FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a roping harness comprising a belt and a pair of leg loops.

STATE OF THE ART

In the field of rock climbing, mountaineering, or ski touring, or for working at a height, roping harnesses ensure the safety of the people involved.

In conventional manner, a roping harness comprises a belt and a pair of leg loops. Depending on the type of use, the belt and leg loops can be more or less thick to provide user comfort. For example, a harness intended for working at height has to be particularly comfortable to be able to be used for a long period. The harness also has to be particularly comfortable when climbing so as not to injure the climber who falls when he is leader on a climbing route.

In the field of mountaineering and ski touring, the harness is mainly intended for roping a climbing team. The thicknesses of the belt and of the leg loops can be smaller as the latter are rarely under pressure. This results in a gain in weight and compactness appreciated by sports persons, but to the detriment of their comfort.

In order to guarantee good conditions of use whatever the field of activity involved, it is important to achieve a trade-off between user comfort, the weight of the roping harness and its compactness. In this way, the harness is general-purpose and the user does not need to procure several different items of equipment. In a large number of activities, it is particularly advantageous to use a harness that is as light as possible, which means choosing astute solutions to gain a few grams. Some light harnesses exist having a design that is conceived to reduce the weight of the harness to the minimum. However, these harnesses are not particularly comfortable which limits their use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the invention consists in providing a harness that is light and that provides enhanced comfort in order to increase the conditions in which the harness can be used.

This requirement tends to find a solution by means of a roping harness comprising a belt and leg loops. The harness is remarkable in that the belt is formed by a first strip and a second strip separated so as to define a housing cavity housing at least one foam comfort pad, the first strip being an inner strip designed to come into contact with the user's back whereas the second strip is an outer strip of the belt, the first strip and second strip being fixed to one another by at least one resistance strap mechanically secured to a suspension point. The housing cavity comprises at least one opening so that the at least one foam comfort pad is removable from the housing cavity.

In one development, the harness comprises first and second foam comfort pads. The housing cavity comprises first and second opposite openings along the longitudinal axis of the belt so that the first and second foam comfort pads are removable from the housing cavity respectively via the first and second openings.

Advantageously, the first strip and/or second strip are formed by a netting.

In a particular embodiment, the harness comprises first and second resistance straps defining two opposite ends of the housing cavity in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the belt, the first and second resistance straps being mechanically fixed to the suspension point.

It is advantageous to provide for the first strip and second strip to be formed from a material having a Young's modulus lower than a Young's modulus of the at least one resistance strap.

In another development, the roping harness is remarkable in that it comprises a belt and leg loops. At least one leg loop is formed by a first strip and a second strip separated so as to define a housing cavity housing a foam comfort pad, the first strip being an inner strip designed to come into contact with the user's thigh whereas the second strip is an outer strip of the leg loop. The first strip and second strip are fixed to one another by at least one resistance strap secured to a suspension point. The housing cavity comprises at least one opening so that the foam comfort pad is removable from the housing cavity.

Preferentially, the harness comprises first and second resistance straps defining two opposite ends of the housing cavity in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the leg loop, the first and second resistance straps being mechanically secured to the suspension point.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method for using the roping harness which enables the weight and comfort of the harness to be adjusted to suit the envisaged use.

This requirement tends to find a solution by means of a method for using a harness according to one of the foregoing embodiments and which comprises the following steps:extracting a foam comfort pad from the housing cavity,fitting the roping harness on the user.

These requirements also tend to find a solution by means of a method for using a harness according to one of the foregoing embodiments and which comprises the following steps:inserting a foam comfort pad in the housing cavity,fitting the roping harness on the user.

