who knew? At any rate, we were pleasantly surprised at how well it fit. Despite having only two gear loops, it was possible to fit a ton of draws because the gear loops are so big.
Dislikes
The main dislike is the fact that the Ozone has no rear gear loops or haul loop. We understand that the harness is targeted for sport climbing and Black Diamond wants to steer trad climbers toward the Chaos, but it would be nice if this had four gear loops for multi-pitch climbing.
Another point: the yellow color really popped at first and looks great in photos. However, this harness also shows dirt faster than any other. So if you want this harness to look pristine, you really must take care of it.
The elastic on the leg loops does not release quickly and easily. This might not be a big deal to some people, but the women's Aura should have a better release system. We prefer the buckle release Black Diamond uses on its Momentum harness.
Best Application
This harness is designed for sport climbing and gym climbing. That said, our testers used it on long, multi-pitch Yosemite free climbing walls and found it a pleasure to climb in.
Value
At $100, this harness is not cheap. For $40 less you can get the Mad Rock Alpha, which is not as highly rated but is almost as comfortable and has four gear loops, making it more practical for traditional climbing. However, most people keep their harness for many years and use it a ton so the Aura could be well worth the extra bucks – it was one of our favorite harnesses for sport climbing.
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Chris McNamara
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OutdoorGearLab Member Reviews of Black Diamond Ozone
Most recent review: July 22, 2011
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I don't know if they are still making the harness shown above. I just got a harness that is also called Ozone that is a new release, and IMO, they really nailed it this time.
The light harnesses that I've had previously have all been paired down to nothing with a really steep 80 ft. redpoint in mind when they were designed. I wanted a light harness for long hikes and climbs.
Most harnesses marketed as comfy or all-day or "trad" have too much crap on them for my taste…leg buckles, plastic snaps on the butt, heavy padding, a stiff high profile tie in that makes the point where your oh-dub becomes a squeeze about two inches larger (even the lightwieghts have this "feature".
The last generation of light harnesses were too minimal for big days. The one shown above didn't have enough gear loops to handle a rack and the need to move it around. Arcteryx has comfy lightweight harnesses, but the thinness of the buckle webbing scares me and would probably lead to early harness retirement (relative to harnesses w/ a fatter waistbelt). The Petzl Sama was pretty good, but not that comfortable and mesh stuff shredded almost immediately.
But the NEW Ozone totally nailed it. The waist band is lightly, but adequately padded and distributes your weight throughout it (not a strap of webbing). The buckle webbing is about twice as wide as the stuff on the Arcteryx. The FOUR gear loops are low profile and stay close to my butt. It has a small haul loop that appears full strength (I haven't checked specs though). The butt strap clips are tiny/low profile. It has the softest tie-in point that I've seen in years. It's comfortable. And, it only weighs 11 oz.
In my perfect world, the only thing that I'd change on this harness is the buckle. It has one of those ones that you never undo. I've never heard of one failing, but I figure that if all I need to do is pry up the size to get it to open up, then the same thing could happen if it ever hung up just so when I'm climbing. I'd rather have the responsibility of remember to double it back.
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NB: I only use this for sport!
Very light, comfortable and compact! Initially missed 2nd/rear gear loop, but after climbing with one realised this is way better, Would need that for trad. though, I will order the Black Diamond Chaos for trad. Has a nice large belay loop. Love the fact that it comes with its own baggie too! :-) Folds away to nothing for packing!
Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this product to a friend.
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 Black Diamond Ozone Credit: Black Diamond
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