As suggested, here are my impressions of the first use of my new Halcyon 27# wing with SS BP and single AL80, in a local dive shop's pool.
I was gearing up and the instructor on duty asked me where my weight belt was. I replied that I first wanted to try the rig without a weight belt. He shrugged but told me where the spares were kept 'just in case'. I strapped my tank on easily - the SS buckles are very nice though the straps are somewhat stiff and not easy to adjust but the 'con' to this is that they did not slide backwards through the adjustor and stayed-put.
I put the rig in the pool then jumped in and put it on. Much easier than I thought it would be considering the shoulder harnesses are fixed - not even an issue actually. Submerged and lo and behold, no weight belt was needed. I had on a shorty, am about 5'10" and weigh about 170 lbs. Down I went, without any problems. I found the rig very easy to control even for a neophyte such as myself. I found the bottom pull dump somewhat strange to operate but that was a function of my inexperience I think rather than any fault with the Halcyon rig. I was merely not used to a bottom mounted dump and thus not familiar with how to make it "work" properly. The shoulder inflator/dump worked very well and I appreciated the fact that it was bungeed in the perfect spot and I never had to grope for it. I had no problems hovering or swimming around in any orientation that I chose.
I am happy to report that the entire unit was wonderfully transparent to me in terms of bulk. It felt like I was wearing a very small and light backpack. Even though the straps (look and) feel very hard when handled, the rig was extremely comfortable - no chafing, no hard spots and nothing wobbling around.
This is my first BC and my experience is limited to school BCs which were somewhat confining in retrospect. If I could compare these things to everyday clothing, using the jacket style was like wearing a coat whereas the Halcyon was like wearing a t-shirt.
In short, I am very happy with my new Halcyon and can understand why people rave about them. Bear in mind that this is my opinion and that it is based on limited experience with other systems.
I was gearing up and the instructor on duty asked me where my weight belt was. I replied that I first wanted to try the rig without a weight belt. He shrugged but told me where the spares were kept 'just in case'. I strapped my tank on easily - the SS buckles are very nice though the straps are somewhat stiff and not easy to adjust but the 'con' to this is that they did not slide backwards through the adjustor and stayed-put.
I put the rig in the pool then jumped in and put it on. Much easier than I thought it would be considering the shoulder harnesses are fixed - not even an issue actually. Submerged and lo and behold, no weight belt was needed. I had on a shorty, am about 5'10" and weigh about 170 lbs. Down I went, without any problems. I found the rig very easy to control even for a neophyte such as myself. I found the bottom pull dump somewhat strange to operate but that was a function of my inexperience I think rather than any fault with the Halcyon rig. I was merely not used to a bottom mounted dump and thus not familiar with how to make it "work" properly. The shoulder inflator/dump worked very well and I appreciated the fact that it was bungeed in the perfect spot and I never had to grope for it. I had no problems hovering or swimming around in any orientation that I chose.
I am happy to report that the entire unit was wonderfully transparent to me in terms of bulk. It felt like I was wearing a very small and light backpack. Even though the straps (look and) feel very hard when handled, the rig was extremely comfortable - no chafing, no hard spots and nothing wobbling around.
This is my first BC and my experience is limited to school BCs which were somewhat confining in retrospect. If I could compare these things to everyday clothing, using the jacket style was like wearing a coat whereas the Halcyon was like wearing a t-shirt.
In short, I am very happy with my new Halcyon and can understand why people rave about them. Bear in mind that this is my opinion and that it is based on limited experience with other systems.
), you could not ditch weight at the surface to become positive and would either have to ditch the whole rig or work to stay on the surface. 
