large_diver
Contributor
First the question why do Halcyon wings have the rear dump facing your body instead of facing towards the surface
.?
Now my long-winded gear review.....
The pieces -- FredT heavy SS backplate, two piece light STA, FredT harness kit, Halcyon Pioneer wing, new Halcyon cam straps/SS buckles, mountain bike tire tube (size = 26X1.75-2.35), 1/4" bungee. I also bought one of the over-priced Halcyon back-pad/pockets, but haven't put it on yet. Having seen some other posts regarding wing nuts loosening up, I was curious to see how tight they stayed during the dive (I noticed no movement).
I also ordered 2 additional heavy keepers from Fred (in addition to his standard harness kit), since I wanted to mount keepers at the 2 points where the harness passes through the bottom of the backplate. Note that Fred does NOT include these as part of his standard harness package. The standard harness package includes webbing (if you are large, Fred suggest ordering 2 extra yards, which I did), 2 x 45 degree billy rings (integrated D ring and keeper) 1 for each side of your chest, 1 x 90 degree billy ring (left belt of harness), 2 D rings and 2 keepers (for crotch strap), and a SS buckle weight-belt type buckle.
I finally had some time to set things up Friday night. A word of advice for anyone doing this -- if doing it yourself for the first time, spend some time reviewing and printing out data from various "harness set-up" web sites. Although setting up a harness is not that difficult, it is useful to have something at hand to reference.
Comments on the FredT gear -- seems very well made. I paid the extra $$$ to have Fred sand down all the rough edges, and this was worth it to me. The final finish on the plate actually looks very similar to that on my TX-100 first stage (brass vs. steel, I know...).
I set up the harness following basic DIR guidelines 1 chest D ring on each side and one D ring on the left belt. The crotch strap I set up using a keeper in the rear (I didnt see the big need for a rear D ring and I can always add this later) and a D ring and keeper in the front.. I also added my shears (mounted in a small velcro sleeve-pocket that slips right over the webbing) to my left waist. I had more than enough webbing almost enough left over for a complete weight belt.
Total assembly time was 2-3 hours (including interruptions to watch snippets of Celtics-Nets game 6 and Lakers-Kings game 6....;-)
On to the diving...Nubble Light, York Beach, ME.....only got 1 dive in, since I managed to leave my fins at home, DOH. Luckily, my buddy Green_Manelishi lives close by and his wonderful wife brought over 3 spare pairs to try on....
Gearing up felt easier than with my Sea-Quest Pro QD. Having tried everything on the night before, I elected to wear my weight belt UNDER my harness. I tried it OVER my harness the night before, and it just didn't feel right and was hard to position correctly with the tank and harness already on. I decided to drop 15 pounds of weight to offset the heavy BP and light STA...this was probably too much given the -11 of BP/STA. As a result, I was kind of "floaty" at the end of the dive. Live and learn.
I really like the Halcyon tank straps. These are the new model straps that have SS buckles, but which don't "come apart" when released. They also have the cool "octo grip" material on the side that contacts the tank to prevent tank slippage. The strap buckles even have numbers next to each slot in the buckle to remind you how the threading goes in case you forget handy. This is the first BC I've used with 2 straps instead of one as a result, things felt very secure. One other note -- this is a potential source of tank "scuffing" for those who care, since the SS buckles make contact with your tank when closing them. Another issue -- my squat LP 98 is also about as short a tank as you would want in using this rig....the lower strap is mounted right down against my non-DIR boot, the upper is where the side of the tank first becomes perpendicular to the ground. I think this issue has been posted elsewhere by Windknot. One solution would be to use only one strap. Another would be to take the boot off.
The other source of tank scruffing is the SS STA I will probably end up using some tool dip on my STA pieces before my next dive outing (no time to do it this time). I have an OMS 98 with the painted finish . I could care less about scruff marks on my tank, but would like to prevent exterior rust.
Underwater, the rig felt stable. The harness stayed in place and did not shift ah, the beauty of a crotch strap. The tank also did not shift. The inflator took a little getting used to. I decided to try the DIR suggestion for using a bungee loop on the harness in the same spot as the left chest D ring to keep the inflator hose in place. Not a big deal, but on my next dives I may pop the hose out of the loop when ascending/descending instead of trying to stretch the bungee. I think anytime you use a new BC, the differences in the button locations and force required to depress the buttons can feel strange at first this will improve with experience. I also had a little trouble locating the rear pull dump underwater, since it is just the string with a small knot at the end. I may add a small knob to this on future dives (more non-DIR heresy). Im also not sure why the rear dump is on the side of the wing that faces you (i.e. facing towards the bottom of the ocean) instead of on the back of the wing pointing towards the surface. Hmmm .
