Broken tank straps -Sherwood Luna

[Bearkeley]

I wouldn't worry too much. They didn't break at the same time. One broke off without warning, but the other strap held the tank so no issues. I was hoping the second strap would work on its own (lots of bcs are made with only one strap), but unfortunately, the plastic holding the strap was not strong enough, eventually breaking off. Fortunately, it held through the dive, but I would recommend that if one strap breaks off, to toss the BC and not attempt to dive with one strap.

Also - I attempted to look at options to fix the BC....decided it was ultimately better to replace with a new BC.

 

[chefron999]

My wife had the same problem, with the same bcd. It was used twice and was in storage in our garage for two years in SW Florida, and the brackets holding the tank straps completely designated. I fabricated a new piece out of a 16" piece of pvc pipe that I cut own the middle then heated and flattened with a heat gun. I cut it to shape and bent it as needed. Then fit it inside the bcd. It's way stronger now than the crap that was on there. Glad it happened on dry land. It's bull that it's not recalled. Took about an hour to fabricate.

 

[iamrushman]

good work.....but i think they are redesigned now.

 

[bobfmdc]

stumble across this thread...should I be concerned? I got a sherwood luna last year and have only done about 40 dives with it.

Bearkeley, was there any sign before the straps ripped?

The simple answer is "yes, be concerned." I just bought a bag full of slightly used scuba gear that included what I thought was a really nice Luna. However, it has the same problem--two (not one, Sherwood) of the strap anchors are broken off. The seller was selling this for his daughter who lives somewhere else, and, being unable to figure out what happened, he just gave me the BCD. Then I got back and researched it here and found on another Scubaboard thread that it is a problem not only for the Luna, but many (all?) the Sherwood BCDs.

I don't believe it is easily repairable with a new part. The strap runs through a device that is a part of a very thin plastic plate sewn to the BCD back. Seeing how flimsy it is, I would not dive with this even if Sherwood gave me a new BCD of the same design.

(Sherwood, if you have a different view, you can contact me by replying to this post through Scubaboard. I won't hold my breath waiting for you.)