High on concept, but falls short of realization - Mammut Realization Shorts

I really want to like the Realization Shorts by Mammut. They’re an excellent idea and for the most part are a solid, well crafted bit of gear, but… there’re a couple of things that keep me from really liking them.

PROS:
- they’re surprisingly comfortable, especially when actually climbing - it almost feels like I’m not wearing a harness at all, absolutely no restriction in range of motion / movement. even when weighting the rope they’re fairly comfortable (with one exception noted below). I wouldn’t want to do a hanging belay from them, but for the occasional fall / take and being lowered they’re ok (I’ve definitely worn more uncomfortable traditional harnesses).

- they’re very convenient for quick gym sessions. especially if you bike to the gym - you can throw these on, clip your shoes, chalk bag, belay device, & ‘biner to the loop on the back (or one of the gear loops) and hop on your bike. the pockets work well for wallet and small set of keys.

- they look nice

CONS:
- the waist can feel a little loose when weighting the rope / sitting in the harness. while you can tighten the waist with the elastic draw cords this is only for keeping them from sliding off down past your hips. the functional part of the waist that’s used for load bearing when weighting the rope is not adjustable and so depending on how close to the max size range your are you might notice a significant amount of “stretch” when you weight the rope - not so much that you’d be in danger of falling out of them, but enough that might be a little uncomfortable. My waist can range from 32” to 34” (depending on how much ice cream & cake I’ve been eating) - I got the Realization Shorts in “medium” - there’s enough of a gap in the waist when weighting the rope that sometimes it can be a little uncomfortable (again, not enough to be in danger of falling out them if for some reason I were to get inverted, but I’m used to wearing a traditional harness as tight as possible and having almost zero give when weighting the rope)

- they can be uncomfortable AFTER a climbing session. the up-side to a traditional harness is that you can take it OFF once you’re done climbing. with these you’re essentially stuck still wearing your harness once you finish climbing (my opinion, if you change out of these into something else after climbing then you might as well just use a tradition harness). since I tend to sweat when I climb the Realization Shorts are a bit uncomfortable in the car (or on the bike) on the ride home - I can’t get out of them fast enough once I get home.

CONCLUSION:
I don’t regret getting them, and I will definitely continue to wear them at them gym (I don’t see them being practical for a day at the crag, at least not when for me I’d be looking at wearing them for at least 2 hrs each way driving to/from the crag).

So, if what you’re looking for is something reasonably comfortable for gym sessions - the Realization Short should work perfectly. (at the very least it freaks out gym staff and other climbers who think that you’re either tying-in to or belaying from belt loops on a pair of shorts ;-) ) … especially if you can find them on sale / discounted (I wouldn’t pay full MSRP for them). Otherwise, they’re kind of a novelty item.

This review was written in the old system and had content requirements that are different than reviews written today.