Hoses I currently use a 5 foot hose for my primary reg. I used a 7 footer for about 20 dives and found it unwieldy sometimes. The 5 footer worked well when I deployed it .nothing in the way. One issue I need to check on future dives is whether a back-up light stored DIR style will be in the way with 5 foot hose routing (directly from first stage under arm). Well see.
Trim I felt like my trim was OK, not great. Ive been using ankle weights (not optimal, I know), since with my Sea-Quest, I always felt like I was standing on my head underwater without them. Further reflection this weekend leads to believe that this overly head down position was perhaps due to the presence of 10 pounds of non-ditchable weight that I wore in the QD in pockets up against my upper back (either that or my thick skull). With the BP, I had all of my ditchable weight on my belt, which may have been enough of a shift to make a difference in my trim. When I tried to hover this weekend without moving forward, my feet would slowly sink. Ill try diving without the ankle weights on the next dive and see how things go. On the surface I did not notice being thrust forward when inflating the wing, although the ankle weights may have helped prevent this.
Billy rings the thing I like about the billy rings is that they dont move the chest rings stick out at a 45 degree angle; the waist ring at a 90 degree angle. I practiced clipping/unclipping my SPG several times and when re-clipping it, I hit it on the first try almost every time without looking at it. Ive heard some rumors that at least one GUE instructor has taken folks to task for wearing Billy rings, since I guess they are not quite as streamlined as moveable rings. I am a recreational diver and they seem to work for me. I guess I may hear differently when I get to the DIRF class in August ;-)
The dive itself was only about 25 minutes I called the dive early given my underweighting. We hit a max depth of 38 ft. Water temp was 45F. Vis was <10 feet. G_M was diving dry, I was in my wet suit. Surface conditions were EXTREMELY windy (gusts close to 30 mph), but the wind was out of the west, making this site fine (except our hats kept blowing away). Air temp was very warm it must have been 80F+.
All in all, a successful first dive with my BP/wings. Big thanks to GM for coming along!
Now my long-winded gear review.....
The pieces -- FredT heavy SS backplate, two piece light STA, FredT harness kit, Halcyon Pioneer wing, new Halcyon cam straps/SS buckles, mountain bike tire tube (size = 26X1.75-2.35), 1/4" bungee. I also bought one of the over-priced Halcyon back-pad/pockets, but haven't put it on yet. Having seen some other posts regarding wing nuts loosening up, I was curious to see how tight they stayed during the dive (I noticed no movement).
I also ordered 2 additional heavy keepers from Fred (in addition to his standard harness kit), since I wanted to mount keepers at the 2 points where the harness passes through the bottom of the backplate. Note that Fred does NOT include these as part of his standard harness package. The standard harness package includes webbing (if you are large, Fred suggest ordering 2 extra yards, which I did), 2 x 45 degree billy rings (integrated D ring and keeper) 1 for each side of your chest, 1 x 90 degree billy ring (left belt of harness), 2 D rings and 2 keepers (for crotch strap), and a SS buckle weight-belt type buckle.
I finally had some time to set things up Friday night. A word of advice for anyone doing this -- if doing it yourself for the first time, spend some time reviewing and printing out data from various "harness set-up" web sites. Although setting up a harness is not that difficult, it is useful to have something at hand to reference.
Comments on the FredT gear -- seems very well made. I paid the extra $$$ to have Fred sand down all the rough edges, and this was worth it to me. The final finish on the plate actually looks very similar to that on my TX-100 first stage (brass vs. steel, I know...).
I set up the harness following basic DIR guidelines 1 chest D ring on each side and one D ring on the left belt. The crotch strap I set up using a keeper in the rear (I didnt see the big need for a rear D ring and I can always add this later) and a D ring and keeper in the front.. I also added my shears (mounted in a small velcro sleeve-pocket that slips right over the webbing) to my left waist. I had more than enough webbing almost enough left over for a complete weight belt.
Total assembly time was 2-3 hours (including interruptions to watch snippets of Celtics-Nets game 6 and Lakers-Kings game 6....;-)
On to the diving...Nubble Light, York Beach, ME.....only got 1 dive in, since I managed to leave my fins at home, DOH. Luckily, my buddy Green_Manelishi lives close by and his wonderful wife brought over 3 spare pairs to try on....
