Our Ideal Harness

Our ideal harness would be easy to adjust and lightweight. It would be easy to don, and not be too hot. It should have reflective tape on the shoulders and a place for extra gear, such as a whistle, strobe light, and a flare. We prefer two attachment rings for redundancy. The stitching would be a contrasting color from the webbing for easy inspection, and the material would be supple for comfort on bare skin. None of the harnesses we tested fit all these wishes, although a couple came close, notably the Raudaschl, Survival Technologies Deck Pro and Pelican 2, and the West Marine Ultimate.

We also are very much in favor of harnesses with built in inflation. All the inflatables we tested are good products, although the Stearns seemed to have trouble (in one version) with not having enough Velcro to hold it closed, and the Survival Technologies seemed stiff compared to the others. We were unable to fully test the Stormy Seas gear, but they seem to have some nice features for cool weather sailors with their flotation, harness, and warmth and protection from the elements. There are advantages and disadvantages to having automatic inflation. Obviously the automatic inflation will give you a better chance if you get knocked unconscious while going overboard, but the manual unit shouldn't inflate from getting doused on the foredeck (although the current generation of auto-inflating products is improved over the previous). Recently, USCG and UL approval has been secured by some models of automatic inflation units, so the issue of having an inflatable that is not CG approved is now moot.

Our Ideal Tether

Our ideal tether would have a quick release snap shackle at the inboard end, and both a three-foot and six-foot leg. The six-foot leg may have some shock cord built into it to help keep it from getting in the way while working the deck. One skipper in the '98 Sydney-Hobart race thought it ridiculous that his crew had to unhook from a windward padeye, and drop knee deep into water on the leeward side before finding a padeye and then easing a sheet. A dual tether would have solved that problem. The boat end of the tether would have either the new Wichard patented locking snap hook or the Gibb snap hook with locking gate, which is preferable to a snap shackle that may take two hands to attach. The stitching would be at a minimum two or three inches long, and a contrasting color to the webbing for easy inspection. The snap shackle would have a very substantial cotter ring, and the release line would have an easy to grip feature such as plastic balls to help in giving it a good pull. None of the tethers we tested have all these features.