Arc'teryx AR-385a Review

The Arc'teryx AR-385a has a four-inch wide "warp technology" waistbelt. Instead of placing padding around one or two bands of webbing which carry the load, this construction distributes it across the entire harness, which has no padding at all. There are four plastic-covered rigid gear loops with flexible attachment points and a non-structural loop in the back for a haul line or extra gear. There are also four ice clipper slots sewn to the outside of the harness. Note that the AR-385a is almost the same as the Arc'teryx FL-355. The AR (all-around) has adjustable leg loops, and the FL (fast and light) has fixed leg loops.

Performance Comparison

Standing & Hanging Comfort

The AR-385a scored near the top of the list for standing comfort. The waist belt and leg loops are so thin that you almost forget they are on, and while the harness is an impressive four inches wide at the back, it tapers around the sides of the hips towards the front, contributing to its comfort. When it comes to hanging, however, this harness had mixed reviews from our testers. While we all found the waistbelt to be very comfortable to hang in, with no pinching or pressure points, the leg loops were a different matter.

The material is so thin that it cut into the backs of our thighs, creating a painful spot. While other light sport-specific harnesses made our legs go numb after about 10 minutes of hanging, this one actually hurt! Arc'teryx says that they used softer edges on these redesigned harnesses "to eliminate cutting and binding," and you can see where there is a 1/4 inch edge all around the waistbelt and leg loops, but in practice, this didn't seem to make much of a difference. If you plan on doing lots of long routes with hanging belays, or hang-dogging a lot while sport climbing, you'd be better off with a harness that provides more padding.

Discipline-Specific Features

The AR-385a has many features that we like for an all-around harness, and a few that we don't. The gear loops are large enough to hold many quickdraws or lots of gear if you prefer to rack on your harness. Because they lie flat, it is more comfortable to wear a pack over this model than the Black Diamond Momentum or Solution models. The leg loops are easy to drop if need be on a long route and the hook attachment has a slim profile that won't create a pressure point when pressing your back against the rock.

However, the rear gear loops are pretty far towards the back of the harness, and they might get in the way if you're doing some serious chimneying. The rear haul line loop has a tag that says 0 kN, which is probably a good way of letting you know not to use it as a clip-in point. This is not much of a deal-breaker — we can think of virtually no times that we've actually used a rear point to secure ourselves — but it is nice to know that the loop that you've attached your tag line to is strong enough to take that weight. We are assuming that this small loop is still engineered to carry the weight of a rope.

This harness comes with four ice clipper slots that are sewn onto the outside of it. The slots are not as tight and secure as we would have liked. Depending on which style of ice tool carabiner you use, you might have a lot of extra movement with these slots. This harness weighs 13 ounces in a size small. It's extremely compact, and though it takes a bit of finagling to actually get the harness in the tiny carry bag, it will save a lot of room in your pack once you do, making this harness a good choice for light and fast missions.

Versatility

We ranked this model very high for versatility as well. If you are looking for a harness that can easily transition from sport to trad to ice, this is a great choice. Even if you mostly sport climb, you never know when the opportunity to try something new might arise. The adjustable leg loops and ice clipper slots give you the option to use one harness for everything.

Adjustability

The AR-385a is very adjustable. The pre-threaded waist buckle cinches down with ease and stays there, and the adjustable leg loops give about four inches of play, so you can layer this harness over leggings one day, and long underwear and softshell pants the next.

Value

The AR-385a is one of the most expensive harnesses in our review, costing three times as much as some of the budget models we reviewed. While we don't disparage spending more money for a quality piece of gear, in this case, we are not sure it's worth it, considering you can buy a more comfortable harness with all the same features for half the price.

Conclusion