The new Freedom Contour - The Rolex of backplates.

[uncfnp]

Did you sew your own crotch strap from the soft webbing? I am on the fence about sewing my own because I don't know how tough it is on the sewing machine needle., or which machine needle I should buy to sew it. I have to make three, possibly more, so it would save a bit of money to sew my own. Thank you so much for the list! I will post my own list when I finish, as it may vary for certain applications.

If you have a good quality home machine and take it slow you will be fine with the softer webbings. I have a home “industrial” machine and use a jeans needle with nylon or outdoor polyester thread. I can sew 2 layer of the very stiff webbing but I have to be very cautious and basically hand turn the wheel.

Another option is to get a local upholstery or tack shop to do the few stitched areas for you.

But honestly, at the DGE price I would just buy them, especially if you want a quick release version.

 

[Umuntu]

Or if you are close to a sailmakers loft, they usually have the right machines and needles to handle webbing.

 

[Umuntu]

Did you sew your own crotch strap from the soft webbing? I am on the fence about sewing my own because I don't know how tough it is on the sewing machine needle., or which machine needle I should buy to sew it. I have to make three, possibly more, so it would save a bit of money to sew my own. Thank you so much for the list! I will post my own list when I finish, as it may vary for certain applications.

See here for needle advice

Sailrite - Fabric, Canvas, and Sewing Machines Since 1969

 

[Bubblesong]

Just use a serrated triglide, $.75 @ DGX. I also found p/u and similar glues work fairly well on the webbing, just squeeze the seam in a clamp for curing. Shoe Goo and Freesole are the ones I used before, I expect there are others.

So far, I've just used three serrated keepers (2 in back, 1 under front plastic buckle) while I fine-tune needed length with both drysuit and 7mm neoprene. I think you could go either way. The softer webbing could be handled by a standard machine using heavy button thread (though I'm using a sailmakers sewing machine with Dacron thread). But I think you could also just do it with keepers. I used serrated ones to make sure it doesn't slip, but scootering will be the only time it's under any strain.

Crotch strap with keepers

• rsingler
• Jan 30, 2018

Thank you both, this is what i really need to go from bathing suit to wetsuit to drysuit.

 

[rsingler]

Thought I'd provide an update!
Taught a class in my Freedom Plate. I had struggled a bit on land getting best adjustment, though I liked being able to easily loosen straps with @Akimbo 's rollers. But it was still a bit of a struggle getting in and out after I had snugged everything the way I wanted.
To make a long story short, I changed my routing for the second day in the pool, in order to look like less of an idiot during the don and doff drill underwater. I took @tbone1004 's post to heart:
first dive with BPW
I removed the rollers at the hip and threaded a tri-glide with a D-ring in its place. This locked the shoulder strap length, but with them set loose enough to get a fist under, I still had no problems in the water, because I could snug the waist strap up tight, and they were still loose enough to do the chicken-wing to doff my gear. More important, when I snug up the waist, I no longer feel like my shoulder straps are too tight. Out of the water, the BP/W carried a couple of inches lower, but no big deal.
The OMS ditchable weight pockets are okay, but will be better with my drysuit. They're way more than I need with a 5-mil. With the medium stainless backplate, and old Jetfins, I only needed 1# in each pocket. No weight in the trim pockets in back, either. I might add ankle weights if I use my floaty fins, but I won't see the benefit of the big weight pockets until I put on my drysuit.
Since this is my first real test of the wing, I have to complain about just one thing. In the limited vertical maneuvering room of the pool, having the butt dump on the FRONT side of the wing meant that air was always trapped doing neutral buoyancy drills. The only way to vent without a big roll to the side was with the corrugated hose, since in the horizontal position, its location was higher on the bag than the butt dump. Am I missing something? With our standard teaching jacket BCD's, the butt dump is on the dorsal side of the bag, and is an easy way to trickle out air when horizontal.
Is mounting the butt dump on the front side of a single tank wing a legacy of using a wing with doubles, where the tank might otherwise sit right on top of the dump valve? Or is it a safety feature, allowing you to hang onto buoyancy if you have a leaky dump valve, by staying horizontal?

 

[stuartv]

@rsingler, there is a technique to using the butt dump. This is presuming you have a wing of decent design. Some wings have the butt dump placed in towards the center line of the wing. That would cause the problem you described. But, if it's a decent wing design then:

In horizontal trim:

Reach back and grab the pull.

Lift/pull it up, so you are sort of wrapping the wing up, around the tank.

You should not have to really roll to raise your left side. You might have to duck your head a little to get the air to move towards your butt.

The only problem should be when you have VERY little air left in the wing. Then you might have to duck your head down and roll a little bit. But, if you are weighted properly (to be neutral with an empty tank) then having a decent amount of gas in your tank should mean you are negative enough that venting the wing is no problem without having to do much if any roll to the side.

 

[uncfnp]

^^^ I go very slightly butt up. That is usually enough.

 

[rsingler]

@rsingler, there is a technique to using the butt dump. This is presuming you have a wing of decent design. Some wings have the butt dump placed in towards the center line of the wing. That would cause the problem you described. But, if it's a decent wing design then:

In horizontal trim:

Reach back and grab the pull.

Lift/pull it up, so you are sort of wrapping the wing up, around the tank.

You should not have to really roll to raise your left side. You might have to duck your head a little to get the air to move towards your butt.

The only problem should be when you have VERY little air left in the wing. Then you might have to duck your head down and roll a little bit. But, if you are weighted properly (to be neutral with an empty tank) then having a decent amount of gas in your tank should mean you are negative enough that venting the wing is no problem without having to do much if any roll to the side.

Thanks for the tip! I'll try it.
Yes, you discovered the problem: only needing 2# weight in the pool meant that I was dealing with very little air in the wing for demo. It'll be more in salt, obviously, and even more in my 8/7mm in Monterey's 52F water next weekend. But I like the idea of wrapping the tail of the wing up a little.
I love my wing, it's a VDH from @OWIC647 . Even the 33# wing has a very tiny contour fully inflated. It's perfect for the Freedom.

 

[rsingler]

 

[Umuntu]

I have honestly never understood the design "logic" (if we can call it that) of having the dump in the front rather than behind the Wing. And all the manufacturers are sheep on this issue. At the back wold be most useful in normal horizontal trim, especially in confined overhead environments.