Halcyon ACB 10 orientation

[deepseafalcon]

I also use and like the XS Scuba pockets (5lb max. Quick Release) and they are easy to use and inexpensive. But, they're not what I would use or recommend if you're going to actually put 5lbs in there. The velcro is OK, but that's all that's holding that weight in there. I use 2lbs in there, so the loss of a weight will just be annoying, not an "A-Ticket" ride to the surface.

agree, loosing 5lbs would be bad
however, I use these pockest for several years and never lost a weight
in this thread several reported that they almost lost weights with the specialized pockets.
in my experience, larger weights fit quite snugly in the XS pockets, and there really is no force from the weight against the velcro, by the design of it

 

[FishOutUvH2O]

agree, loosing 5lbs would be bad
however, I use these pockest for several years and never lost a weight
in this thread several reported that they almost lost weights with the specialized pockets.
in my experience, larger weights fit quite snugly in the XS pockets, and there really is no force from the weight against the velcro, by the design of it

Damn, I was really hoping to skate by without having to explain further. You just never know when the knucklehead stuff you do will come to light. I actually lost a weight with my XS pocket. It wasn't the velcro that failed. I was playing a lot closer to the reef than I should've been (I was clearing empty conch shells away from an opening looking for an octopus) and somehow managed to catch the pocket on a ledge and open it. Luckily, I saw the weight drop out of the corner of my eye, and this pains me to say, right on the reef a couple of feet below me, I just simlply exhaled and grabbed it. What surprised me was that I didn't even feel the pocket open.

 

[deepseafalcon]

Damn, I was really hoping to skate by without having to explain further. You just never know when the knucklehead stuff you do will come to light. I actually lost a weight with my XS pocket. It wasn't the velcro that failed. I was playing a lot closer to the reef than I should've been (I was clearing empty conch shells away from an opening looking for an octopus) and somehow managed to catch the pocket on a ledge and open it. Luckily, I saw the weight drop out of the corner of my eye, and this pains me to say, right on the reef a couple of feet below me, I just simlply exhaled and grabbed it. What surprised me was that I didn't even feel the pocket open.

well, at least you lost only one weight. since typically (when you carry more than just a few pounds) you'd have several XS pockets, not a fatal failure I guess.

However, you won't believe how often I have seen fellow divers (almost) loosing their weight belt, esp. with thicker wetsuits at greater depth. Also had this once or twice when I was still using a belt.
I would say of the more serious distress situations, this comes second after a loose tank which I observe only all too often. Maybe it's just me who is around crazy fellow divers who cannot secure their tank properly or tighten their weightbelt.
Btw, much less of an issue with BP/W which all have two cam bands and mostly crotch straps, which most BCDs don't have .... getting offtopic now

 

[scubafanatic]

agree, loosing 5lbs would be bad
however, I use these pockest for several years and never lost a weight
in this thread several reported that they almost lost weights with the specialized pockets.
in my experience, larger weights fit quite snugly in the XS pockets, and there really is no force from the weight against the velcro, by the design of it

...there are those of us who are sooo completely 'DONE!' with weight systems relying either wholely or partly on Velcro that it almost makes me want to SCREAM ! Velcro does have it's place in non-critical applications...unfortunately scuba divers' weight systems is a 'CRITICAL' application and IMHO not appropriate for a weight system ! I rather doubt either one of us will convince the other on this matter...and that's fine....but trust me on this......there are those of us who have absolutely, positively, ZERO interest in a velcro-based weight system !

I've been looking for a LONG time for a weight pocket system from ANY scuba gear manufacturer that has ZERO reliance on velcro....finally along comes Halcyon with such a system......which I ordered in bulk ( 6 pairs of pockets = 12 pockets total) which have fitted successfully to 3 different BC's I've upgraded or built from scratch this year.....unfortunately I've not actually had a chance to dive these BC's, so I was unaware of the 'flaw' cram discovered...luckily there appears to be an easy 'fix'/upgrade from Halcyon, so all the $ I've invested in the expensive Halcyon pockets won't go to waste and have to be replaced.

