BP/W questions from the green one

[4sak3n]

What I really would like to find is the cam bands that can be completely disconnected when you replace the tank. I mean you just unclip them, remove the tank, and clip it onto a new tank, rather than slide the rig onto the tank from the top as the standard cam straps work. Not sure, however, do they make anything like that at all. And, of course, if they do, are those bands reliable enough? Well you see I am pretty picky

Are you meaning these https://tigergear.com/product_pictures.htm bands Serge?

:11:



P.S. Nice discussion about them here.

 

[SergeK]

No way these things look more like missile rails. I need something simple. So anyway I will try and see how it works for me. May be I use it in the way r2t suggested, i.e. unclipping lower band and just loosen the top. Still it seems to be better than doing it with two bands.

 

[SergeK]

Just received Mach V Signature wing together with two cam straps and XS weight pockets from ST. Still waiting for BP/STA from Hammerhead. So the stuff really seems to be of extremely high quality. Very strong, etc. They actually do not mention it but wing also has LP hose supplied with it. Not sure if it is standard to supply it, but very nice surprise anyway The wing has yellow OxyCheq signs on the sides, and the pads for STA-less configuration. Not sure if these pads get in the way of Hammerhead STA. Anyone had to remove these pads to use SS STA from Hammerhead?

 

[Splitlip]

I used an HH STA with one of the older Oxycheq wings. No pillows.
But I think you may be correct that there could be an issue with the newer wings as the HH STA is shaped to wrap the channel in the plate.
See how it works when the STA arrives, but don't cut off the pads would be my advise. HH will refund you for STA (although it might mess up the package price). In the meantime you can still dive STA-less while you look for another STA.
And FTR, I am a fan of STA's and use them even though I don't have too.

 

[SergeK]

Just received BP+STA+harness from Hammerhead. To be honest, based on what people said, I was expecting much worse quality. That does not look so bad. The edges definitely need trimming, not because these are rough but because they are sharp. If I can make some photos, I'll post them tonight. And I am going to do passivation with coke as Tobin suggested We'll see how it goes..

 

[SergeK]

OK, so I managed to cut all sharp edges on BP and STA today. The tools I used were dremel with tungsten carbide bit, electrical drill with tungsten carbide countersink, and orbital sander. Just cut all sharp edges on the sides of BP and STA, as well as all edges in the slots with dremel.

Countersink was used for round holes, and orbital sander with sand paper for overall sanding and to smooth the rounded edges. Just for someone who tries to repeat the process: do not try to use for SS work any bit that is not tungsten carbide based it's waste of time and bit. I tried it first you do not have to repeat experiment.

After all mechanical work done, I put all SS stuff into the coke for passivation, as Tobin suggested. I left it for about one day in the coke. After that I washed the stuff thoroughly and wiped it with dump clothes. And it just proved it was worth it: all dump clothes turned to be black I assume it is all the iron parts rusted away from the plate. And you know, it looks pretty shiny now

Now I am going to put the harness into the BP and here is the question: I have seen two ways of webbing the hog harness. One is say for example here Webbing a Harness and other one is with crossing the shoulder straps. What is the point of crossing them? Can someone explain what is the difference, which way is better (if any), and in which circumstances?

Thank you.

 

[SergeK]

And one more question: how much spare webbing do you leave uncut?

 

[Boxcar Overkill]

Crossing, I think, is for smaller people who might have the webbing fall off their narrow shoulders. If you're shoulders are broad enough to work without crossing, you can do it that way. (That's just what I read on the interweb, I don't know how accurate it is.)

Leave enough spare so that if you change equipment configurations (add a dry suit, etc.) you won't have to start over.

 

[4sak3n]

As Boxcar said, you should leave enough spare in order to change between different configurations. But quantitatively, how much is that? Its really hard to say, but you should try to leave as much as possible whilst still feeling comfortable in your harness.

I would recommend cutting off nothing until you have your harness sizing dialed in. Once you are absolutely sure that it is sized correctly start taking off about an inch of excess webbing at a time. Do a dive or two then take off an inch, do a few more, then take off another. Repeat this until you feel comfortable that the excess won't get in the way and it isn't interfering with your diving.

To give you an idea, I measured my hog harness and I have about 6 inches protruding from the end of my buckle (attached to the strap on my left) and the right side's strap is 2 feet long, even though the buckle "bites" 1 foot along it when I fasten it (the extra space is partly to accommodate a can light/pocket etc). The 6 inches protruding from the buckle could probably be trimmed down to 2 or 3.

Basically dive a lot and make small changes at a time.

 

[SergeK]

Hmm, well.. I tried inserting the webbing in two different ways. So the strait one (i.e. no shoulder straps crossing) seems OK but it does not quite fit into the BP. I mean the straps are bent unnaturally. Cross-strap one seems to be very good fit for BP but it is a lot tighter for me and I think I will have problems donning/doffing the rig. So what do you do then?