Review: Blue Ice Choucas Harness
Choucas
What we liked …
Super light and compact; multiple gear and ice-tool loops; Good price; Packs small
What we didn’t
I’m scratching around for something to say here.. nope.
The Verdict
OUR RATING
5 out of 5
THE SHORT READ…
The Blue Ice Choucas harness is super light - even if not the very lightest on offer these days - scrunches up nice and small for stowing, and has decent adjustability. There are quite a few options in the ultra-light ski-mountaineering harness category but for the price these seem to be right up there.
THE LONG READ …
Design
Blue Ice, with headquarters in Les Houches, at the bottom of the Chamonix valley, created the original Choucas harness back in 2011 as the first harness on the market to come in weighing less than 150g.
All the main bits of the Choucas that are weigh-bearing are all tough webbing. Nice wide straps that don’t cut into you. Like all lightweight harnesses, they can take a bit of arranging before you step into them but these are really no more difficult to handle than any other others.
Sizing - Comes in S, M, L and XL, covering waists from 59cm to 108cm.
Weights - 142g (S), 148g (M), 154g (L), 160g (XL). I tested the L and in it’s stuff-sack it’s 160g.
The minimal design means it packages and stuffs down pretty small (mug not included):
Adjustability
Waist - Really solid-feeling metal tabs on the buckle, and the loose-end then tucks away back over itself, into a dedicated waist loop.
Leg loops - Some quite tiny and much thinner blue straps allow the leg loop size to be adjusted. Those small straps are not under your leg in a fall however, so won’t cut into you. These straps have a plastic buckle that allows you to open the entire leg loop so that you can put this harness on while wearing your board or skis. Visually that buckle seems like an, er, weak link but I assume that it’s held well under very heavy-duty falling loads in testing. And you are less likely to feel the pressure of a small buckle on your leg when walking in them, than if it had a bigger buckle, say.
Tool attachments
Waist best gear loops - Plenty for a ski-tour: two of these on each side at the rear.
Ice-tool loops - Well catered-for here: one of each leg loop and another couple between each set of gear loops on the waist.
Two gear-loops each side of the waist - each pair separated by an ice-tool slot.
Leg loop ice-tool slot
Alternative harnesses
There are plenty out there - Blue Ice themselves have another ski-touring option, the Choucas light, a little more expensive but another 70 grams lighter again. That’s, er, half the weight of the regular Choucas, but it does have half the tool loops as well.
There are plenty of ski-touring harness options from other manufacturers such as usual-suspects Black Diamond, Petzl, Mammut, Camp, and Beal. Also Edelrid, who make some lovely gear. Hunt around, prices on the internet can be anywhere from about £35 upwards on special for these very lightweight touring harnesses.
Harfang Tour hardboot crampon
SUMMARY…
The Bue Ice Choucas harness is a great bit of kit - not the very, very lightest, but has more tool loop options and the security of waist metal buckles compared to some even lighter options. The adjustability is good, as is the pricing, and it packs down well. You won’t go far wrong with the Choucas (even if you have gone wrong and you discover you suddenly need it in action! But, well, you know what I mean).