Oh, man... That's fantastic.
Rick: Thanks for re-opening the thread.
You rock.
I'm seriously excited for you, J... And can't wait to see photos. I'm really interested in how the "comfort harness" hooked up with the Freedom plate. I'm looking forward to photographs.
For what it's worth, I don't think that any of us would have thought it weird to see you wearing the rig in a work suit with a fire extinguisher on it... LOL... I think we can all relate. Sure, it might be irrational behavior, but we all relate... New scuba gear is about as cool as it gets.
By "having trouble with the quick release belt," I assume that you're speaking of installing the buckle. I don't have a photo, but if you were looking head-on at a diver wearing the buckle, the RIGHT (diver's left) belt threads OVER the first bit of metal and DOWN (towards the diver's pelvis) through the first slot. It then alternates back up and through the second slot, then down through the third. It then folds back and up through the FIRST slot so that the excess strap sits behind the belt. Leave a foot or more of webbing (you can cut it later after you're all adjusted) and secure with inner tube twice. One of these inner tubes will always stay at the end of the excess strap (closest to your left D-ring) and the second (closer to the buckle) will be used to secure the excess strap from the OTHER side of the belt when you're wearing the rig.
Note that the buckle should NOT sit in the center of the rig - the crotch strap can and will interfere with the operation of the buckle, and can even catch the buckle and open it up unexpectedly. The buckle should instead sit on the diver's RIGHT hip - making both sides of the belt part of the harness equally too long. (If the buckle sits in the center, then the rig's buckle side is shorter than the non-buckle side - this is incorrect.)
I hope that makes sense.
The belt should be comfortably snug when you're wearing the rig, and with the crotch strap connected, if you squat the crotch strap should just BARELY snug up... That is, you should never actually feel the crotch strap at all unless you squat down all the way - and even then, only barely. It will seem too loose by an inch or two when you're just standing if it's properly adjusted. You may want to shorten this later, but probably not by more than a centimeter or two. More on that later - that's an easy and quick adjustment.
I can't wait to see photos.
Congratulations.
