DAMN CROTCH strap

[Lehmann108]

There's something scary about doing a giant stride in a thin wetsuit and wearing a harness with a crotch strap. It doesn't bother me in a drysuit and doubles, but I just couldn't do it in a 3mm and a single tank.

Ha! I just started diving and I've got a crotch strap on my Poseidon BCD and giant striding with a .5 mm suit hasn't created any problems.....yet!

 

[TrickyRicky]

There's something scary about doing a giant stride in a thin wetsuit and wearing a harness with a crotch strap. It doesn't bother me in a drysuit and doubles, but I just couldn't do it in a 3mm and a single tank.

To get the full experience one must fully inflate their wing before making the giant stride.:11:

 

[akscuba]

funny, i find the crotch strap to be more crucial on the surface than below--although i've never tried not using it. when it isn't fit correctly, i find that i can't keep above the waves on the surface, even with the wing fully inflated. when it is fit correctly, i float easily with the wing only half inflated.

fit correctly or incorrectly, i've never had any problems underwater, either in a 3mm or in a 7mm. (seems having a loose crotch strap would be at least *similar* to not using it, correct?)

 

[do it easy]

To get the full experience one must fully inflate their wing before making the giant stride.:11:

Seriously, it's really not an issue. I think the fins hitting the water first keep everything in the right place. I only dive a wetsuit a handful of times each year, so it takes a few dives to get used to the feeling.

 

[Tavi]

All of my open water diving is with a BP/Wing.

When I travel to the Caribbean each fall I remove the crotch strap. It really doesn't help any diving an al 80 with a wetsuit. With the waist strap cinched snug, The BP doesn't ride up on me.

 

[alo100]

I know this may not be totally DIR, but after I saw how some people's setup:

Add a quick release buckle to the CS (it's easy to determine where the exact location we should put it)
using softer material for the CS

 

[Blox]

There's something scary about doing a giant stride in a thin wetsuit and wearing a harness with a crotch strap. It doesn't bother me in a drysuit and doubles, but I just couldn't do it in a 3mm and a single tank.

Why would that be? I'm typically diving a 1mm suit (to me, 3mm comes close to body armor ), and entry is nearly always a giant stride. Never had a problem with it.

Maybe I just have brass ones

 

[BabyDuck]

yep, good post. nice to see you're figuring out what's right/important for you.

i always use my crotch strap. the main reason is to keep my waist straps away from my waist! my hips are so much bigger than my waist, but that's where i want the 'waist' straps to stay, so i snugged down the crotch strap to hold the waist ones where i want. i'm sure guys have less of a problem with that since they tend to be straighter from armpits to hips.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

By far, the best entry is the "Sunkist Splash." Try it. Stand on the back of the platform, holding your gauges/computer/octo with one hand and your mask and primary with the other. Look up... up.... up... until you just tip backwards. It's like falling into a feather-bed because the tank takes every bit of the impact.

I've never had a problem with the crotchstrap, even when diving without a wetsuit, or wearing a 1.5mm, and like someone else said, it does seem more crucial on the surface than underwater. I also avoid filling my wing 100% when I'm at the surface. I usually blow two or three long breaths into it (Rec Wing) and that's plenty.

Also, why fight the crotchstrap when you're gearing up? Just sit down, if you aren't already, reach beneath and pull the crotchstrap up and buckle it before you stand up. Make things easy on yourself.

P.S. Why would you ever put your weightbelt on UNDER your crotchstrap? If you needed to ditch your weights, or just hand your weightbelt up to the boat, at the end of a dive, having it UNDER your crotchstrap defeats the entire purpose, doesn't it? *scratching my head..*

 

[ClayJar]

P.S. Why would you ever put your weightbelt on UNDER your crotchstrap? If you needed to ditch your weights, or just hand your weightbelt up to the boat, at the end of a dive, having it UNDER your crotchstrap defeats the entire purpose, doesn't it? *scratching my head..*

One reason I do is that when I'm diving dry, having a weight belt fall off at depth (never happened to me, but it *could*) would be far more dangerous than not being able to drop weights at the surface. (That's just one reason, of course.)