I'm looking to replace my nylon + hard lead weight belt. My bp rides on the weights when I am on land, the lead either moves around or digs into my hips underwater, and it conflicts with the crotch strap of my bp/w. In short: I hate it.
I dive dry and am still pretty new to diving so I am using 29lbs of ballast: 14lbs on the bp (6lbs dss steel plate with 2x4lbs weight plates), and 15lbs of hard lead on the belt. I most often use a high pressure 100 cu ft tank.
Since my backplate is so heavy and the hp100 is a fairly short cylinder, I have a tendency to trim out a bit head-heavy, which occasionally makes floaty feet an issue despite my rubber paddle fins. To combat this, I have to place the cylinder as low on the rig as possible, and consequently my valve is barely reachable.
I saw the Seawolf harness in my LDS the other day and it seems to offer all the right solutions. I could wear it under my bpw without any strap conflicts. It would let me position weight lower on my thighs, which would balance out my head-heaviness and maybe allow me to move my tank up so I could have better access to my valve. Hard lead would no longer dig into my hips at depth, and on land the weight would ride my shoulders and not interfere with the bp/w doing the same.
On the other hand, at $180 the Seawolf is a pricey piece of kit. I would want to be quite sure that it would work as I think it will before I shell out for it.
Are there Seawolf users out there who would like to comment on whether my take on it is accurate? Would it solve these problems? Are there pros or cons that I have not considered? Is it overkill to get a harness like this if I'm only going to keep 15lbs or less in it?
I dive dry and am still pretty new to diving so I am using 29lbs of ballast: 14lbs on the bp (6lbs dss steel plate with 2x4lbs weight plates), and 15lbs of hard lead on the belt. I most often use a high pressure 100 cu ft tank.
Since my backplate is so heavy and the hp100 is a fairly short cylinder, I have a tendency to trim out a bit head-heavy, which occasionally makes floaty feet an issue despite my rubber paddle fins. To combat this, I have to place the cylinder as low on the rig as possible, and consequently my valve is barely reachable.
I saw the Seawolf harness in my LDS the other day and it seems to offer all the right solutions. I could wear it under my bpw without any strap conflicts. It would let me position weight lower on my thighs, which would balance out my head-heaviness and maybe allow me to move my tank up so I could have better access to my valve. Hard lead would no longer dig into my hips at depth, and on land the weight would ride my shoulders and not interfere with the bp/w doing the same.
On the other hand, at $180 the Seawolf is a pricey piece of kit. I would want to be quite sure that it would work as I think it will before I shell out for it.
Are there Seawolf users out there who would like to comment on whether my take on it is accurate? Would it solve these problems? Are there pros or cons that I have not considered? Is it overkill to get a harness like this if I'm only going to keep 15lbs or less in it?
