Black Diamond Solution Review

The Black Diamond Solution uses what is called Fusion Comfort Construction to create the most comfortable waist belt and leg loops. This design employs three bands of very thin webbing spread out evenly across the waist and legs to more efficiently disperse the pressure generated by hanging or belaying in the harness. While it does pair 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 the Petzl Sama, or even the Black Diamond Chaos. The result of this technology is that it was the most comfortable harness to hang in and for hanging out, and second best for belaying next to the Sama and the similarly designed Petzl Adjama, despite costing a significant amount less than many of the other models that we tested.

The only downside that we can find to this harness is the fact that it doesn't have larger gear loops to accommodate the amount of gear typically carried when leading long free routes. Instead, it is a sport or gym climber's specialty harness and works optimally for these disciplines. If you are looking for one single contender that can do everything from sport to alpine, then we recommend the super versatile Petzl Sitta. For another versatile option that is a competitive price, check out the Petzl Sama.

Performance Comparison

The Black Diamond Solution is the most comfortable sport climbing harness that you can buy, making it one of our Top Picks. If you mostly sport climb, this is easily one of the best choices for you, although it lacks a bit in versatility for other climbing styles like trad or alpine.

Hanging Comfort

The Solution is the highest scorer when it comes to hanging comfort in our comparative testing. When hanging while rappelling or at a hanging belay, we have found that a person's weight will rest roughly equally on the leg loops where they arc across the back of the hamstrings and the waistband as it cradles the lower back. Therefore, hanging comfort has a large amount to do with the performance of both the waist belt and the leg loops.

The super wide leg loops found on the Solution do a better job preventing loss of circulation than any of the others we tested. However, when hanging, the waist belt tends to ride up a bit, putting a bit of pressure on the kidneys. This happens in a lot of harnesses and ss still less of an issue than we found on the Black Diamond Momentum. Oddly enough, despite having the same Fusion Comfort Construction, the Black Diamond Technician is nowhere near as comfortable as the Solution.

Hanging in a harness is usually not all that comfortable. We hung in each model for lengthy periods of time to test how they felt, and there is no doubt the BD Solution is among the most comfortable.

Standing Comfort and Mobility

When it comes to standing around or hiking while wearing a harness, this harness easily ranks among the best. It fits in a snug but very unobtrusive way, almost never catching your attention. Carrying a lot of weight on it, we notice no sagging or chafing of any sort, comparable to the comfort level experienced with the Petzl Sama. While wearing a pack, it is no hindrance, as the low profile design easily sits well under the waist belt of our pack without undue pressure.

When it comes to mobility, we have little to complain about, but are going to get nitpicky because that's what we do in a comparative test. 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, like on the Petzl Aquila. These issues are so minor that they certainly don't keep it from being one the most comfortable. Only the Petzl Sitta, which is the lightest and least bulky harness, scored better.

The Solution is a highly mobile harness that moves as you do, and as one tester put it, "feels like you are not even wearing a harness".

Features

The Solution is a minimally featured harness to maintain a simple setup for sport and gym climbing. It has fewer features than the Black Diamond Chaos or even the Petzl Corax, 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, usually the first place to wear out on a sport climbing harness. We also like how easy the rigid plastic gear loops are for quickly clipping and unclipping quickdraws, and found that despite the fact these have been shrunk even smaller on the latest version, they are still very easy to clip.

If we have any complaints it would be that the four gear loops are all small: perfect for carrying a rack of 16 quickdraws, but not as large as the oversized front loops found on the Chaos. It also doesn't have ice clipper slots for winter climbing, and its haul loop is not as large or easy to clip as most others and is likewise not rated.

The Solution has a minimal feature set, as you can see it has some of the smallest and lowest profile gear loops you can find on a harness, perfectly adequate for carrying a selection of quickdraws.

Merely having larger gear loops would have expanded the range of this excellent harness into almost any discipline, but as it stands, it is thus a bit limited. A similar harness with a large fifth gear loop and ice clipper slots is the new Black Diamond Technician.

Showing the auto-locking buckle on the waist belt of the Black Diamond Solution, which effectively pinches the webbing between to metal pieces to stay tight at all times.

Belaying Comfort

Comfort while belaying is perhaps a bit overlooked when considering a harness purchase, but it shouldn't be, as this makes up a large part of a harnesses function. There is no doubt that the Solution is comfortable for this purpose, but in the end, this is the only comfort-related grading metric where we feel the Sama is unquestionably better.

When it comes to holding someone on a top-rope or while hanging for a long time, the critical place of discomfort comes where the leg loops wrap over the femoral artery on the inside of the leg and rise to meet the belay loop. With the widest and most comfortably constructed leg loops, it shouldn't be a surprise that the Solution performed so well. By comparison, the Arc'teryx AR-395a has thin straps at this critical point that feel like they are gouging into us, while the high end BD Chaos is also comfy, but just not quite the same.

While the Solution comes in both men's and women's specific version, Jess was left testing a men's because her bags didn't show up in Spain for three days (always carry shoes and harness in your carry on!) Regardless, she agreed that it is a rediculously comfortably harness to belay in.

Versatility

If there is one aspect we wish that we could change about this harness, it would be to make it more versatile. BD heard our complaints and added the Technician to their line-up, but surprisingly it is not nearly as comfortable. As only being fit for sport climbing, this is one of the least versatile choices you could make.

The Solution's fixed leg loops, small gear loops, small haul loop, and lack of ice clipper slots all limit its use. 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 if needed, but just isn't as optimal a choice for those disciplines as the Sama or Sitta.

The Solution is purpose made for sport climbing, and its feature set is such that it doesn't offer itself well to many other climbing genres. On the other hand, it does pack down very small and easily fits in a pack for long approaches.

Best Applications

The Solution is designed for sport and gym climbing, and these will be its best uses. It can be used from time-to-time for single pitch trad climbing but is lacking in the features most users would want for other styles. It is very light and easily packable. We would not recommend it for multi-pitch trad routes, or for alpine rock or mixed climbing.

Sport climbing is the best use for the Solution, like pulling on 30m long overhanging tufas in Chulilla. This harness comes in both men's and women's specific models.

Value

The Solution retails for $70. This checks in at around $20 more expensive than the cheapest options, but $130 cheaper than the most expensive harness that we tested. Since we think it is the best sport climbing harness you can buy, we are happy that it comes at a relatively affordable price tag and think it presents great value.

Conclusion

The Black Diamond Solution is the most comfortable harness that we tested for this review, and was also one of the highest overall scorers. As such, we feel like it is the absolute best choice for climbers who primarily sport or gym climb. We also like that it comes at a relatively affordable price compared to most companies' "high end" versions, and thus wholeheartedly endorse it.

Testing the Solution on the type of terrain it is designed for - sport climbing - in the super beautiful Chulilla of Spain.