Why do big wall harnesses have two belay loops?

Question

I've been looking at big wall harnesses and I've been noticing that a lot of them come with two belay loops:

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I know that it isn't there as a back up. What's the advantage of having two belay loops on your harness when aid climbing?

@Dakatine http://www.firstascent.co.uk/climb/ocun-quattro-tech-harness.html apparently — Mr.Wizard, Feb 01 '16 at 13:40

score 10 · Accepted Answer · edited May 11 '15 at 19:25

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It's simply for organization sake.

Aid climbing on big-walls involves lots of gear, and you'll very quickly realize how much of a mess your perfectly racked gear will become.

With two belay loops you can separate your aid ladders and daisy chains a little, which helps to keep them from wrapping around each other (and keep things a little bit cleaner too).

Pete's picture from MP showing gear quantities

Couldn't find a good close-up picture for you, but Pete's picture from MP is a good visual indication of exactly how much is going on around your belay loop sometimes when climbing big-walls.

Chris McNamara talks about it a more in his book on big wall climbing also. http://www.supertopo.com/a/How-To-Big-Wall-Climb-Table-of-Contents/a139n.html

edited May 11 '15 at 19:25

ShemSeger

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answered May 11 '15 at 15:45

Raz Peel

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Aid climbing: the "siege tactics" version of climbing... – Michael Borgwardt May 11 '15 at 21:15
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That's a terrifying picture! My risk management head just keeps picturing a tangle at a critical moment... – Rory Alsop May 12 '15 at 08:30

Why do big wall harnesses have two belay loops?

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