*Floater*:
I've been wondering about that. The WKPP followers always talk about how quick releases, etc. are failure points, but have there been actual accidents where a quick release failed and resulted in an accident or fatality?
*Floater* makes an interesting distinction.
There is a huge difference betaeen "you're going to die" and "failure point."
I have twice now seen harnesses with plastic quick release buckles fail ("failure point") because someone (once the owner, the other time, the owner's buddy) has put a tank down hard onto the buckle and it broke. We're talking about a pitching boat, no room and a heavy steel tank crashing down from the sky.
In both cases, the owner did not die. In one case, their day was done and in the other case we simply zip tied the strap together and they finished the dive day.
A failure point does not always equal certain death. Sometimes, a failure point means you are putting your dive day at risk as well. While death will surely ruin your day, so will a busted BC.
As one who drank the Kool-aid long ago, I understand that not everyone can get in an out of their BP/W easily. Usually this is caused by the harness being poorly adjusted, the owner using poor form to don and doff, or some other individual issue (injury prohibiting range of motion, the owner simply out of shape, etc.)
You don't need to be Houdini to get in and out of one of these things. I have the flexibility of a glass rod, for heaven's sake - and I do fine. But it does take practice.
A "comfort harness" (shameless marketing jargon off) is an excellent way for someone making the transition from a traditional BC to a BP/W. My wife, for example. We're going out to dive a Halcyon BP/W I rigged up with a CH - and she's pretty fired up to try it. I know there is simply no way she'd try a BP/W with a 1 piece harness - she's told me this many times. A 1 piece harness doesn't look like a BC, it doesn't have the familiar adjustable shoulder straps, etc... hey - whatever. It will get her to try it. If she digs it, I'll eBay her Libra. If she hates it, I'll eBay the plate and wack Comfort Harness to someone else who is leary of the 1-piece. Its all good.
Personally, I can't recommend a one piece harness enough. Its been flawless over hundreds of dives so far. The only time I've had to ever re-adjust it is when I lost weight or when I dive a skin. The rest of the time, its one less thing I have to think about. It just works.
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Ken
