A homemade kid-towing harness

When I first started towing F whole touring I just tied a rope around her waist and went for it. This worked ok for short distances, but it was clearly a lot of work and uncomfortable for her. So (at 2am the night before a trip, of course) I decided to make something better. It's been through a few tweaks, but at this point I think I the overall design is pretty good so I'd like to share it. Key design features:

• Pulls from the bum, like a climbing harness, for stability
• Had some elasticity to smooth out the ride
• Quick to take on and off, even with gloves on
• Quick to adjust for differing amounts of clothes
• Doesn't fall down or move around
• Single point attachment for convenience
• Can also be used as a 'slow me down' harness for skiing downhill
• Light and packs small

Essentially it's just a bum-sized rectangle of fabric with a bungee cord looped through the top/bottom. It's got elasticized suspenders to keep it from falling down, and an elasticized waist buckle so it stays on even when not loaded. The bungee is just long enough that F can ski over the tow rope, let it go out behind her through her legs, and the biner is comfortably behind her bum for being slowed down on the downhill. Here's a picture of it laid out, and on F:

The harness laid out flat.

Eating a cookie while being towed uphill. Doesn't get better, really...

To make it you'll need:

• Elastic bungee
• Fabric - I used lightweight uncoated nylon, the sort of stuff you'd use to make a sleeping bag
• Regular buckle for waist
• Elastic webbing that fits the buckle
• Snap-lock buckle for suspenders
• Elastic webbing that fits snap-lock buckle when doubled up

Size the fabric so it is long enough to reach around you kids bum, from waist to the top of the legs. Don't forget to leave some extra to finish the edges wide enough that you can pass the bungee through. Size the width so that it reaches around their waist; the width can be much longer than necessary without I'll effect.

Finish the sides of the fabric seat first. You will eventually want the bungee inside the fold you make when finishing the top and bottom of the fabric seat, but the rest of the steps will be a pain with it in there. For now just sew a piece of thread into it instead; later you will use it to pull the bungee through. I sized my fold so it is a snug fit for a double-fisherman knot with the bungee I used. This let me wiggle it into the middle of the bottom, where it is out of the way, and it stays there.

Sew a short piece of webbing to each side near the top for the waist belt. Thread the waist buckle through these so it can be used to keep the harness tight around the waist, like a belt. I sewed mine back a bit from the edges, so it doesn't get pulled loose when the harness is under tension. If your harness is wider than you need you might want to sew it pretty far back.

Sew the two suspender straps to the top edges near the front, and sew the snap-lock buckle to the center of the back. I tied my suspender straps together so they join right in-between my daughter's shoulders, then passed the two of them together through the snap-lock. On-trip adjustability for clothes using just the snap-lock and waist buckle is adequate, and I can move the knot at home beforehand as she grows.

Now thread the bungee through, tie it in a loop (I used a double-fisherman) and arrange the knot so it's out of the way (I put mine in the middle at the bottom).

You're done! Now you can clip the bungee loops for towing uphill, and for downhill get your kid to ski over the rope with one ski so it ends up folding back under their crotch. My daughter claims this is comfortable, and we do it a lot so I believe her. I use an old cordellette for my tow rope and find it to be a convenient length.

I've thought about modifying the design a bit more to put in a crotch-loop, so it can't ride up, but it doesn't seem to actually be a problem for us so I haven't bothered. I've also thought about making the bungee even longer so I can wrap it right around each side to clip on the downhill, but my daughter claims the current method works fine, and it is convenient to be able to switch to the downhill by flicking the rope forward and having her ski over it. Here's F demonstrating the transition to "downhill mode"