Massive recall of popular climbing harnesses underway due to fall hazard

A rock climbing harness
Petzl has announced the recall of nearly 28,000 climbing harnesses that have been sold in North America (Image credit: gubernat)

A leading climbing brand has launched a massive recall of some popular climbing harnesses due to a design flaw that may endanger rock climbers.

According to an alert by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, the US division of French company Petzl has issued a recall of three of its harnesses after discovering the flaw. According to the official recall, the harnesses can all be put on backward, meaning the rope or carabiner can be attached to a non-weight-bearing leg loop elastic band, placing the user at risk of falling and sustaining serious injury or death. 

Approximately 22,000 of these products have been sold in the United States between January 2019 through May 2024, while another 5,800 were sold in Canada. There has been one report of a user in the United States suffering serious injuries from a fall.

This recall involves three Petzl climbing harnesses: the GYM harness (Model No. C032AA00), the PANDION harness (Model Nos. C029AA00 and C029AA01), and the PANJI harness (Model No. C028AA00). Serial numbers are printed on a label inside the harnesses.

If you believe you own any of these products, you should immediately stop using them and contact Petzl America for a free repair. Read our step-by-step guide to how to put on a climbing harness to make sure you're always putting safety first at the crag.

Julia Clarke

Julia Clarke is a staff writer for Advnture.com and the author of the book Restorative Yoga for Beginners. She loves to explore mountains on foot, bike, skis and belay and then recover on the the yoga mat. Julia graduated with a degree in journalism in 2004 and spent eight years working as a radio presenter in Kansas City, Vermont, Boston and New York City before discovering the joys of the Rocky Mountains. She then detoured west to Colorado and enjoyed 11 years teaching yoga in Vail before returning to her hometown of Glasgow, Scotland in 2020 to focus on family and writing.