TN Traveler
Contributor
UPS showed up yesterday afternoon and dropped off a new Ultra Lite Plate and Speed Harness. First thing that impressed me was the box weighed more than the Plate and Harness. Needless to say, I could not wait to start assembling the system.
I have a Mach V Extreme wing, with camband slots but no roll control - so I was wondering how this would work. With two sets of holes on the plate plus two sets of grommets on the wing, you can adjust the wing up or down a total of about 3 inches to get the bouyancy where you want it (I'm leg heavy, so I adjusted it as low as possible). I attached the wing to the plate using a couple of "sex bolts" - first problem, how to tighten these things - although I have a wide assortment of screw drivers, none were really big enough - finally figured out that with a big screw driver and a quarter - they tighten up just fine. Looking at what I have I'm impressed already by how everything fits, the plate and wing are like one piece.
Next, assembling the harness. The webbing runs through a series of keepers and fabric loops. The keepers at the top are serrated and hold the webbing tight - the keepers on the bottom, at the waist, are attached to loops on the plate and the webbing goes through only one side and then into a fabric loop, so the webbing can slide when there is no tension on it, making it easy to get a perfect fit.
I added 3 d-rings and weight pockets to the belt and then fitted the cam bands. I did one thing different than suggested, in that I ran the upper camband around the plate, instead of just through the wing feeling like it would provide more support. I put the plate on a tank and slipped into it. It fit perfectly - hugged my back and felt more secure than my regular plates. Absolutely no sign of any tank wobble.
Tonight I will try and take some pictures and weigh it and my AL plate and STA, just to find out how much travel weight I'll be saving - but I figure it will be 4-6 lbs. Now all I need to do is take it diving - which will be in a couple of weeks.
I have a Mach V Extreme wing, with camband slots but no roll control - so I was wondering how this would work. With two sets of holes on the plate plus two sets of grommets on the wing, you can adjust the wing up or down a total of about 3 inches to get the bouyancy where you want it (I'm leg heavy, so I adjusted it as low as possible). I attached the wing to the plate using a couple of "sex bolts" - first problem, how to tighten these things - although I have a wide assortment of screw drivers, none were really big enough - finally figured out that with a big screw driver and a quarter - they tighten up just fine. Looking at what I have I'm impressed already by how everything fits, the plate and wing are like one piece.
Next, assembling the harness. The webbing runs through a series of keepers and fabric loops. The keepers at the top are serrated and hold the webbing tight - the keepers on the bottom, at the waist, are attached to loops on the plate and the webbing goes through only one side and then into a fabric loop, so the webbing can slide when there is no tension on it, making it easy to get a perfect fit.
I added 3 d-rings and weight pockets to the belt and then fitted the cam bands. I did one thing different than suggested, in that I ran the upper camband around the plate, instead of just through the wing feeling like it would provide more support. I put the plate on a tank and slipped into it. It fit perfectly - hugged my back and felt more secure than my regular plates. Absolutely no sign of any tank wobble.
Tonight I will try and take some pictures and weigh it and my AL plate and STA, just to find out how much travel weight I'll be saving - but I figure it will be 4-6 lbs. Now all I need to do is take it diving - which will be in a couple of weeks.