This is it, history in the raw. Forget all your ‘Gucci’ gear, fancy harnesses and stuff, get a load o’ this. For nearly 100 years climbers and mountaineers attached themselves to the rope by simply tying it in a knot around their waist. As climbs became harder and the rock faces they were tackling got steeper, it became obvious that a fall would have the ‘garotte’ effect and it might be an idea to spread the load a little. That’s exactly what Albert Rosher did with this fabulous improvised harness which he made and wore on early explorations of the Northumbrian outcrops in the 1960’s. Made from tape slings and canvas, the rope would have been threaded around the outside and tied off at the karabiner, or the rope could have been simply attached to the metal karabiner with a figure of eight knot. More sophisticated harnesses were being developed around this time, one of the earliest being the Whillans, but Albert was ahead of the game. A fabulous snapshot of rock climbing history.