Hollis Wing Issue

[Anthony A.]

Typically, a hog harness or even adjustable type like DiveRite dont have that waist style strap that goes through the back of the plate. To be honest, of all the strap systems i've ever seen, this is the first time i see one that goes behind the plate conpletely at the bottom.

 

[VibesAndHorizons]

I do have the Hollis Steel backplate. And there is two other slots for the tank straps, however those don't line up with the slots on my LX S38 wing. The only slots on the backplate that work for this wing are the top and bottom pairs. This confuses me as it's sold as a package so it should work. Surprised Hollis would do this.

Typically, a hog harness or even adjustable type like DiveRite dont have that waist style strap that goes through the back of the plate. To be honest, of all the strap systems i've ever seen, this is the first time i see one that goes behind the plate conpletely at the bottom.[/QUOTE

 

[Anthony A.]

I see what you mean. Definitely confusing and weird for them to make a harness like that. You may have to ditch it and go traditional webbing or DiveRite type adjustable. I initially started with an adjustable harness but eventually went single piece and have loved it ever since.

 

[mc42]

I had a similar problem - Halcyon BP with Hollis S38 wing. The BP has the top and lower/middle and no bottom slot, while the wing only has a top and bottom slot for the cam bands, not a middle/lower slot. So only the top slot lined up between the BP and wing. The BP and wing have the standard 11” spacing for holes and grommets.

That means I had these options:
1. Fit just the top camband through the wing and BP and let the lower cam band only attach to the wing through the slot. Given that many rec BCs only have one cam band anyway, I might have been fine with it. I would potentially use carriage bolts with large washers to help secure the wing to the BP through the grommets, especially that lower attachment that might flop a little
2. Use an STA, which is what I ended up doing.
3. Cut a lower pair of slots in the BP to fit cam band which I didn’t feel like doing. In your case you already have the lower slots.

In your case, an alternative to the STA might be to re-rig the BP/W DIR style as a single piece without the separate waistband. But that probably gets away a little from why you bought that style harness in the first place.

The other option for keeping the harness might be just to thread the top cam band through the BP and wing as normal. For the lower cam band, keep the waist band going through the lower slot, thread the cam band through the wing slot only and use a bolt to pass through the wing grommet, cam band, waist band, and into the BP to secure everything together.

 

[MaxE]

https://www.huishoutdoors.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/HOLLIS_BCD_Manual_2018_51.pdf

Page 42… it says thread the waist band through the front of the plate so not to interfere with the cam bands.
Following instructions is so simply but the we don’t have multiple pages of incorrect ideas (yes I’m included in that number and have saved my crap advice as to not seem smarter after the fact)

Disregard below

From the pictures is looks like the webbing angles down where is goes across the back, it also seems to have a grommet hole. Two ideas bolt it to lowest cut out on the plate and or run it through the crotch strap where it threads through the plate. This should keep it low and out of the was for the cam band

 

[Nemrod]

The solution is not going to be what the OP wants to hear. Return the harness monstrosity and purchase a standard Hogarthian harness kit. The reason it runs behind the plate and blocks the lower slots is because it is not a Hogarthian single piece webbing. Instead the harness is split by the plastic snap buckles on each shoulder harness. So it is like a two piece or a three piece or something but it is not a traditional and simple single piece of webbing. And therein lies the problem.

N

 

[-JD-]

https://www.huishoutdoors.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/HOLLIS_BCD_Manual_2018_51.pdf

Page 42… it says thread the waist band through the front of the plate so not to interfere with the cam bands.
Following instructions is so simply but the we don’t have multiple pages of incorrect ideas (yes I’m included in that number and have saved my crap advice as to not seem smarter after the fact)

@MaxE beat me to it. Run the waistbelt on the under (you) side of the plate.


Alternatively, you could the cut the waist belt into 2 sections and secure it to the plate with a triglide (tribar) on each side. I do this with my waist harness to allow me to move it easily between my single-tank freedom plate and a standard plate for doubles.

Dive Rite's newer Trans Plate harnesses use a triglide sewn onto a loop at the end to anchor the waistbelt ends to the plate in a similar fashion, but not removable without disassembling everything on the waistbelt.

 

[VibesAndHorizons]

The solution is not going to be what the OP wants to hear. Return the harness monstrosity and purchase a standard Hogarthian harness kit. The reason it runs behind the plate and blocks the lower slots is because it is not a Hogarthian single piece webbing. Instead the harness is split by the plastic snap buckles on each shoulder harness. So it is like a two piece or a three piece or something but it is not a traditional and simple single piece of webbing. And therein lies the problem.

N

Thanks! Would you mind linking to your recommended harness?

 

[VibesAndHorizons]

I had a similar problem - Halcyon BP with Hollis S38 wing. The BP has the top and lower/middle and no bottom slot, while the wing only has a top and bottom slot for the cam bands, not a middle/lower slot. So only the top slot lined up between the BP and wing. The BP and wing have the standard 11” spacing for holes and grommets.

That means I had these options:
1. Fit just the top camband through the wing and BP and let the lower cam band only attach to the wing through the slot. Given that many rec BCs only have one cam band anyway, I might have been fine with it. I would potentially use carriage bolts with large washers to help secure the wing to the BP through the grommets, especially that lower attachment that might flop a little
2. Use an STA, which is what I ended up doing.
3. Cut a lower pair of slots in the BP to fit cam band which I didn’t feel like doing. In your case you already have the lower slots.

In your case, an alternative to the STA might be to re-rig the BP/W DIR style as a single piece without the separate waistband. But that probably gets away a little from why you bought that style harness in the first place.

The other option for keeping the harness might be just to thread the top cam band through the BP and wing as normal. For the lower cam band, keep the waist band going through the lower slot, thread the cam band through the wing slot only and use a bolt to pass through the wing grommet, cam band, waist band, and into the BP to secure everything together.

This was very helpful thank you! I do not really want to use the STA so I will just leave the bottom tank strap going through the wing, but not the backplate. It still doesn't explain why this is sold as package (I called Hollis and they couldn't figure it out but promised to get back to me), but oh well this should work fine with the bolts for security.

 

[FF / EMT]

So… are you dealing with the new Hollis backplate or the old one, because they just came out with the 2.0