The latest Matt Cornell harness

evo · Jun 20, 2020

SoftBankHawks said:
Hi Rico, thank you for the feedback, a couple of questions, the clip and ring please describe more of this ‘old west coast perfection’, how do you use them, does the clip hold the chainsaw high so no need for a hook type thing higher up on the harness?
your set up looks great, hope to keep all unwanted fluff off mine too, why such long legs of unused rope, are you gonna splice that anchor hitch later on?
I have a bunch of harnesses, all European lineage, excited to feel this old school American vibe.

I’ll give you a short answer. Old school west coast belts came out of highlead logging, super minimalistic. Often times the flipline (about 3/4” +/-) went through the belt with a single eyesplice as a endless loop configuration (adjusted with a cats paw). Dee rings came later along with climbing lines. A ring was added and a clip for a axe and handsaw. Later on leg loops. Granted this was entirely up and down tall conifers with tree gaffs.
No need for a second attachment due to the fact there was no need to pass any limbs. (Safety wasn’t much of a issue back then). Later on when ‘tree care’ became a market 99% of this was just topping work. Climbing lines became more important to pass limbs, and throw in the advent of small climbing saws the west coast saddle was born. Mostly all home made from rope, and horse tack. A ring and clip was plenty to tie a pass line, climbing line or lowering line to with the only other ‘bling’ being a chainsaw and handsaw. The ring is pretty much for clipping the bitter end of the saw lanyard and clip for short hauling the saw. Often the handsaw was/is worn on the opposite hip.

Brocky · Jun 20, 2020

Pfftt, harnesses, who needs ‘em, here I am yesterday doing a little work.

SoftBankHawks · Jun 21, 2020

evo said:
I’ll give you a short answer. Old school west coast belts came out of highlead logging, super minimalistic. Often times the flipline (about 3/4” +/-) went through the belt with a single eyesplice as a endless loop configuration (adjusted with a cats paw). Dee rings came later along with climbing lines. A ring was added and a clip for a axe and handsaw. Later on leg loops. Granted this was entirely up and down tall conifers with tree gaffs.
No need for a second attachment due to the fact there was no need to pass any limbs. (Safety wasn’t much of a issue back then). Later on when ‘tree care’ became a market 99% of this was just topping work. Climbing lines became more important to pass limbs, and throw in the advent of small climbing saws the west coast saddle was born. Mostly all home made from rope, and horse tack. A ring and clip was plenty to tie a pass line, climbing line or lowering line to with the only other ‘bling’ being a chainsaw and handsaw. The ring is pretty much for clipping the bitter end of the saw lanyard and clip for short hauling the saw. Often the handsaw was/is worn on the opposite hip.

Awesome, thanks for the in-depth reply. My Euc man is screaming to be let out, hope that I am man enough for him/it/her !!

rico · Jun 21, 2020

SoftBankHawks said:
Hi Rico, thank you for the feedback, a couple of questions, the clip and ring please describe more of this ‘old west coast perfection’, how do you use them, does the clip hold the chainsaw high so no need for a hook type thing higher up on the harness?
your set up looks great, hope to keep all unwanted fluff off mine too, why such long legs of unused rope, are you gonna splice that anchor hitch later on?
I have a bunch of harnesses, all European lineage, excited to feel this old school American vibe.

The suspension on the Valiant was a MCRS rebuild kit and will not stay on the Valiant...Thus the long tails.

The anchor hitches are there for a reason, and splices would negate that.

Right clip-handsaw.
Right ring- chainsaw.
Left clip and ring- rigging, Diddy bag for wedges, ect..
Just the way I like it.

evo · Jun 21, 2020

rico said:
The suspension on the Valiant was a MCRS rebuild kit and will not stay on the Valiant...Thus the long tails.

The anchor hitches are there for a reason, and splices would negate that.

Right clip-handsaw.
Right ring- chainsaw.
Left clip and ring- rigging, Diddy bag for wedges, ect..
Just the way I like it.

^I like this mans bling*^

SoftBankHawks · Jun 21, 2020

rico said:
The suspension on the Valiant was a MCRS rebuild kit and will not stay on the Valiant...Thus the long tails.

The anchor hitches are there for a reason, and splices would negate that.

Right clip-handsaw.
Right ring- chainsaw.
Left clip and ring- rigging, Diddy bag for wedges, ect..
Just the way I like it.

