Harness overlapping weight belt?

[Gombessa]

Diving a single tank in a drysuit, I need about 20lb on the belt to sink. That weight takes up a lot of space. The waist strap of my hog harness pretty much sits right on top of the weight belt, making it 1) hard to tighten and 2) makes the crotch strap pull down more on the front of the waist belt in order to not be too loose.

Is this typical, and is there another way to position the waist strap with so much weight on the belt?

Also, I already have more weight distributed elsewhere on the BP, STA etc., so for the time being I'm not looking for solutions that redistribute weight off the belt.

Thanks!

 

[covediver]

Just a question from someone who doesn't know any better but is curious.

many years ago when we wore crotch straps for bc (horsecollar) the strap was attached and the weightbelt place over the strap so as to not have it hang up if we had to drop weights (one reason we were trained to hold the weightbelt away from our body if ditching weights).

When did the standard chage to wear the strap over the weightbelt? What now is the proper weight drop technique?

 

[Scubastud16]

The idea of have the crotch strap over the weight belt is to keep the weight belt from dropping in case of an accidental release. You can easily move it out of the way if needed.

 

[dkatchalov]

Gombessa, I had a similar situation.

Assuming you cannot adjust the height of the weightbelt on your stomach, then shorten or lengthen the shoulder stras of your harness. This should move the waist strap either up or down.

 

[dkatchalov]

FWIW, I have my harness waist strap sitting just above the weight belt. The weight belt is therefore under the crotchstrap.

I also made sure the weight belt and waist strap buckles are not in line so I won't accidentally open one when I need the other.

Also note the DIR philosophy of having the waist strap buckle adjusted so it is all the way on the right hand side. This is to prevent the crotch strap sliding and accidentally opening the waist buckle. It makes sense to me but I have put mine all the way on the left side I consider this safer given the design of the Dive Rite buckle that I use.

 

[TSandM]

I use the XS Scuba belt with the pouches, and five pound soft weights, which are very bulky. I also carry 20 lbs. I have found that I can fiddle a little with the waist strap of the harness and get it to ride just above the weight pouches. Once it's tucked in there, it doesn't want to move. I had to lengthen the crotch strap a little to allow the waist belt to ride that high, but the end result has been very stable.

 

[Gombessa]

Thanks, I'll give the shoulder adjustment a shot although 1) my shoulder straps are already a bit tight and 2) I'm a bit concerned about how adjusting the tank/backplate height will affect my trim.

Lynne: I've also been using the XS Scuba pouch belt with soft-weights, but just got a webbing belt and some coated weights, which seem to require more length on the harness.