My venerable Black Diamond Wizard harness is, I am affraid, growing too small for me. Right now, I cannot afford to buy a brand new, high quality, $80 dollar die-cut Black Diamond or Petzl harness.
I have also recently noticed something in my local climbing shop’s bargain bins. Black Diamond swamis and leg loops sold seperately. The problem is, none of them are to the same harness, and each carries a boldly printed tag that states that the (blank) swami MUST be used with the (blank) leg loops. If not, I am going to go plummeting to my death on my next factor .001 fall, and the BD gear testers have ensured an especially hot and painful place in hell for swami-leg loop switch sinners such as myself.
My question: do I really have to avoid mixing swamis and loops? I mean, all BD harnesses (Alpine Bod etc. excluded) have the same basic design, a swami belt and conjoined set of leg loops, all brought together to perfect harmony with a belay loop. So why cannot I mix and match? What type of risks am I exposing myself too beyond losing any legal recourse in the case of product failure because I did not follow the instructions?
Can I mix different years if I cannot mix different harnesses? There is one pair of medium leg loops for a Wizard, but from a different year, I suspect, because of purple instead of grey tacking. I really just need a new pair of loops because I have started running and building my legs while my swami still has plenty of tail (to the little clip).
