My journey into tech

[guruboy]

Do I need to use a triglide to lock my harness where the waist belt enters the plate? Or don’t bother?

Chances are it won’t slide but they provide nice insurance from unintentional adjustments.

Having them there only makes it marginally more effort to adjust the harness.

 

[Marie13]

Halcyon's director of technical services emailed me back Friday, telling me to send my weighted STA insert in for a warranty evaluation after they return from holiday break.

I should have my Halcyon short plate tomorrow. I'm doing a New Year's Day shore dive on a shallow (15'-20') wreck in Lake Michigan (off beach that's part of Hammond, IN marina complex). Deciding if I'll try short plate in the water then or not. Even if it gets wet and it turns out it doesn't work, I know I'll be able to sell it.

 

[Marie13]

Aww, what the heck...I'll be doing ITT with Abnfrog up in the hinterlands of Ontario. He and I hit it off over the phone big time. He has experience with divers with mobility issues. He's supportive of my HP80 doubles (the local instructors, not so much). He liked the way I'm a long term planner and taking baby steps along the way.

I'd always intended on going ITT and probably AN/DP locally. If he hadn't sought me out, I'd not even considered going elsewhere. But he's a pretty good fit. And he dives Great Lakes wrecks. If he didn't, he wouldn't have even been an option.

 

[Marie13]

I received my small sized Halcyon BP today (steel). I had also ordered pink H webbing for a spare. Didn’t order any hardware or crotch strap as I was going to move everything from current standard sized Halcyon BP.

I was shocked to open the box and find this! BP webbed with hardware and crotch strap. Don’t know why Extreme Exposure did it, but I’m not going to argue! And on my earlier questions about triglides to lock the webbing? Yep, they did use them.

Now off to try it on!

EDIT: couldn't get it from DRIS as they are no longer a Halcyon dealer.

 

[kensuf]

You might find this Dive Gear Express page helpful when adjusting your harness. Hogarthian Harness Assembly Instructions | Dive Gear Express®

Basic summary:

Shoulder straps should be loose enough to be able to ball a fist under. You may need to make them loose to accommodate thicker drysuit undergarments (the balled fist is a starting point).
Shoulder D-Rings should be at/near the armpit.
Crotch strap should be SNUG, but not super tight. Most problems I've seen is from people leaving their crotch strap too loose -- SNUG!
Rear d-ring should be about a hand span width below the backplate. It may need to be lower given your short backplate (unfortunately I have zero experience with the shorter backplates).

I think you'll find the doubles platform quite stable and not hard to manage once you're in the water. Congrats and good luck!!!!

Ken

 

[Marie13]

Hi Ken, thanks for the link. There are some gals on an all female tech diving group on FB (where I learned about the small plate), so they'll be a good resource, too!

I have to adjust it just to try it on, as the shoulder straps are way too tight! I'll have to post a pic of it next to my standard sized plate for comparison.

 

[Marie13]

Well, turns out I had to tear everything off the new BP. Extreme Exposure sent me a small length harness. Too short! I need a regular harness. Put regular length harness from current plate onto small plate. Good thing I had crotch strap on current plate to compare to for length! Now, just futzing to get shoulder straps, etc. proper length.

EDIT: I can't touch the top of the plate with EITHER one. Working on my flexibility! Short plate is MUCH better length wise. Belt actually is on my waist, rather than my hips. Before it sometimes felt the belt was going to actually slip off my hips with the standard sized plate.

Got everything adjusted and bolted wing and twinset to plate. Put it on and looked in the mirror. Wow! Tanks sit so much higher on my back than with standard plate. They were waaaayyy too low before. Webbing was sliding some in bottom slots, so I am going to use the triglides to lock it.

 

[Marie13]

Bolts are now really digging into my back. Wonder what they would do to the back of my drysuit. I don't think I want to spend the $100 to get the backpad to fit my small plate. Is there anything I can put over the bolts so they don't dig?

 

[elgoog]

Bolts are now really digging into my back.

Bolts may be too long. On all my doubles, the bolt doesn't extend past the wingnut after it's fully tightened down. Depending on how far they are sticking out, you could try adding some washers below the wingnut to absorb a little length.

 

[divezonescuba]

If you have threaded rod on the tanks, move the nylock nuts a little further down on the opposite side of the plate. You will also have to loosen the nuts restraining the bands. If you have bolts you can add washers underneath the head or cut them shorter. If you cut anything, don’t forget to thread on a plain nut first to preserve the threads.

I always carry 6 inch threaded rod and an assortment of washers, plain nuts, and nylock nuts whenever I rent tanks from somewhere else. Sometimes their threaded rod is too short or too long and is corroded in place.