Halcyon Eclipse worth the money?

[Tony1964]

Looking at a Halcyon Eclipse & wondering if it’s worth spending the money on?
My old BC (Apeks Black Ice) is on its last legs & would buy another, it’s been good - except for the terrible weak buckles on the shoulder straps which broke early on & were replaced with something more heavy duty.
I dive a lot, around 4/5 days a week, year round, single tank dives with a dumpy steel 12 litre tank plus 3 litre pony on a metalsub quick release bracket.
I wear a 7mm neoprene wetsuit.
Thinking of the Halycon with the 18kg (40lb) wing.
I’ve always been put off wings by the lack of adjustment, I have damaged shoulders from a dislocation & lots of weight training so struggle to get into anything to tight - but the cinch system seams to sort that issue out.
Any thoughts from owners?
Tony

 

[divad]

There are several ways to put together (NOT "build") your own adjustable continuous harness.........we don't need no stinging buckles and we don't need no fancy sliders.

 

[Marie13]

There are two cheap options to have adjustable harness.

1. Simply don’t lock the harness on the backside of the plate with a triglide. Harness will move and you can adjust it that way. I do this. I don’t worry about harness wear.

2. Subgravity harness sliders. $25ish for a pair. Maybe Black Friday sales will reduce that some. I liked this option but it was too bulky with my doubles. Would be fine for single tank.

Much cheaper than the Cinch and can be used with any BP and continuous webbing harness.

ETA: I had the Cinch for a couple of years. I find the two above methods satisfactory and much cheaper.

 

[Marie13]

Another option that I now have:

Dive Rite has a Deluxe harness (NO padding) with a quick release on the left shoulder. It is working out VERY well for me. About USD $70. I’d expect you should be able to find it in the UK. No matter what I did or how I adjusted it, my continuous webbing harness was a major pain to get out of.

Dive Rite Harnesses for Backplates | Dive Gear Express®

 

[taimen]

Halcyon cinch seems to work.
One alternative to consider is Agir Harpa system. Very simple and works well.
Harpa adjustable harness (left)

 

[Danseur]

It's a good system. There are others, but Marie13 had some great and easy ideas above.

I also learned the following from a really big guy with shoulder injuries: on the right side of your harness (left stays the same), fit it with an extra 4-6" and install a large sturdy fastex buckle with the extra folded behind; the buckle takes up the slack when fastened. Still a continuous harness, and should the buckle fail you're not falling out of your gear, but allows room to get in and out comfortably and still be snug while diving. I think there are some good stainless options in low profile buckles now too that can fit 2" webbing. Look at SumpUK and SubGravity. I've never seen a fastex break that wasn't 10yrs old, sunbaked, and had a tank dropped on it, but any plastic can have you excommunicated in some circles...

The Halcyon wings are great; well made and excellent cut. There are other good ones as well. Look for ones that don't have excess lift and physically fit your cylinders. Too wide and it "tacos", adding drag, increasing your profile, and making it hard to dump gas.

YMMV.

 

[KenGordon]

While I am waiting for my pc to reboot...

I think that the Halcyon stuff is expensive but of high quality. Does it justify the premium? Are you feeling rich? Yes, otherwise maybe not.

I have the cinch system and it is in the depths of a box in the garage unused for years. It is quite complicated and mostly solves a problem I don’t have. Technique is required to put a single piece harness on and take it off, it is not very hard. A couple of years ago i had a shoulder problem and couldn’t even reach the RB O2 without screaming, but I could still get In and out of the harness without breaks etc.

The other Halcyon stuff I have, including the backplate and harness is all pretty good, but I also like my Apeks wing.

 

[divad]

The Halcyon wings are great; well made and excellent cut. There are other good ones as well. Look for ones that don't have excess lift and physically fit your cylinders. Too wide and it "tacos", adding drag, increasing your profile, and making it hard to dump gas.

YMMV.

I love my (used) Halcyon wings. They're supple/durable, and user-replaceable inner bladders are available for $125.00.
What's not to love?

 

[Marie13]

An Eclipse system new in the US will run $800-900 (just going off memory).

The separate Cinch system is $125-150ish (memory).

 

[Graeme Fraser]

I use a halcyon eclipse harness with the cinch for my twin rig and it works pretty well. Undeniably good quality and very robust. I originally bought it for my single set, but found the cinch wasn't easy to adjust with halcyon weight pockets, which I'm not a fan of. Don't need them for my twins so no longer an issue. I'm also quite keen on the webbing which is quite stiff an thick compared to my finnsub and apeks.