I design/build my own custom BCs...because I'm VERY particular/specific about all my dive gear...also, I'd like to think I'm reasonably intelligent and honestly I'm smarter than most of the gear designers/manufacturers out there and have invented/modified/improved my gear in ways the original manufacturers either haven't thought of...or are too cheap to manufacture.

.....I've spent a LONG time messing with scuba gear...am highly familiar with all the products/designs out there......so you're just gonna have to believe me when I tell you I know exactly what I want...and what I don't want.

...by the way.....on every single dive trip I have either fellow divers or DM's see my gear and want to ask me questions about it/learn about it/ask me who made it or where I got it.....on my last December's Socorro Islands/Nautilus Explorer trip the lead DM saw my gear...how well thought out/cool it was, and how well I did with it underwater, that he took me aside to discuss if I'd like to get into 'rebreathers' and wanted to hook me up with one of his associates who teaches rebreathers...when it looks like you've got your '*****' together people seem to respect that!

Karl

 

[ScubaInChicago]

I recently picked up a pair of the Halcyon ACB 10 weight pockets. These are the newer vertical orientation pockets, unlike the horizontal ACB 20 and ACB 12.

I've been under the impression that these should be placed with the opening of the pockets facing down, but now I'm not sure if that's right. The Halcyon BC manual only describes installing the ACB 20 and ACB 12.

The reason this is important is that I've had problems with the weight pouch falling out of the pockets on nearly every dive. They're still held on by the strap so I'm not too worried about the weight actually ditching, but the dangling pouches throw my balance off and are probably an entaglement hazard. I'm wondering if this would stop happening if I flipped the pockets around so they were facing up.

Does anybody know what the correct orientation for these pockets is? And if they really are supposed to be pointing down, any tips for preventing the weights from falling out?

Sorry I'm that I didn't see this thread sooner. I have the ACB 10's as well and needed them on single tank, shallow rec dives with a drysuit. I also had the problem where the pouch would twist/roll out of the pocket and then hang by the release. I called my H rep a while back and was the 2nd person to have complained about it. The plastic inserts they are sending work great. They stiffen the inner pouch and makes it impossible for it to twist out.

 

[cram]

The plastic inserts they are sending work great. They stiffen the inner pouch and makes it impossible for it to twist out.

Good to hear! I'm excited to get mine and try them out.

 

[scubafanatic]

Sorry I'm that I didn't see this thread sooner. I have the ACB 10's as well and needed them on single tank, shallow rec dives with a drysuit. I also had the problem where the pouch would twist/roll out of the pocket and then hang by the release. I called my H rep a while back and was the 2nd person to have complained about it. The plastic inserts they are sending work great. They stiffen the inner pouch and makes it impossible for it to twist out.

...thanks for chiming in ! I just visited my LDS to order some gear items and I had them order me 8 of those 'inserts'...sight unseen, so hopefully they will work out. The LDS manager also reported some of his local divers have had the same complaint about the new-generation pockets...so apparently it's a widely noticed problem.....but at least Halcyon has a resolution.....although, ideally, if it were me, I'd still prefer that those hard inserts be woven permanently into the pouch 'backing' versus come as a separate part which is more prone to getting lost while loading/unloading pockets, especially on a vertical release system like Halcyons. Once I have them in hand, I will study them and see if I can figure out an elegant way to permanently attach the hard inserts to the pouch backing material...to get it the way they really should be!

 

[deepseafalcon]

...there are those of us who are sooo completely 'DONE!' with weight systems relying either wholely or partly on Velcro that it almost makes me want to SCREAM ! Velcro does have it's place in non-critical applications...unfortunately scuba divers' weight systems is a 'CRITICAL' application and IMHO not appropriate for a weight system ! I rather doubt either one of us will convince the other on this matter...and that's fine....but trust me on this......there are those of us who have absolutely, positively, ZERO interest in a velcro-based weight system !