Ai, right to the heart of something, that sounds.
I gotta ask, do you adjust the length of the leg and hip risers much, I prefer mine to be dialed in and locked down tight, only ever ‘adjust’ when something slips.

Jessalba · Jun 21, 2020

Nicely explained

Steve Connally · Jun 21, 2020

SoftBankHawks said:
Ai, right to the heart of something, that sounds.
I gotta ask, do you adjust the length of the leg and hip risers much, I prefer mine to be dialed in and locked down tight, only ever ‘adjust’ when something slips.

Basically never adjusted. Just keep them loose

rico · Jun 21, 2020

SoftBankHawks said:
Ai, right to the heart of something, that sounds.
I gotta ask, do you adjust the length of the leg and hip risers much, I prefer mine to be dialed in and locked down tight, only ever ‘adjust’ when something slips.

I will say that my MCRS's have held their adjustment better than any modern harness I have worn.. Once those anchor bends are set they do not budge...

Like yourself, once I get a harness dialed in I do no like to adjust it, and in fact I will smack anyone in the ear who dares to monkey with my adjustments...

It would be damn near impossible trying to put splices where the anchor hitches are, because you would have to try and make the splice while the suspension is on the saddle. Sounds fucking miserable.

If you take a close look at Matts Valiant video he has the main backpad suspension strung up very differently than his original MCRS-

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=823476391421088

6:58 in the video- Instead of attaching the main back-pad suspension to the rear ring with splices he has used a cow hitch. Very clean and bulletproof.

2:52 in the video- The rings for the hip risers are now terminated with a slice and the side dees are strung up differently. If I can figure out what he is doing near the side dee's I will splice up the main suspension like this today and see how it feels. Keep you guys posted....

SoftBankHawks · Jun 21, 2020

rico said:
I will say that my MCRS's have held their adjustment better than any modern harness I have worn.. Once those anchor bends are set they do not budge...

Like yourself, once I get a harness dialed in I do no like to adjust it, and in fact I will smack anyone in the ear who dares to monkey with my adjustments...

It would be damn near impossible trying to put splices where the anchor hitches are, because you would have to try and make the splice while the suspension is on the saddle. Sounds fucking miserable.

If you take a close look at Matts Valiant video he has the main backpad suspension strung up very differently than his original MCRS-

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=823476391421088

6:58 in the video- Instead of attaching the main back-pad suspension to the rear ring with splices he has used a girth hitch. Very clean and bulletproof.

2:52 in the video- The rings for the hip risers are now terminated with a slice and the side dees are strung up differently. If I can figure out what he is doing near the side dee's I will splice up the main suspension like this today and see how it feels. Keep you guys posted....

In that video Matt uses a Cow Hitch terminated with double over hand stopper knot that blocks against a webbing 'tunnel'.
I plan to use 9 or 11mm 16 strand and hope that a straight bury is possible through the 'tunnels', this is fantasy at the moment, time will tell.

treegongfu · Jun 21, 2020

Here is a video where Matt explains his setup

rico · Jun 21, 2020

In this video he has it strung up like the MCRS except he is putting the side dees in front of the webbing.. The video at Endors is an all together different setup in which the hip risers terminate with a splice at the rings. I played around with this Endors setup today and it definitely hindered the free flowing feel that the other (MRCS) setup offers...Im gonna stick with the one that brought me to the dance....

rico · Jun 23, 2020

Got the back pad and leg pads treated with some Ray Holes saddle butter, and spliced both sides of the leg pad suspension today. Hopefully I will get some time to splice up the back pad suspension in the mañana. Cant wait to start breaking this beauty in....

Quintanana · Jun 24, 2020

rico said:
In this video he has it strung up like the MCRS except he is putting the side dees in front of the webbing.. The video at Endors is an all together different setup in which the hip risers terminate with a splice at the rings. I played around with this Endors setup today and it definitely hindered the free flowing feel that the other (MRCS) setup offers...Im gonna stick with the one that brought me to the dance....

How would you compare the feeling of the D's in front of the webbing vs behind? I imagined having it in front would squeeze the hips more than having it behind.

rico · Jun 24, 2020

If you spend a lot of time standing in spurs and a flipline as I do, having the side dees out front and off of your hips is really nice, but if they are too far out front they can interfere with how you roll your flip-line up a tree...Your waist size in relation to the size saddle you are wearing is gonna be an important factor as to whether the dees are going to feel better in front of, or behind the front webbing...