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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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My partner, Bud, wore one for years. I thought he was crazy. Probably the best argument I've ever seen for a swami.
Aside from the obvious danger they posed to male anatomy, that single strand could really apply serious forces to the pelvis. I met a woman at JTree in an extended cast who had taken a long fall in one, gotten sideways, and had that strap fracture her pelvis right above the hip socket.
Yep, never wore one because of horror stories like the above.
First harness I had was a Forrest sewn swami with leg loops; wore a swami until then.
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Al Barkamps
Social climber
Red Stick
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Had a Whillans "special ops" harness....all black webbing. It all added to that special fear of falling off those Clogwyn foxheads. Wearing a Joe Brown bucket made no sense back then....why would you want to be conscious of such pain after falling?
Probably the only instance of safety gear that made soloing sensible.
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Happy Cowboy
Social climber
Boz MT
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Yes, I was a proud Whillans user, particularly for Alpine at the time. I just poked thru some slides and see myself rock climbing in 2" tube swamis, easy snow and glacier bowline on a coil, but Whillans was my go to for early Alaskan expeds and winter Teton climbing. They were easy on w' crampons, had this very slick hip flap that allowed you to strap Dolt holsters on either side to hold tools for hammer and mixed climbing. They also jugged Alpine terrain quite well, in my opinion, not so much vert rock. Key to the Whillans was it's 3 point tie in backing up the buckle closure. First buckle harness I ever trusted.
I'd add a pic of my Whillans in action on Mt Hunter South 73' but it's just a Kodak slide for the moment...I do recall taking 2 rather long falls due to fixed line/iced rappel misshaps, flying upside down 60-80' before being snapped back upright, luckily each time on icefields. Weren't the most comfortable but did the job!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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One interesting aspect of the tag that Marlow posted above is the "Whillans Whammer" multi-use hammer in Don's hand on Annapurna South Face the expedition for which the Whillans Sit Harness was designed by the man himself.
The space age Whammer is surely one of the rarest hammers ever made as it never caught on commercially. I've never seen one beyond this photo.
The funny thing is that the Whillans harness was really designed for expedition use while jumaring with loaded packs and wearing heavy clothing and wasn't really designed for technical rock climbing and long roped falls.
It was one hell of a good nutcracker though! LOL
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Curt
climber
Gold Canyon, AZ
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No problem with the Whillans' center strap--if you were bouldering...
Curt
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slabbo
Trad climber
colo south
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Steve- didn't whillans design a lot of the stuff for Annapurna in 1970 ? I know he did stuff before as well....The box tent was for patagonia i believe??
i climbed in a swami, sometimes with leg loops for quite a few years..first actual harness was a Fish "Sham Pelt" awesome 'cause it didn't have buckles
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Yes, Don designed the Whillans Box shelter too along with the Whammer and Sit Harness. Those are the only three gear items that I am aware of.
I think that you are right about the Whillans Box being tested in Patagonia ahead of Annapurna. The Box got used on the International Everest Expedition too and then it seems like it faded from use as wand tents got better.
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kief
Trad climber
east side
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Steve — There were "refinements" of the Whillans Box being used as late as the 1975 Everest SW Face expedition though. I lent a hand at Base Camp for a while (due to speaking Nepali and knowing Annie Haston) and I helped divvy up the guts of those behemoths into Sherpa loads. Each one weighed around 250 pounds. Hamish MacInnes had bulked up the original design to better withstand rockfall and there were kevlar shields meant to deflect avalanches. By all accounts they were devilishly difficult to assemble and I imagine that was their last hurrah in the Himalaya.
As far as the harness goes I'd join in the "Didn't everyone?" response. I know we moved a lot of them at the Curry Mountain Shop when I worked there in 1977. Mine was one of the Troll iterations but we might have been selling the Chouinard branded ones at the shop.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Yes, I climbed in a Whillans harness, and so did a lot of us in the 70s. You want proof?
The full story is here: http://www.supertopo.com/tr/Climbers-save-their-country-Yes-this-is-damn-on-topic/t11830n.html but these pictures tell at least part of the Whillans story.
Peter Croft in a Whillans. He's at the top, and below him are John, Peder, and Ryan. All in Whillans,
Me taking repeated falls for the camera in a Whillans. Laugh if you want, but it saved our country.
Tami Knight in a Whillans
John Howe in a Whillans
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Peater
Trad climber
Salt Lake City Ut.
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May have been said already but the tie in point on the "W" rig is way way too low.
Caught my partner wearing one of those things on a first pitch 30 footer and he flipped upside down. I caught him with his head about 7 inches off the deck and his shoulder gear sling rack was on the ground.
BTW I had anchored to the ground for the belay and was suspended in the air after taking in 1.5 lengths on his way down on my hip belay.
It took me many years to switch from my swami to an actual harness. Even though swamis are really painful to fall on and suck, at least you fall right side up.
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Mar 14, 2018 - 01:46pm PT
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Troll two piece sit harness
From the instruction below:
This superlative and very strong two piece sit harness has been developed by Troll to give the last word in comfort and versatility. Its design is a natural progression from the original Troll MK1 and MK2 harnesses, which were broad waist belts with attachments for leg loops, and date back to 1964/5 - The first Harnesses in the UK.
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throwpie
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Mar 14, 2018 - 01:56pm PT
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Last time I used mine, I was hanging upside down two feef from the ground. When I was able to stop shaking, I took it off and that was it. Still got it though.
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Mar 14, 2018 - 02:01pm PT
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So the comfort was a bit overstated... ^^^^
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 14, 2018 - 02:10pm PT
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Don’t feed the troll!
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Mar 14, 2018 - 04:41pm PT
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Yes...the harnesses available today are light years ahead in nearly every way.
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Caveman
climber
Cumberland Plateau
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Mar 14, 2018 - 05:40pm PT
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It ain't the harness on the climber. It's the climber in the harness.
Used a whillans many a time.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Mar 14, 2018 - 08:01pm PT
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Yes! I wore out three of them! In three seasons! In Vedauwoo!
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i-b-goB
Social climber
Wise Acres
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Mar 19, 2018 - 06:27pm PT
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Mar 19, 2018 - 07:19pm PT
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Young uns don't know how good they got it.
Can you imagine wearing a Joe Brown helmet again?
Or one piece itchy wool long underwear and wool knickers for alpine?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 19, 2018 - 10:52pm PT
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Joe Brown helmet was essential, for the little appreeshiated Swedish head lock...
“Arne, the akvavit is going bad, could ya get a move on?’
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