Making my own harness- Qn about hole on webbing

[WhiteSands]

I'm making the harness from 2" webbing. Its a standard one piece Hog design.

I have 2 options for the hole that I need to make in the webbing to allow the screws through to secure the wing.

One is to bring it to a shop to help me punch a grommet in. However I have no guarantee the grommets are going to be marine grade material. I have seen grommets fall off locally made weight pouches.

Second and my preferred option is to burn a hole through using a soldering iron. This seems to me to have all the advantages. It cannot fall off, won't rust, the surrounding material is melted and hardened and will not fray and is easier to get it in the exact spot. Also its free.

Disadvantages - not as wear resistant as grommet, not as pretty.

Would like your thoughts please. Thank you.

 

[Insta-Gator]

At the time I didn't have a soldering iron handy, so I put a philips screw bit in a pair of vise grips, heated it really well with a small hand torch and just pushed it through the webbing at the appropriate spot. So far so good. That was over a year and about 40 dives ago.

 

[Hickdive]

Melt the hole then use a brass grommet. You can get brass grommet kits in hobby shops for very little money, they come with the dies so all you need is a hammer.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Melt the hole then use a brass grommet. You can get brass grommet kits in hobby shops for very little money, they come with the dies so all you need is a hammer.

1+.

Simply melting a hole is certainly "ok" and will probably last a good long while, but melting a hole AND using a brass grommet will last VERY long indeed.

I have two harnesses I made 5 years ago using the melted hole / brass grommet method that are still going strong.... but I also used hollow 2" webbing as "chaffing" protection in the places the harness passes through the backplate.

With the grommet and hollow webbing, I expect my harnesses will last several more years...

Best wishes.

 

[Rich Keller]

This can be done without cutting or burning the webbing. I use the marlin spike on a rigging knife to open a hole in the webbing, then leave it in place with the webbing around the widest part of the spike for an hour or over night. Once you remove the spike the hole is going to start to close so you need to be ready to put the screws through as soon as you remove it. You will retain 100% of the strength of the webbing and the webbing will close completely around the screw if you are concerned about the appearance.

 

[ams511]

This can be done without cutting or burning the webbing. I use the marlin spike on a rigging knife to open a hole in the webbing, then leave it in place with the webbing around the widest part of the spike for an hour or over night. Once you remove the spike the hole is going to start to close so you need to be ready to put the screws through as soon as you remove it. You will retain 100% of the strength of the webbing and the webbing will close completely around the screw if you are concerned about the appearance.

Rich, this seems like a good method, but if I have no ideal what a marlin spike or a rigging knife is. Are you talking about something like this? http://www.ebay.com/bhp/rigging-knife

 

[Rich Keller]

Rich, this seems like a good method, but if I have no ideal what a marlin spike or a rigging knife is. Are you talking about something like this? Rigging Knife: Knives, Swords & Blades | eBay

Yes that is exactly what I was talking about. There are of course other things you could use too. If you have an awl to open a small hole then use something else like a punch to open the hole wider would work just as well. There is probably something already in your tool box that can do the job. I had to used a meat thermometer on vacation once to open holes to run zip ties through webbing.