Choosing BP harness

[Subcooled]

I am diving a drysuit with dry gloves. I plan to buy a BP/W setup in the near future. A fully padded drysuit is quite fluffy and the dry glove locking rings are wide and rigid. Donning even a BCD jacket is a bit challenging at times, as the second arm tends to get stuck in all imaginable ways.

What kind of harness should I get for a BP, to make donning possible and easy?

Should I leave the shoulder straps loose?

Should I leave the second shoulder strap (right hand side) adjustable (i.e. no stopper in the webbing)?

Are there different harness solutions that solve this issue?

Thanks

 

[Hickdive]

I am diving a drysuit with dry gloves. I plan to buy a BP/W setup in the near future. A fully padded drysuit is quite fluffy and the dry glove locking rings are wide and rigid. Donning even a BCD jacket is a bit challenging at times, as the second arm tends to get stuck in all imaginable ways.

What kind of harness should I get for a BP, to make donning possible and easy?

Should I leave the shoulder straps loose?

Should I leave the second shoulder strap (right hand side) adjustable (i.e. no stopper in the webbing)?

Are there different harness solutions that solve this issue?

Thanks

I dive a simple one-piece harness with drysuit and drygloves (a ring system) and have no problems.

The trick about an OPH is to adjust it properly, there are plenty of websites such as:

Equipment Images

or

DIR Diver - How to set up a harness

which will give you a good starting point.

Another advantage is that the OPH is very cheap, some webbing, tri-glides, d-rings and a buckle so even if you don't get on with it and decide to go for a commercially made product later you have invested a great deal of money. Here's an example of a complete set up;

Apeks One-Piece Harness by Apeks

That includes a spare d-ring .

If you shop around for the bits you can probably get cheaper, such as here;

Backplates and stuff

One final tip; if you're diving a hog-loop clip off the long hose to your RH shoulder d-ring and use the hose to tug the webbing off your shoulder. This makes taking your set off a doddle.

 

[cmburch]

I dive a TransPlate. Fully adjustable backpack style harness. Great for hiking cliffs to secluded dive spots and for those with shoulder issues. Check out DeepSeaSupply and DiveRite websites.

 

[Subcooled]

Thanks for the links and advice. I got some really usefull advice - and swiftly

My exposure suit is boyant by 39 lbs, so if one of the buckles becomes undone, then funny things might happen. My jacket bcd hasn't failed yet though, so I don't know how real the risk is. A continuous loop still seems a bit safer...

... A TransPac might be an option if using the DUI weight system and a more neutrally boyant BP/W assembly... I am not sure how a BP harness and the DUI weight pockets would fit together, though. Trim and back strain issues might also exist.

I also found the Halcyon cinch setup by reading the forums. Maybe I could get a basic Halcyon BP. Then I could experiment with basic one piece harness, and add the cinch later if desired. At the same time I feel tempted by the idea of neutral boyancy of both the diver and the BP/W...

I guess I need to discuss these alternatives in detail with an instructor, once I get on my next diving course.

 

[fire_diver]

The one piece harness works very well for most divers, including those of us that dive in drysuits. Adjusting it correctly is the key.

If you want an alternative, one of the BP makers does have a setup where there are rollers at the waist mounts. This gives you an adjustable one-piece harness with more slack for putting on and taking off, but you can tighten up with the belt.

 

[TSandM]

I think to most people's surprise, a properly adjusted harness is not that difficult to get in and out of, even with dry gloves and big gauges. The biggest mistake people make is to make the harness too tight. A second error is to try to get out of it with the wing still fully inflated from surface floating -- deflating the wing gives you a LOT more room!

However, I do think you are thinking along the right lines with the idea of distributing your ballast so that some of it is on your rig and some is on you. For one thing, putting all the weight a dry suit diver needs ON the rig, requires a large wing to float the gear at the surface. For another, it makes the rig very unwieldy to move around on land. Thalassamania would also point out that, if you were ever to have to get out of your rig underwater, to clear an entanglement or the like, having the ballast distributed means you aren't desperately trying to hang on to your gear as you try to float away from it.

 

[Scared Silly]

One trick that was taught to me for getting into a backplate harness was to come into the shoulder straps from below. I.e. slouch down when getting into the harness and then sit up straight. At that point I stand up and do up the waist belt. Makes for getting into the harness very easy.

 

[DevonDiver]

A properly adjusted hogarthian/one-piece harness shouldn't present problems for a diver in any type of exposure protection.

IMHO, at the most you could add a single release into the left-lower should strap. Use a metal release (something borrowed from the webbing straps used in freight aircraft) or even a metal weightbelt release.

 

[rongoodman]

If you decide you need to have a harness with breaks, the Golem A2 is as rugged as anything I've ever seen, and on sale now too. I think those metal buckles are just about indestructible. After I realized I didn't need the shoulder straps so tight, though, I haven't had any issues with a OPH.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Cinch videos - Intro | Halcyon Dive Systems