Continuous loop harness

I know I should understand what this is, but I don't. Can someone explain to me out the continuous loop harness (like the True Fit has) differs from my Radian harness?

A continuous loop harness on the Trufit starts at one shoulder goes down to the hip, under the bum, up past the opposite hip and ends at the opposite shoulder. The AO seats have a continuous loop as well as the Chase (although the Chase is slightly different because of the on harness adjuster).

It means that if one side of the harness feels looser than the other, you need to pull the tight side of the harness out from under the bum, thus shortening the loose side of the harness. Make sense?

In the case of the Trufit I tried out today, it was difficult to tug the harness from under the bum to adjust both sides so that they were equal to tighten it properly. The Chase we used to own, by comparison, was super easy and I loved that about that seat.

The Radian harness starts at *both* hips and goes up to the shoulder. *Each* side of the harness is independent of the other until they meet at the splitter plate on the back of the seat.

OK, I understand. I was making it much more complicated than it needed to be in my head.

Thank you!

BW1426 said:

OK, I understand. I was making it much more complicated than it needed to be in my head.

Thank you!

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There used to be a Cosco HBB that DID have a much, much more complicated continuous loop, I bet your head couldn't have conjured up THAT nightmare! (it was under the bum like that, but then crossed over in the back in an X shape... A sailor or boyscout or someone good with knots and ropes must have invented it, lol)

The True Fit is the first continous harness that I've used, and to be honest, I've had zero problems with it. It's been very easy for me to pull on one side or the other. Not sure if Jen's True Fit was a mutant, or perhaps child size makes a difference as my DD is much younger than her boys.

TechnoGranola said:

Not sure if Jen's True Fit was a mutant, or perhaps child size makes a difference as my DD is much younger than her boys.

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It wasn't caught on anything and A is only 40lbs soaking wet with shoes and jeans on.

I think I'm just used to the Chase being sooo easy. I know it was slightly more difficult than an AO and the twisty straps getting folded and caught in the buckle tongues didn't help either.

I just really *hate* twisty straps that fold over in buckle tongues. I'm also used to my Radian and Marathon straps which are quite a bit more substantial than the TruFit straps. Twisty straps are a deal breaker for me... I don't have time to make sure they are staying straight and if *I* don't have time, then the majority of parents I recommend seats to out there are not going to take the time either, unfortunately.

aidensmom02 said:

It wasn't caught on anything and A is only 40lbs soaking wet with shoes and jeans on.

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But maybe width though? My DD isn't even 2 and is only 25 pounds, so she's a lot smaller than 40 pounds and 6 years (is A 6?).

I've never tried a Chase, and maybe I'd know what you mean if I tried it, but I'm not sure how it could get any easier than the True Fit...3 of us have been using 2 True Fits for over a month now (I think), and we've never had to do anything special to adjust the straps. I put her in, and tighten her and it basically adjust itself along the way. One time she was flipping all over the place and I noticed that one thigh was looser than the other and I just pulled the other side and it fixed it right away. This is why I was wondering if maybe something was goofy with the True Fit you tried? Maybe some manufacturing defect?

The straps are twistier than I like, I am used to straps to the thick, stiffer straps like the SS, FPSE, and Marathon. The straps are actually the ONLY thing I don't like about the True Fit, but honestly, there isn't much choice in Canada, so I had to give on something! I wanted a within 1" of shell height limit and the EFTA doesn't work in our vehicles, so I pretty much had no choice. And to be honest, I spend about as much or less time making sure the straps are straight as I did adjusting the HUGS and tugging on the Britax harness tightener. I just traded pains.

Just didn't want anyone to be scared off of the True Fit because of the continuous harness since it doesn't seem to be a problem for everyone.

A is 6, but he's got the waist of a 2 year old... tall and *skinny*. The child still fits into size 2 shorts (other than they look ridiculous because of the length).

The continuous loop is not a deal breaker for me, I could live with that. It was more difficult to tug than what I like, but it can be done.

The straps, however, *are* a deal breaker for me. These straps were twistier than the older style AO's and that drives me nuts... that's my deal breaker.

I'm not meaning to scare anyone off of the seat, but it is important that people know this is an issue and they need to be prepared to work with it if this is the seat they choose or the seat that best works for them.

I haven't seen anyone else mention the straps as being *that* bad that it makes me wonder if people aren't just over looking that or downplaying it because it does have the 35lbs limit. :shrug-shoulders:

Overall it's a nice seat and if it works better for a person than a different seat (read: MA, Radian, EFTA) then I would still recommend it, but people need to be prepared to deal with those straps. Compass really let the ball drop with those straps.

aidensmom02 said:

The straps, however, *are* a deal breaker for me. These straps were twistier than the older style AO's and that drives me nuts... that's my deal breaker.

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I've never used an AO, the only twisty strap seat I've had experience with was a friend's daughter had an Eddie Bauer combo harnessed/booster seat and it SUCKED for twistiness. The True Fit is nowhere near as bad as it!

