How to Build a Safety Harness

Safety harnesses come in many different styles and sizes. In am emergency situation where you need to create your own harness, the fastest and simplest is a harness made from a single piece of rope or webbing which is known as a swiss seat. The swiss seat can be used for climbing or rapelling. Creating a swiss seat harness requires just a 9-foot piece of rope and a bit of knot tying knowledge.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

9 feet of rope or webbing

Step 1

Start with the mid-point of the rope at the hip of your brake hand, and wrap the rope around the back of your waist so that both rope ends are out in front of you.

Step 2

Tie a double overhand knot with the ends of the rope which will rest at the front of your waist. The knot should be tight enough that you can let the rope ends dangle to the ground without the rope falling from its position at your waist.

Step 3

Pass the ends of the rope back between your legs and pull them up through the rope that is wrapped around your waist. The rope ends should be space such that the rope is pulled over your back pants pockets.

Step 4

Squat down and pull on the two ends to tighten the rope, then pass the rope back over the waist rope from the inside, then under the ropes across your buttocks.

Step 5

Bring the rope ends to your hip opposite your brake hand and tie in a square knot. Secure the square knot by tying an overhand knot on each side of it. Tuck any excess rope into your pocket or simply wind it around the harness rope to keep it out of the way.

Article Written By Christopher Williams

Christopher Williams has spent over 11 years working in the information technology, health care and outdoor recreation fields. He has over seven years of technical and educational writing experience, and has brought strong skills and passion to the Demand Studios team in articles for eHow and Trails in 2009.

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