I've been looking for a LONG time for a weight pocket system from ANY scuba gear manufacturer that has ZERO reliance on velcro....finally along comes Halcyon with such a system......which I ordered in bulk ( 6 pairs of pockets = 12 pockets total) which have fitted successfully to 3 different BC's I've upgraded or built from scratch this year.....unfortunately I've not actually had a chance to dive these BC's, so I was unaware of the 'flaw' cram discovered...luckily there appears to be an easy 'fix'/upgrade from Halcyon, so all the $ I've invested in the expensive Halcyon pockets won't go to waste and have to be replaced.

I design/build my own custom BCs...because I'm VERY particular/specific about all my dive gear...also, I'd like to think I'm reasonably intelligent and honestly I'm smarter than most of the gear designers/manufacturers out there and have invented/modified/improved my gear in ways the original manufacturers either haven't thought of...or are too cheap to manufacture.

.....I've spent a LONG time messing with scuba gear...am highly familiar with all the products/designs out there......so you're just gonna have to believe me when I tell you I know exactly what I want...and what I don't want.

...by the way.....on every single dive trip I have either fellow divers or DM's see my gear and want to ask me questions about it/learn about it/ask me who made it or where I got it.....on my last December's Socorro Islands/Nautilus Explorer trip the lead DM saw my gear...how well thought out/cool it was, and how well I did with it underwater, that he took me aside to discuss if I'd like to get into 'rebreathers' and wanted to hook me up with one of his associates who teaches rebreathers...when it looks like you've got your '*****' together people seem to respect that!

Karl

Hello Scubafanatic,
did I say or do anything to offend you, your technical abilities, or your gear?
If so, i sincerely apologize, I just don't understand how.

I just made the "somewhat unconventional suggestion" to consider a certain type of pockets I personally (and others I know) had good experience with, and is simpler and cheaper than the pockets reported with problems here.

Anybody is free to do anything he/she wishes with this, I just felt that maybe a technically simpler solution may ultimately be better than Halcyon's high-end pockets that seem to require final development by their customers :blinking:

 

[scubafanatic]

Hello Scubafanatic,
did I say or do anything to offend you, your technical abilities, or your gear?
If so, i sincerely apologize, I just don't understand how.

I just made the "somewhat unconventional suggestion" to consider a certain type of pockets I personally (and others I know) had good experience with, and is simpler and cheaper than the pockets reported with problems here.

Anybody is free to do anything he/she wishes with this, I just felt that maybe a technically simpler solution may ultimately be better than Halcyon's high-end pockets that seem to require final development by their customers :blinking:

...no worries DSF...I wasn't 'offended'....just emphasizing that while the XS scuba 'solution' is available...being based on velcro, it's not an acceptable solution for me and like-minded divers....and maybe the XS pockets are cheaper for a reason, namely a substandard design, at least in my book....but if it works for other divers who are happy with it...it's all good! I'm not obsessed by the Halcyon name....I've got gear from over two dozen manufacturers, and the only halcyon stuff I'm using are mask pockets....weight systems...and SPGs...I buy from whoever has the best designed product....whoever that may be.

Admittedly, I'm a little disapointed by Halcyon...that they could make such a fundamental design error.....however, there appears to be an easy and proven (and cheap) fix available....so now their weight system appears to be fully up to speed...whereas the XS system remains a cheaper, but undesirable velcro-based design...cheaper for a reason....but again, no worries, I'm glad we're both here volunteering helpful ideas so that we can all benefit from eash other's knowledge and experiences!

 

[scubafanatic]

...alright, I just installed those Halcyon plastic pocket stiffiners...nothing fancy, but it looks like they will work.....also picked up some of those replacement OPV springs to swap out (please see recent Halcyon recall on these for details.)