BLACK DIAMOND Long Haul Rock Climbing Harness - Heavy-Duty Big Wall Support, Large Review (2026)

What this harness is designed to do

The Long Haul is Black Diamond's dedicated big wall and aid climbing harness, built for the kind of days where you spend more time hanging in the harness than actually moving over rock, jugging fixed lines or belaying a leader from a portaledge stance for an hour at a time. Size Large fits a 33 to 36 inch waist and a 22 to 26 inch leg, so it suits bigger climbers or anyone planning to wear the harness over insulated layers on a cold multi-day wall. It is not built with weight savings in mind the way a single-pitch sport harness is, and Black Diamond positions it against demanding walls like El Capitan or long free routes where comfort under sustained load matters more than grams.

Padding, loops and hardware explained

Black Diamond builds the Long Haul from a mix of poly fabric, poly space mesh, CLPE and EVA foam, nylon webbing, and Dyneema, weighing 615 grams. It carries five molded gear loops that sit slightly proud of the waist belt so they are easy to clip and unclip even with gloves on, two Dynex Infinity belay loops for redundancy, a rated haul loop for hauling bags, and ice clipper slots for winter or alpine walls. The leg loops use a quick-drop design with ice clipper slots of their own, which lets you drop them without removing the whole harness, useful for bathroom breaks on a multi-day wall. Black Diamond covers manufacturing defects with a standard two year warranty.

Living in it for a full hanging belay

An independent review of the Long Haul summed up the padding this way: sitting in it all day, it does not dig in and it does not chafe, which is the entire point of a harness built for aid and big wall climbing rather than fast sport laps. The same review flagged that it runs heavier than ultralight alternatives, a trade climbers accept in exchange for comfort over a long hanging belay. Expect to adjust the leg loop drop-seat webbing as you add or remove layers through a cold morning and a warm afternoon on the wall, and to lean on the reinforced gear loops for racking aiders, daisies and hardware rather than a light sport rack. Care is standard for a nylon and webbing harness: brush off dirt and grit, avoid prolonged UV exposure, and inspect stitching and webbing before committing to a big route.

How the Large compares with the Medium and other harnesses

Black Diamond sells the Long Haul in this same padded design across sizes, and the Medium version in this guide scores identically since it is the same harness with a smaller waist and leg range, so the choice between them comes down to your actual waist measurement rather than any difference in features. Against other harnesses built for the same job, the Petzl Corax is a lighter general mountaineering harness that will not match the Long Haul's padding on a long hang, while the Ocun Webee Bigwall and the Trango Double Rack Gear Sling chest harness serve narrower niches, gear-loop capacity and chest-mounted racking respectively, rather than all-day belay comfort.

Who should buy the Large and who should not

Choose this Large size if your waist falls in the 33 to 36 inch range and you are planning multi-day walls, aid routes, or any climbing where you expect to spend real time just hanging in the harness, especially over cold-weather layers. It earns our score of 8.6 out of 10 for exactly that scenario. Skip it if you sport climb or boulder most of the time, since the padding and five gear loops add bulk you do not need on quick routes, and skip this specific size if your waist is closer to 30 inches, where the Medium will fit far more securely than sizing down into a Large that sits loose.

Frequently asked questions