Darling Harness?

[Culcuhain]

I picked up a old steel 72 tank today and some other "old" gear. Attached to the tank was this harness with a center cam (like a racing seat harness) attached to this big black plastic piece for the tank (See attached pic).

Unfortunately part of the plastic is broken where the bolt holds the tank.

Any idea on the year? rarity? etc. I don't have a need for it and want to know if it is worth trying to get some beer money or just trashing it.

Thanks!

 

[joystershell]

Looks to me like some sort of quick release harness, not necessarily designed for diving. Maybe flying?

Keep us posted on what you find.

 

[Akimbo]

+1, Looks like a home brew with a parachute release and a USD pack.

 

[Luis H]

The back pack is a US Divers Dolphin pack, but the harness was replaced with an old style parachute (or maybe old race car) harness.

The broken plastic band near the bolt is very common if the used is not careful while installing it on the tank.

The back pack is not particularly rare and not a collectors item.

 

[spectrum]

It reminds me of that full face mask rig that had the (lead?) platter as the juncture of shoulder, waist and crotch straps. But this looks decidedly non scuba in origin.

FWIW this post is already #4 if you google Darling Harness.

Pete

 

[Culcuhain]

thanks for everyone's quick responses!

Something didn't quite seem right, but it was part of the package.
It was from some old guy who said it was from the 50s. Hmmm Well as a previous military paratrooper, it looks like I got a little bit of history on my hands....

now to unload the dacor olympic reg and spg that came with it to so I can fund the Hydro and vis on the tank... (plus 2 3# weights...)

Thanks y'all!
Lee

 

[John C. Ratliff]

The harness (Darling) is a parachute harness type that someone put on a scuba pack. It was probably from the Army, and used with the T-10 parachute. I used something similar going through Jump School at Fort Benning in 1967, and we used them for our parascuba jumps between 1967 and about 1974. After that, we had an integrated harness system. This photo is from the 1950s, and probably used the some mechanism on the parachute harness:

This harness is probably better than the original, as that harness had plastic shoulder straps, which were really slippery and did not stay in place. The Darling harness had a clip on the quick release that prevented its activation when jumping. You had to first pull the clip, then you could rotate the top plate and hit it with the heel of your hand to release all but one of the straps. You could do this by feel, as that harness had a flat portion, which needed to be off-set to release (from memory--it could be backwards).

Here is that USD harness in use:

SeaRat

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I looked up my 1967 AIRBORNE CLASSBOOK, CLASS 33...42ND & 46TH COMPANIES, FORT BENNING, GEORGIA this evening. Sure enough, I found the Darling Quick Release system prominently shown in the photos from our class's Jump School. Here they are:

This shows a student jumper doing a training jump off a short platform.

This is a closeup of the jumper, showing better (if my scan turned out okay) the Darling Quick Release. We were jumping the T10 canopy later, which has no steering capability other than slipping the canopy.

Here is another photo of the harness:

This tells me that the top cover had to be rotated so that the straight edge was up in order the release the harness from their place in the Darling Quick Release. In order to do that, the pin had to be pulled. Actually, a piece of metal which resembled a clothespin, but would expand to go around the center post so that the plate could not be pressed against had to be pulled out first. This was a very good, very adjustable quick release. However, I just looked over our Pararescue Operations Regulation from that era, and we did not use the Darling Quick Release on our parachute harnesses. We had gone to a different configuration with a chest strap hook going into a ring, and separate quick release hooks and rings for the leg straps to go into the harness. But, this regulation is from 1975, and it is possible that we used it earlier in the 1960s, as I remember it well. I'm also sure it was being used in the 1950s jumps pictured above.

SeaRat

PS--I just was going through my little box of things, and found this photo of me at Fort Benning in 1967. You can see the Darling Quick release better in this photo.

 

[DaleC]

Good set of posts John (or should I say # 82).

 

[Culcuhain]

John,
Thanks for the awesome pics... BTW, Hit it Airborne. :-D

I remember the T-10, but I liked the -1B, but the first time I looked up and saw the 144 sqft missing was a little unerving.

I can't remember my Class, but I was in
Company C
1st/505th.
Mighty Charlie!

I think I will be keeping this little piece of Military Paratrooper memorbilia!
Thanks everyone!