LUBOLD8431 once bubbled...
$35 for a CROTCH STRAP??? Please tell me you did not pay $35 for a piece of "soft webbing"???? I must be missing something here... Please tell me that there is something else there...
Well, it was a complete unit, with the rubber holders, the D-ring sewn in, and the rear D-ring and keeper and all...
But of course, that does not justify a $35 price tag either.
What DOES justify it is trying it on... Swimming with it. Soft 2" webbing is very difficult to find... I've not found it anywhere else. I was told by someone other than Halcyon that the stuff is available in like 500 yard spools only... Thus, it's not cost effective to purchase for distribution unless you're a large(ish) company up the street manufacturing these things yourself.
You'll be very interested to know that the crotch strap I bought was the last one on the shelf. I tried to buy two, for my other backplate, but they only had one available. When I had called to price it originally less than a week earlier, there were several in the shop. My point is that I'm not the only one who feels this way about a $35 piece of webbing.
For me, it was truly the difference between comfort or no comfort. Interestingly, even WITH the price of this crotchstrap, my rig STILL costs less than an upper-echelon jacket style BC, and will last many times longer... And do more as I grow into more technical forms of diving.
In all, I would have purchased this strap at twice the price. Had they had two of them, I would have.
Apparently, UP doesn't have the thigh problem that I do... Perhaps it's sensitive to body type. For me, though, I found a big enough difference to warrant the specialized crotch strap.
When I ordered this plate from Gary Hoadley, I specifically asked him about the soft webbing as a crotch strap. He told me that his crotch straps were made of "unstiffened" 2" webbing, much softer than the standard 2" webbing that he uses for the rest of his rigs. I was excited to find this.
However, when I got the plate, I was disappointed. It was true that he used an "unstiffened" material which appeared to be the same 2" webbing as what was on the rest of his rig, just not as thick. It still felt too stiff to me, though
The Halcyon stuff is super-soft and very nice.
Perhaps UP will sell you his if he doesn't care about it.