Gearing up felt easier than with my Sea-Quest Pro QD. Having tried everything on the night before, I elected to wear my weight belt UNDER my harness. I tried it OVER my harness the night before, and it just didn't feel right and was hard to position correctly with the tank and harness already on. I decided to drop 15 pounds of weight to offset the heavy BP and light STA...this was probably too much given the -11 of BP/STA. As a result, I was kind of "floaty" at the end of the dive. Live and learn.
I really like the Halcyon tank straps. These are the new model straps that have SS buckles, but which don't "come apart" when released. They also have the cool "octo grip" material on the side that contacts the tank to prevent tank slippage. The strap buckles even have numbers next to each slot in the buckle to remind you how the threading goes in case you forget handy. This is the first BC I've used with 2 straps instead of one as a result, things felt very secure. One other note -- this is a potential source of tank "scuffing" for those who care, since the SS buckles make contact with your tank when closing them. Another issue -- my squat LP 98 is also about as short a tank as you would want in using this rig....the lower strap is mounted right down against my non-DIR boot, the upper is where the side of the tank first becomes perpendicular to the ground. I think this issue has been posted elsewhere by Windknot. One solution would be to use only one strap. Another would be to take the boot off.
The other source of tank scruffing is the SS STA I will probably end up using some tool dip on my STA pieces before my next dive outing (no time to do it this time). I have an OMS 98 with the painted finish . I could care less about scruff marks on my tank, but would like to prevent exterior rust.
Underwater, the rig felt stable. The harness stayed in place and did not shift ah, the beauty of a crotch strap. The tank also did not shift. The inflator took a little getting used to. I decided to try the DIR suggestion for using a bungee loop on the harness in the same spot as the left chest D ring to keep the inflator hose in place. Not a big deal, but on my next dives I may pop the hose out of the loop when ascending/descending instead of trying to stretch the bungee. I think anytime you use a new BC, the differences in the button locations and force required to depress the buttons can feel strange at first this will improve with experience. I also had a little trouble locating the rear pull dump underwater, since it is just the string with a small knot at the end. I may add a small knob to this on future dives (more non-DIR heresy). Im also not sure why the rear dump is on the side of the wing that faces you (i.e. facing towards the bottom of the ocean) instead of on the back of the wing pointing towards the surface. Hmmm .
Hoses I currently use a 5 foot hose for my primary reg. I used a 7 footer for about 20 dives and found it unwieldy sometimes. The 5 footer worked well when I deployed it .nothing in the way. One issue I need to check on future dives is whether a back-up light stored DIR style will be in the way with 5 foot hose routing (directly from first stage under arm). Well see.
Trim I felt like my trim was OK, not great. Ive been using ankle weights (not optimal, I know), since with my Sea-Quest, I always felt like I was standing on my head underwater without them. Further reflection this weekend leads to believe that this overly head down position was perhaps due to the presence of 10 pounds of non-ditchable weight that I wore in the QD in pockets up against my upper back (either that or my thick skull). With the BP, I had all of my ditchable weight on my belt, which may have been enough of a shift to make a difference in my trim. When I tried to hover this weekend without moving forward, my feet would slowly sink. Ill try diving without the ankle weights on the next dive and see how things go. On the surface I did not notice being thrust forward when inflating the wing, although the ankle weights may have helped prevent this.
Billy rings the thing I like about the billy rings is that they dont move the chest rings stick out at a 45 degree angle; the waist ring at a 90 degree angle. I practiced clipping/unclipping my SPG several times and when re-clipping it, I hit it on the first try almost every time without looking at it. Ive heard some rumors that at least one GUE instructor has taken folks to task for wearing Billy rings, since I guess they are not quite as streamlined as moveable rings. I am a recreational diver and they seem to work for me. I guess I may hear differently when I get to the DIRF class in August ;-)
The dive itself was only about 25 minutes I called the dive early given my underweighting. We hit a max depth of 38 ft. Water temp was 45F. Vis was <10 feet. G_M was diving dry, I was in my wet suit. Surface conditions were EXTREMELY windy (gusts close to 30 mph), but the wind was out of the west, making this site fine (except our hats kept blowing away). Air temp was very warm it must have been 80F+.
All in all, a successful first dive with my BP/wings. Big thanks to GM for coming along!
