Mares XR SF2 Loop...any thoughts?
- Thread starter Zef
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Now that you mention it.
The loops or clips as they call them can be very handy, if you want to have your plate set up a certain way. Here you are looking to have an adjustable system with tighter shoulder straps, but you do not want quick release buckles. So you do not use s triglide on the back of the plate like many videos describe to prevent the strap from sliding.. The clip is put thru from the back to the front of the plate.
You pull the waist strap tight. The webbing slides thru the clip tightening the shoulder straps. Now everything is tight. Which is what a lot of DIR people say you should not do. If you have any accessories, Drings, weight pouches, etc on the belt, this does cause some issues, as the waist belt section goes back and forth a bit. So some versions of the weight pouches including the mares one have a triglide mechanism that can be used to fix the weight pouch position relative to the backplate. When you adjust the straps, the straps slide thru the belt loops on the back of the weight pouches instead of the pouches going back and forth.
OMG there it is again. A gear solution to a skills problem. Or it is a gear problem to a skills solution.
We are going to backplate and wing systems for instructional purposes at the shop. I wish we had done that 10 years ago. Since we have to accommodate a large range of sizes, this is one of the types of adjustment approaches that we are experimenting with.
There are other functionally similar systems on the market which utilize a round surface on the back of the plate rather than a triglide so that the webbing strap can slide more easily.
The loops or clips as they call them can be very handy, if you want to have your plate set up a certain way. Here you are looking to have an adjustable system with tighter shoulder straps, but you do not want quick release buckles. So you do not use s triglide on the back of the plate like many videos describe to prevent the strap from sliding.. The clip is put thru from the back to the front of the plate.
You pull the waist strap tight. The webbing slides thru the clip tightening the shoulder straps. Now everything is tight. Which is what a lot of DIR people say you should not do. If you have any accessories, Drings, weight pouches, etc on the belt, this does cause some issues, as the waist belt section goes back and forth a bit. So some versions of the weight pouches including the mares one have a triglide mechanism that can be used to fix the weight pouch position relative to the backplate. When you adjust the straps, the straps slide thru the belt loops on the back of the weight pouches instead of the pouches going back and forth.
OMG there it is again. A gear solution to a skills problem. Or it is a gear problem to a skills solution.
We are going to backplate and wing systems for instructional purposes at the shop. I wish we had done that 10 years ago. Since we have to accommodate a large range of sizes, this is one of the types of adjustment approaches that we are experimenting with.
There are other functionally similar systems on the market which utilize a round surface on the back of the plate rather than a triglide so that the webbing strap can slide more easily.
Now that you mention it.
The loops or clips as they call them can be very handy, if you want to have your plate set up a certain way. Here you are looking to have an adjustable system with tighter shoulder straps, but you do not want quick release buckles. So you do not use s triglide on the back of the plate like many videos describe to prevent the strap from sliding.. The clip is put thru from the back to the front of the plate.
You pull the waist strap tight. The webbing slides thru the clip tightening the shoulder straps. Now everything is tight. Which is what a lot of DIR people say you should not do. If you have any accessories, Drings, weight pouches, etc on the belt, this does cause some issues, as the waist belt section goes back and forth a bit. So some versions of the weight pouches including the mares one have a triglide mechanism that can be used to fix the weight pouch position relative to the backplate. When you adjust the straps, the straps slide thru the belt loops on the back of the weight pouches instead of the pouches going back and forth.
OMG there it is again. A gear solution to a skills problem. Or it is a gear problem to a skills solution.
We are going to backplate and wing systems for instructional purposes at the shop. I wish we had done that 10 years ago. Since we have to accommodate a large range of sizes, this is one of the types of adjustment approaches that we are experimenting with.
There are other functionally similar systems on the market which utilize a round surface on the back of the plate rather than a triglide so that the webbing strap can slide more easily.
I mounted on on the left side of my plate. I will have to see how useful it is as I have a set of Dive Rite QB weight pockets mounted behind the left and right hip d-rings...this reduces the amount of adjustability that can be realized and also means the pocket and d-ring will move out of position when tightening the system.
We are actually not looking for the ability to cinch the system tighter but just make it looser when doffing to accommodate getting it off the shoulders and get an arm out. It is more of an issue for my wife with her drysuit than it is for me, but we both received one each as a stocking stuffer type of thing.
I will have to don my drysuit and play around with the positioning of the d-rings and weight system on the waist strap to see if I can arrange it so the thing works in a useful way.
In the end I can always remove it form mine and mount them both on my wife's plate so she has right and left adjustability.
I made some pads by tracing the shape and cutting it out of a popped mt bike inner tube. I put the inner tube pads between the plate and the loop, then used an o-ring stretch over it to stabilize it in the webbing slot it passes through. Keep it from jangling against the plate and also keeps it from possibly popping out when the plate is not worn.
I have seen the have round system that DSS made and the one the Subgravity makes....I had played around a few years ago with the concept by mounting a section of PVC over the center of the two slots on one side for the waist webbing....the webbing was too much of a pain to manipulate that I just gave up on it back then. Preliminary dry trial of the Mares loops went well but still need to play with the setup before deciding.
I can definitely see it being useful from an increased adjustability standpoint if I didn't have the weight pockets mounted (wife has them too).
-Z
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