Petzl Sama Review

In addition to its strong performance across the board, the Petzl Sama stands out for its good looks and low price.

Performance Comparison

Hanging Comfort

The Sama is one of the most comfortable harnesses to wear while hanging. With its fixed leg loops, the majority of our body weight feels reasonably well distributed across our legs. The truth is that no harness is super comfortable to hang in for very long, but we find that this harness certainly has more comfy leg loops than most of the competition.

The Endoframe construction of this waist belt is essentially a very fat strap that runs across the top, with a much smaller subsidiary strap that splits off to the bottom of the waist belt to help with load distribution. These two straps are padded on the inside, and the result is quite comfortable. When hanging, the waist belt tends to ride up a bit into our kidneys, although some other harnesses are certainly worse in this regard. We had no problem hanging in this harness all day on long multi-pitch routes. And when the plans calls for lots of hanging belays and long rappels, we reach for this harness before most others.

Standing Comfort and Mobility

The fixed-length leg loops on this harness fit our testers' legs more closely than other harnesses on the market. While this makes for great hanging comfort, it can feel a little restricting when climbing and walking. The waist belt is padded and contoured nicely to wrap the hips comfortably, and we had no qualms with the waist belt's comfort.

When holding a full rack on the gear loops, the extra weight produces very little sagging, nor does it cause the waist belt to drop away from the waist at all. However, with its bulkier padded waist belt, the Sama doesn't sit quite as comfortably underneath a pack's waist belt as those harnesses with unpadded waist belts. We feel this was one of the weakest aspects of this harness, and it is not nearly as mobile or featherlight as the very lightest options.

Features

The Petzl Sama has one of the best sets of features. The gear loops are large and molded for easy clipping. The loops overlap to bring more gear around the front of the harness, where it's easier to reach. We fit tons of cams and slings on each side of the harness with ease, never having to adjust our racking techniques to accommodate the shape of the gear loops.

We love how the tie-in point is specially reinforced with slippery polyethylene fiber, and that the lower tie-in loop has a red wear indicator that lets you know when you need to retire the harness. Finally, its single auto-locking waist buckle is simple to use and works great. While there is no fifth gear loop around the back of the harness, and there are no ice clipper slots or adjustable leg loops, rock climbers won't find any shortcomings with the Sama's features. Alpine, ice, and mixed climbers will miss these omitted features.

Versatility

The Sama is a highly versatile harness that excels at any type of rock climbing. It has plenty of hanging comfort and ergonomic gear loops for days at the sport crag, and its features make it a great choice for trad climbing, multi-pitch climbing, and routes where lots of gear is required.

Like other rock-specific climbing harnesses, the Sama lacks versatility for ice and mixed climbing due to its fixed, non-adjustable leg loops and lack of ice clipper slots. That said, Petzl now makes the Caritool EVO ice tool clippers, which work with this harness by attaching to the entire waist belt, rather than needing specific slots. If you don't plan on spending much time winter climbing, this harness is a good choice.

Adjustability

The Sama has a waist belt with plenty of length adjustment. The self-locking buckle is large and easy to manipulate. While the leg loops don't have a length adjustment strap or buckle, they employ an elastic band for a couple of inches of length adjustment in the legs.

We did not notice any difficulty finding a snug and comfortable fit in the thighs in this harness. Since this piece of gear is designed for rock climbing only, it's unlikely the user will be layering bulky clothing underneath the leg loops.

Should You Buy the Petzl Sama?

The Sama has excellent rock climbing performance and costs less than most other harnesses built for this purpose. No other harness combines such high performance with such a low price. For that reason, we think this is the best value. Even if money is not a concern, this is still a great option for rock climbers, competing closely with the most expensive and high-performance options out there. Our mountain guide testers have used this harness for over a hundred days without noticing any critical wear and tear, and this durability further enhances the value of the harness.

What Other Climbing Harnesses Should You Consider?

The Petzl Sama is one of the highest-rated harnesses in this review, and its affordable price makes it a great budget choice. It is one of our favorite harnesses for multi-pitch and trad climbing, but if you're looking for a harness with even larger gear loops and more leg loop adjustability, check out the Petzl Aquila. The Arc'teryx Skaha is another good rock-specific harness, but it costs a lot more, and doesn't exactly outperform the Sama. If you want a high-performance sport climbing harness for an attractive price, our favorite harness for clipping bolts is the Black Diamond Solution. If you need a good all-around harness that can also be used for winter climbing, the Petzl Sitta is our favorite harness on the market, but it costs a lot more. The Edelrid Moe and Black Diamond Technician have ice clipper slots and share a palatable price point, but we think you'd be better off with the Sama and improvising ice clippers if you are on a tight budget.