Recycling other fields harnesses for Sidemount

[BillybGoode]

Hello there !

Quick background story (you might want to skip) : Quite new on the scene of diving, i totaled 150 dives after my divemaster training, after which i did a SSI REC Sidemount and logged 5 dive with this setup, very happy with it, i am now leaning towards going full sidemount as my first set of gear for scuba diving, as i'm not planning of doing my IDC anytime soon.

So for this sidemount BC, I am looking for something minimalistic, as lightweight as possible, very easy to pack for traveling, and mostly for recreational diving in warm water areas, so mostly 2 AL80 tanks (no backplate needed).

Now for two days, i've been looking at options and they all seem so expensive to me compared to what it "really" is, just a harness... The more i think about it, the more i am tempted to make my own and saving some bucks on the BC would make buy better regs less painful

Today i've been considering building it from scratch and buying the d-rings etc... i began to stumble accross other fields hardware, and suddently realized D-rings and all are also used for many different fields such as boat, parachute, etc... yeah i never thought of it (at this point, i wouldn't be mad if you throw tomatoes at me ) You will find various links for harness below 40 bucks below.

So, my question is (after the heavy block of text) that I am wondering if anyone ever tried recycling other type of harnesses for sidemount diving successfully ? What are your thoughts about it ? Am i missing something here that would make it harder than i seem to think ?

Bonus question, i am planning to buy a DECO brand bladder, maybe 2 to have redundancy. But haven't found a how to attach it to the harness. I'm sure it cannot be too hard, but if there are any tutorials you know of or some explanation i'd be happy to hear about.

Thanks you for any input !
Billy.

links links:

Tthis security harness which just needs some tweaks there and there costs about 40bucks ...
Harnais Ceinture de Securite Baudrier Escalade Descent | eBay

This one for climbing would do the job pretty well also
Ceinture Harnais de Sécurité Escalade Réglable en 5 points Protection Frappant | eBay

Another one to be customized, basic rock climbing harness worth 15bucks
Qualité Harnais D'escalade, Baudrier Escalade Harnais,Safe Ceintures de Sécurité | eBay

 

[grantctobin]

I’d recommend tying 8mm bungee to both of the edge (horizontal wide side) eyelets and then having a loop on one side and a boltsnap tied to the other thereby allow you to have it connect as a bellyband or through the crotch strap. If you want to remove the flexibility of sliding the wing up and down, you can affix grommets to the spine strap of the harness and use sex bolts to secure the vertical eyelets of the wing.

 

[grantctobin]

I’d go read some of the ScubaTechPhillipines articles on DIY harnesses. You’ll find the waist D-ring setup (or lack thereof) on those climbing harnesses infuriating in the water and end up replacing the D rings and waist strap anyway, if not the whole harness.

Download FREE Sidemount Harness DIY Guide in PDF %

 

[BillybGoode]

If you want to remove the flexibility of sliding the wing up and down, you can affix grommets to the spine strap of the harness and use sex bolts to secure the vertical eyelets of the wing.

Thank you for the suggestion, i think i'll make a fix one for a starter, doesn't sound too complicated. Also didn't know these were called sex bolts but it is pretty self explanatory

You’ll find the waist D-ring setup (or lack thereof) on those climbing harnesses infuriating in the water and end up replacing the D rings and waist strap anyway, if not the whole harness.

Yeah i was already thinking about these, because everything is already sewed it seems like a bother, might as well make a custom thing specifically for sidemount, maybe i'll consider buying these safety harness cheap just to reuse the metal hardware.

Thank you very much, the PDF was a nice addition, now i have until the end of the year to make this happen

 

[runsongas]

i cut my own sidemount plates from 5052 aluminum, but it was a hassle. probably would just skip the plates and use t sliders from piranha or just get the plates from DECO.

DECO - Dive Equipment Company - DECO Thoracic Plate

DECO - Dive Equipment Company - DECO Lumber Plate

add some webbing and hardware from DGX.