Welcome all!  I hope these forums can be used to share information in the longer term.  Social media is great for instant answers and opinions, but so much gets lost after a few weeks.

I appreciate your signing up, and hope that folks can help each other with info and experiences.

If ever looking for info on walls or gear design that I can provide, you can also email me deuce4@bigwalls.net , of course hope to continue to help offer ideas of tools, the portaledge bring my favorite topic.
Http://www.bigwalls.net also has some older, but still perhaps some useful info, especially about remote big walls.
I’m posting a lot these days on day-to-day climbing thoughts and design on Instagram @bigwalldeuce

Cheers

I don’t recommend ever taking off your harness on a big wall. 

My best big wall harness designs had leg loops that were easily detachable in the back.  Then you *could* remove the  leg loops but still have the full strength waist part of the harness, assuming your harness is designed that way.

Removing a harness on a big wall is not a standard practice.  Ok, sometimes i did it when on a massive ledge, for a short time. But even then, with extreme caution. You never know what will happen.

Of important note, all portaledges are designed for comfort and convenience, none have ever been load rated and are NOT safety systems, like a harness.  So replacing your harness With a sling is the same as climbing with just a sling.  You never know what could happen on a wall, when you read accident reports in the AAJ journals, you will note that most accidents are the result of a sequence of assumptions, not just one thing.  Take care.

Hello, Name is Darren Bart.  From Simi Valley in Southern California, 10 minutes from Stoney.  36 years of age.
I took a climbing class in college at Chico State but didn't stick with it as I was distracted by, girls, wakeboarding and dirt bikes.
A few years back I got a hangboard to help with arm pump and that has snowballed into this climbing obsession.  I haven't ridden my dirt bike in 2 years, I can't get enough climbing. 
I have 2 small kids and I love that this is something I can teach them and we can do together. 

I very interested in vertical camping.  I bought a D4 ledge over a year ago from Barry just so my kids and I could play on it in the backyard.  I hauled it and have slept on it once on a local wall but I'm dieing to get out more with it.  Covid has wrecked some plans I had for this summer.    My daughter (Avery, 5 years old)  loves sleeping on it with me in the backyard.  So for the time being that works.  I love how comfortable my kids are climbing and hanging out on the ledge.  Portaledge life will be second nature to them.    I'm very excited about the future and stoked on exploring this beautiful planet while we still have it. 

Working on finless divider system, playing around with center bed tensioning systems.  Full strength connected to frame airside clip in for those concerned about winds turning the ledge (you can tension from below).

Had the opportunity to test the new ledge on an attempt at Tangerine Trip earlier this month. We ended up bailing ( ) but spent a night on the wall and one on the ground in the ledge.

Notes:

- The perpendicular-to-the-wall layout is awesome. It offers a nice change in perspective being able to sit up, back against the wall with the feet straight out and then just slide on down to the prone position for sleeping. Also, laying head away from the wall is a super comfy and nice way to belay.
- The narrower profile against the wall is helpful because the ledge fits more easily next to the haul bag. We had it it on the right bolt of a three bolt anchor with the pig on the left and it was great.

- Very easy to setup. The bungie cord connecting the pipes and tapered ends allows most of them to snap together effortlessly.
- Basically just had all adjustment straps fully extended so that was easy.
- Breakdown also pretty easy, folding is maybe the trickiest part but it always seems to work out.

- About as comfortable as other good ledges... a slight sag in the middle but not bad. Climbing with my girlfriend, it was nice not worrying about a divider. Great for couples but I wonder if it would feel cramped with two big dudes. Probably not a big deal though!

- I found the large buckle in the middle to be annoying because I often rolled my head onto it. John said he's looking into alternative buckles here.

- Used the fly to block a drip coming down and as a sun shade. This worked better than a normal ledge because we could cover the outer half of the ledge but still have wide open views on either side.