Everyone knows they need these to safely descend a canyon, and an important part of that is comfort. Because being comfortable often means being safer. You’ll be in your harness for long periods of time completing a canyon, do a lot of awkward moves, be in and out of the water, and be lowering yourself on rappel. Because of these facts, your harness should be comfortable to wear, comfortable to lower in, and durable to withstand the abuse of canyoneering. For similar reasons, we prefer a belay device specifically designed for canyoneering, and one with adjustable amounts of friction. Of course you can use climbing equipment to safely descend a canyon, but there are limitations and when those affect comfort and safety it’s not worth it.

1. Harness: Petzl Aspir
2. Rapid Link: Maillon Rapide 8mm Galvanized Steel
3. Attachment Sling for Belay Device: Petzl Express Sling 12 cm (Rubber String Removed)
4. Carabiner for Belay Device: Petzl Attache
5. Belay Device: Petzl Pirana
6. Safety Line: Beal dynaclip 75 cm
7. Safety Line Attachment: DMM Phantom Carabiner with Beal Pinch Connector Secure
8. Third Hand (Prusik): Bluewater VT Prusik 8mm 31″ with Black Diamond Positon Carabiner – this is set up on the brake side of the belay device if you don’t have a fireman’s belay
9. Biner Block Carabiner: Black Diamond Rocklock Carabiner because we most frequently do single strand rappels, we each carry a spare carabiner on our harness to use as a biner block when setting up a single strand rap.
   Tip: this carabiner can double as the carabiner used to stack the rope.
   Step 1: clip carabiner to the strap of your helmet (you now become the billygoat).
   Step 2: clip the rope through the carabiner and stand over the open rope bag.
   Step 3: use both hands to pull and stack the rope into the bag.