Xenos
Black Diamond Xenos harnessGood
– four well-positioned gear loops
– six ice clipper slots, four useful
– big haul loop
– solid construction
– snow & water shedding
Bad
– expensive $129
– heavy 460g
– not very compact
– leg loop strap material slips through buckles
The Xenos is BD’s premier ice and mixed climbing harness, featuring six ice clipper slots, four gear loops, a 12 Kn-rated haul loop and water shedding materials, all in an advanced shape featuring BD’s Kinetic Core Construction.
After a few months of winter use, from cragging to full-day climbs, I feel that I’ve got a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn’t.
The four pressure-molded gear loops are well positioned, and stick out nicely away from the body, making locating, removing and re-clipping ‘biners easy. Their solid construction doesn’t sag even when fully loaded with quickdraws and screamers.
Four of the six ice clipper slots are usefully positioned, while clippers in the two front-most ones get in the way anytime I move my legs. With screws hanging from them, they are downright dangerous as the sharp points have a tendency to poke into my thighs. The remaining four are very well positioned, and even the rear-most ones are useful for clipping screws to, something I did not expect. I planned on using the rear two to hang my tools from during rappels and snow slogs, but found myself using them for screws as well.
The harness also has a 12 Kn-rated haul loop, which is sizeable enough to find and easily clip things to when wearing gloves. It’s big enough to accommodate several ‘biners, and I usually clip a spare pair of gloves, v-thread cord, water bottle and a belay jacket to it.
The materials are supposed to be snow and water shedding, and I’ve never had any part of the harness freeze up, despite climbing a few routes that seemed more waterfall than ice.
I’ve found the Xenos to be reasonably comfortable, although as BD’s top of the line harness I was expecting more. During long, hanging belays it digs into my kidneys a bit, and I find myself having to shift the waistbelt every few minutes. While comfort is entirely subjective – perhaps the harness sits differently on me than on BD’s body model – packability is easily measured, and is definitely below that of similar harnesses.
The foam construction isn’t very flexible, so the harness doesn’t fold up well or compact much. Other than rope and helmet, it is the biggest item in my pack and I always find myself envious of my buddy’s supremely compact Arc’teryx X-350a.
The Xenos is also heavier than similar harnesses, although to be fair it trades additional features in favor of the others’ lower weight. (See table below.)
My only functional complaint is that the leg loop adjustment straps have a tendency to slip a little due to the slick nylon. The waistbelt, on the other hand, has a much more textured strap which doesn’t slip and I’d like to see the leg loops made out of this material as well.
Overall, there isn’t much to fault with the Xenos. While some might balk at spending over a hundred on a harness, it’s $129 sticker price is middle of the road in this class.
It’s a solid, functional harness let down only by two non-essential things: the equivalent of two ClifBars’ worth of weight and a pair of gloves’ worth of space.
Rafal Andronowski Photography 