What do you guys think of Steve Bogaert's Razor Harness?

[gearhound]

We are the “couple of UTD instructors” you mention in your post - not difficult to work that one out.

You say “when talking to Steve.... they just copied his system”.

Please clarify - did Steve personally tell you we copied his system? We doubt it very much, for the following reasons.

We were among the first people Steve trained in the Razor harness and then, as now, there was an orally inflated device which we bought from an online outdoor store, as per Steve´s suggestion. We remember the Camelbak being a temporary stopgap while the “wing” was being developed/produced. The Camelbak has since been replaced by the MSR. Steve has never shown us anything resembling a “proper” wing for his harness, nor has anyone else. To our knowledge one just does not exist, nor has ever existed.

Second, you are comparing the UTD Z-system (including a wing with a power inflator for diving and a manifold system) with the Razor harness, which it was a great development but it is still just a harness.

Third, neither of us was involved in any of the UTD development stages until DEMA last November, when we made some suggestions to modify the UTD trim device and now we are working on the UTD cave sidemount classes with AG.

So, “we just copied his system (including proposed wing)” is false and anyone who says otherwise is either ignorant of the above or knowingly lying, it is as simple as that.

The fact of the matter is that the only trim device on the market now is the UTD one, so anything else that comes out will be a “copy” of that.

One last thing - can you put your real name to your posts so we know who we are talking with?


dive safely,

Sorry Adam and Ela, I didn't realize it was you that was being refered to. No names were ever mentioned. I've met the two of you and think that you're wonderful. But, you do have to admit that the harness and plates for the UTD harness are amazingly similiar to the Razor.
As for the wing, perhaps Tobin can pipe in about the prototypes he sent Steve for testing.
I do prefer to remain nameless. One of the things I like about visiting the caves in Mexico, is how friendly everyone is. We go down about twice a year and love that everyone seems to remember members of our group, even though we never dove with them. I'm sorry if you feel I called you out, that wasn't my intention. I apologize.
(I do hope I haven't become what I've always despised on internet forums...one of those that believe in the dogma of there is only one right way...my way. There's always these pissing contests going on that if you aren't diving like me, or using the same gear as me, then you're an idiot.)

 

[philliplehman]

I dive the razor exclusively and have done so for a while now, i never really liked the MSR bag and for multi stage dives always resorted to using my old Armadillo.
I think that the Razor is by far the best harness but never used it for multi stage dives as the MSR bag never really did it for me.

I recently bought the UTD wing and it is really good and very streamlined.
Now with two tanks i never used any inflation and was using lung volume which is perfect for me, the UTD wing allows me to make multistage dives and have a true lift/wing system specifically designed for a minimalist, streamlined SM approach.
a Razor and UTD wing is as streamlined as it gets if you need some lift for stages and want a real wing system with a power inflator.