When it comes to harnesses, it’s pretty easy to find a middle-of-the-road rig that does it all pretty well and comes in at a good price. But when you start shopping around for higher performance in a small form factor, the functionality of harnesses becomes hit or miss pretty quickly. Turns out, it’s actually not easy to just make a great harness that’s also super light, compact, supportive, and comfortable. A lot of them tick one of those boxes but come up short in the others. The Arc’teryx Skaha, however, manages to do it all really well. It’s is one of the lightest, most comfortable, and packable harnesses I’ve ever tested.

I’ve always associated Arc’teryx with producing some of the highest performing harnesses on the market, and in fact this product is what the company is originally known for. Their proprietary Warp Strength Technology is an exceptional advancement in harness technology. WST takes the horizontal, or “warp,” fibers in a piece of webbing, pulls them apart and spreads them evenly across the entire back of waist belt, producing a very thin but very strong design.

The Skaha is the latest installment of this technology, this time packaged in a breathable honeycomb mesh on both the waist belt and leg loops. At under 300 grams, this is the lightest Arc’teryx harness to date. (It’s also among the lightest harnesses on the market with four (full) gear loops.) Traditionally, other Arc’teryx harnesses such as the C-quence have featured a more durable four-way stretch fabric. The Skaha’s honeycomb mesh is one of the attributes that helps get the Skaha to be about 25% lighter than other Arc’teryx harnesses. I haven’t noticed the honeycombs picking up too much dirt or chalk, yet. And compared to the traditional stretch fabric, the honeycomb mesh is softer and feels nice on bare skin. Arc’teryx positions it as a more breathable fabric, and I think that’s a fair a statement, especially compared to the AR-385 or C-quence.

The last Arc’teryx harness I wore, the C-quence, was good but the leg loops seemed to be a little too large. The Skaha is an improvement here: the leg loops to waist belt ratio is far better. The Skaha also features an improved (longer) rise, which I noticed while hanging in the harness: the leg loops stayed where they were supposed to be, and were more comfortable to sit in while hanging on the rope.

One unique feature is the rear elastic which simply hooks into a clip. It’s super easy to undo, if you need to drop trou’ on the wall. The rear elastic is tied off to the leg loops with a knot that you can just slide to adjust to get the right fit.

Arc'teryx Skaha

What I love most about this harness is how little space it takes up in my pack. Compared to a standard “entry level” foam harnesses, the Skaha easily takes up less than half as much space in my pack. Of course, it costs twice as much as those harnesses—but I think this is what you’re paying for: a super comfortable, high-performing, compact and packable harness to keep everything lighter and faster.

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Arc’teryx Skaha Harness

  • Weight: 298g. Ridiculously light.

  • Material: 150D honeycomb mono mesh + Spacermesh™ liner.

  • Gear Loops: Four large, stiff loops + rear haul loop. Enough room for a full rack.

  • Leg Loops: Fixed (not adjustable), with a quick-release rear hook for bathroom breaks.

  • Safety Details: Wear indicators on tie-in points and belay loop.

 

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