harness question

[BabyDuck]

tried a bp/w for the first time yesterday and loved the whole thing except for the shoulder straps (basic harness). they are spaced too widely for me and hit me in the crease of my armpit and toward my upper arms. difficult & painful to reach forward, even in the water. i look & feel like someone beat my upper arms with a cane. the first 3 dives i only had on a john, so no neoprene to cushion, which certainly didn't help. i'm not teeny for a girl, 5'7", but the slots in the bp don't hit me well. what do others who are my size or smaller do? is it just because the webbing is new & it will mellow in a few more dives? does it bother anyone else? or am i just weird? don't answer the last question.

 

[The Kraken]

Hey, Cuddly Duckling,

You didn't have them cinched up too tightly, did you?
The webbing will soften up after a few dives.
This is in addition to the PM . . .

the K

 

[BabyDuck]

they were pretty snug, but didn't hurt until i reached forward. as in, they didn't cut off circulation front-to-back, if that makes any sense, just pulled when i moved my arms. i did part of the last few dives with the fetching 'off-the-shoulder' dive style, earning a 8.9 from the russian judge. (i slipped the straps down below where they were cutting me.)

 

[The Kraken]

That really sounds like a "too tight" issue.
If you're not careful, as you're moving your rig about before the dive the waist straps, if the weight has already been placed in the pockets (if you have weight pouches on the waist band), will pull down on the shoulder straps and cause them become too tight. This can be solved by placing keepers on the webbing on the back side of the plate at the waist band slots.

the K

 

[Diesel298]

sounds like everyone that responded is on the right track.
most people that dive harness style BCs often find it takes a few dives to get used to it..
good luck

 

[cool_hardware52]

tried a bp/w for the first time yesterday and loved the whole thing except for the shoulder straps (basic harness). they are spaced too widely for me and hit me in the crease of my armpit and toward my upper arms. difficult & painful to reach forward, even in the water. i look & feel like someone beat my upper arms with a cane. the first 3 dives i only had on a john, so no neoprene to cushion, which certainly didn't help. i'm not teeny for a girl, 5'7", but the slots in the bp don't hit me well. what do others who are my size or smaller do? is it just because the webbing is new & it will mellow in a few more dives? does it bother anyone else? or am i just weird? don't answer the last question.

BabyDuck,

As another alternative, try crossing the shoulder straps, behind your neck. This does require relacing, but I bet you find it more comfortable.

Crossing the straps moves the top of the strap in off the top of your deltoid muscle, and changes the placement under your arm.

Crossing effectively makes the shoulder straps longer which will require moving your hardware.

As others here have already said, breaking in the webbing, and just getting used to it will also help.

Good luck,


Tobin

 

[RICHinNC]

if you are not going to be a tec diver with hundreds of bottles hanging off of you ,,, try out the adjustable harness.

<<<<slinking back into the poor vis>>>>
rich

 

[SeanQ]

You may also want to check the height of the chest d-rings. If they are too low, they will restrict movement.

 

[BabyDuck]

thanks for the ideas, y'all. does anyone know a link with pictures of the 'crossed strap' method? i searched the board and found someone saying oms's had pics, but i couldn't find them on the site.

 

[cool_hardware52]

thanks for the ideas, y'all. does anyone know a link with pictures of the 'crossed strap' method? i searched the board and found someone saying oms's had pics, but i couldn't find them on the site.

Babyduck,

Not the best picture, but if you click on the link in my signature line you see a photo of a rig with crossed straps on the front page. The harness shown is an adjustable version, but the routing is the same.

Crossing is pretty straight forward. As the shoulder straps come over the top of the plate, just take the right one down to the left slots in the plate and visa versa, no real magic. The shoulder strap goes thru the inner lower slot. The "outside edge" of the shoulder strap is at the top of the slot.

This holds true whether or not you cross em.

I would highly recommend trying this. Every adjustable harness we ship is rigged crossed, and very very few people change them.

Good luck,

Tobin