Cam strap friction pads

[d^2b]

I am rigging my shiny new freedom plate with a pair of dive rite cam straps. They came with a pair of friction pads (one per cam strap) and I'm not sure about if and / how to use them. With my existing jacket, having the friction pad move around and get under the cam buckle is an annoyance. I thought maybe I should put the friction pad on the buckle side of the strap, but that pulls the buckle far enough out that there is velcro on the diver side of the backplate (on a freedom plate that means the velcro will rub on my wetsuit). How do people manage these friction pads in general? I looked a couple of jacket BCs and they all had the pad on the non-buckle side, so I guess that's the intent. Would it be a bad idea to put a plastic triglide on to prevent the pad from sliding? Are the pads even needed?

EDIT: So if push hard with the pad on the buckle side, almost all of the velcro pulls through, so maybe that's the best plan

 

[Scared Silly]

I thread the cam band through one wing slot then through the friction pad then back through the other wing slot. That fixes it in place and it does not interfere with the buckle because it is between the tank and wing.. IMHO any other rigging is non-standard.

 

[d^2b]

I thread the cam band through one wing slot then through the friction pad then back through the other wing slot. That fixes it in place and it does not interfere with the buckle because it is between the tank and wing.. IMHO any other rigging is non-standard.

That makes a lot of sense in general. In my case I have some built in stabilizers on the wing and I'm not sure about the interaction of the pad and the stabilizers. I'll attach a picture. Probably I need to try it on a tank to know for sure, but it doesn't seem ideal that the pad sits between the tank and the stabilizers.

 

[Bowers]

I use the hog so apparently a different length. Like @Scared Silly, i put strap through one side of friction pad then through the wing/plate then through the other side of friction pad. It stays in place and is out of the way.

 

[Zef]

You can remove them if you want...about a year ago or so I had pulled my cam straps from my backplate which required removing the friction pads....I had them sitting on the coffee table in the living room when I had to run an errand. When I got back I found one of our 2 German shepherds had turned one in to a chew toy.

The cost to replace compared to what they do was not worth it....things luke that are more expensive here in Belgium than in the US for some reason.

I have not had any issue whatsoever diving without the pads...so if they are causing you even the hassle of thi king about them, just remove them and go without.

-Z

 

[Aqua-Andy]

Throw them away and make some DSS copies. They work much better.

 

[dmaziuk]

Are the pads even needed?

I don't use them with the bracket. I had them set up the same way as on your photo on my other plate, but on my wing the stabilizer is in the middle so it didn't get in the way.

They're way more useful with only one camband, like on my wife's jacket. With two cambands: meh.