I haven't seen anyone else mention the straps as being *that* bad that it makes me wonder if people aren't just over looking that or downplaying it because it does have the 35lbs limit. :shrug-shoulders:

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That's the thing, they're not actually that bad. The main issue is, the the slots in the buckle tongue are narrower than the straps which makes the strap fold over on itself, which can make it twist. I think they made it too narrow so the buckle tongues wouldn't slide down and make you dig under their bum to get them? Or they made a boo-boo on the design. I think if the slots were wider, there wouldn't be an issue.

But, really, we've never actually had them twist on us. If I notice the strap had folded over in the slot, I just unfold it before pulling on the harness. And with putting in her in the seat a minimum of 2 times a day in the one seat, we've had to do this maybe 4 times so far? But, I totally can see other people ignoring it and then they end up twisting, but I think the people who ignore the twist might be the same people who would have the HUGS in the wrong spot so the chest clip was way too far down, or aren't using lockoffs properly, etc. It seems every seat has a potential for easy misuse one way or another.

aidensmom02 said:

The continuous loop is not a deal breaker for me, I could live with that. It was more difficult to tug than what I like, but it can be done.

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I also find it a little difficult to maneuver the continuous loop strap on my True Fit after being used to the Marathon straps. But, being someone who doesn't loosen and tighten the harness each time on any of my seats (only minor adjustments for clothing), it's not that big a deal.

aidensmom02 said:

The straps, however, *are* a deal breaker for me. These straps were twistier than the older style AO's and that drives me nuts... that's my deal breaker.

I'm not meaning to scare anyone off of the seat, but it is important that people know this is an issue and they need to be prepared to work with it if this is the seat they choose or the seat that best works for them.

I haven't seen anyone else mention the straps as being *that* bad that it makes me wonder if people aren't just over looking that or downplaying it because it does have the 35lbs limit. :shrug-shoulders:

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TechnoGranola said:

That's the thing, they're not actually that bad. The main issue is, the the slots in the buckle tongue are narrower than the straps which makes the strap fold over on itself, which can make it twist. I think they made it too narrow so the buckle tongues wouldn't slide down and make you dig under their bum to get them? Or they made a boo-boo on the design. I think if the slots were wider, there wouldn't be an issue.

But, really, we've never actually had them twist on us. If I notice the strap had folded over in the slot, I just unfold it before pulling on the harness. And with putting in her in the seat a minimum of 2 times a day in the one seat, we've had to do this maybe 4 times so far? But, I totally can see other people ignoring it and then they end up twisting, but I think the people who ignore the twist might be the same people who would have the HUGS in the wrong spot so the chest clip was way too far down, or aren't using lockoffs properly, etc. It seems every seat has a potential for easy misuse one way or another.

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I'm with TechnoGranola on this one. I don't find the straps twisty at all. :shrug-shoulders: I agree about the narrowness of the buckle tongues vs. the strap width, but it hasn't caused any problems for me. I haven't had to adjust them or unfold them at all, actually, in the 2 weeks I've been using it.

RE: the continuous loop harness. I think I like it better than the split harness because I can at least pull one side out to get DS's first shoulder in and then it's only the second side that's a bit of a struggle. With the Radian, both shoulders are a bit of a struggle to get it. (I rarely loosen the harness for loading DS).

Of course, since it's almost impossible to loosen the harness on my RF True Fit, the continuous loop harness is almost required for that seat! That harness adjuster when RF upright for an older child is almost a deal breaker on the True Fit for me.

RE: twisty strap potential. I like the stiffer straps on the Radian better, but I'm not going to return my True Fit because of it (expecially since DS hit 30 lbs at 17 months!!!)

shauburg said:

Of course, since it's almost impossible to loosen the harness on my RF True Fit, the continuous loop harness is almost required for that seat! That harness adjuster when RF upright for an older child is almost a deal breaker on the True Fit for me.

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If I had flat seat backs, I'd go insane with the True Fit adjuster! The seats in both vehicles I have it in, are very contoured, so it's just usable, can't imagine anything flatter! It's like you have to buy the EFTA for flat seats (doesn't work at all with our contoured seats) and the TF for contoured seats!

We haven't had trouble with the continuous harness. A few times, it's been uneven, but it's been easy to fix it. It's kind of nice for getting in and out because it lets you pull one side looser without using the adjuster.

The adjuster while RF is a problem for us. We have pretty flat seats, and I can barely get the adjuster. I don't adjust much, so it's been okay so far. Also, it's installed in a captain's chair, so if I really need to adjuster, I can recline the vehicle seat, use the adjuster, then put the seat back up. Sort of annoying, but for the amount of time I use it, it's fine.

We haven't had any twisting straps yet either (knock on wood). The straps seem to be exactly the same width as the buckle tongues, so it's kind of a nice combination of them not sliding down, but also not folding over much.

BW1426 said:

I know I should understand what this is, but I don't. Can someone explain to me out the continuous loop harness (like the True Fit has) differs from my Radian harness?

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Others have described it clearly, and given examples of seats that have this type of harness; AO/3-in-1 seats are easy to find on the shelf if you want to look at an example in person some time.

I have mixed feelings about this type of harness (our first two seats were AO's, so this is all we knew for a while). It's sort of a pain when the sides get uneven; on the other hand, YOU CAN FIX IT when the sides get uneven . Our Radian (not continuous loop) annoys me because the two sides often look/feel uneven in tension, but there's nothing I can do to rectify it.

Katrin