What is the Proper Location for BP Waist Strap?

[The Kraken]

The main focus is not to constrict one's breathing.

I'm not demeaning anyone's body style, shape or form.

Just remember that you HAVE to breathe.

the K

 

[Teamcasa]

The main focus is not to constrict one's breathing.

In any event, the waist strap should never be tight enough to restrict one's breathing.
The crotch strap goes a long way in keeping the rig where it belongs.

 

[Rocketmahn]

"The crotch strap goes a long way in keeping the rig where it belongs."

Yep, I can see that - but I'm not really worried about the rig shifting "yet"..

My goal is to (while on land) transfer almost all of the load from the shoulder straps to the waist strap which I will try to get to ride on my pelvic/hip bones like a backpack.


I'm thinking of trying a DSS "long plate" to move the waist belt down and then use a harness that has padded shoulders.

 

[TSandM]

I don't think it would work very well, no matter where you put the waist strap, to get much of the weight carried on your hipbones. At least, I have a hard time visualizing how that would work. But maybe that's because my weight belt is on my hipbones, so I don't know where I'd put my harness strap to allow it to ride there. But you could certainly play with it. With a single tank setup, you have a lot of flexibility in how you set the shoulder straps and where the plate rides on your back. Not so much with doubles, where the relationship between the tanks and the plate is set by the bolts, and you have to keep the valves within reach.

I know I had a really difficult time with the weight hanging from my shoulders when I was a new diver. One solution I used was to go to a weight belt. That took 20 lbs off my shoulders and put them on my waist. I also use camband weight pouches, and I don't load them until I'm ready to head for the water. That way, carrying the rig to the seawall or bench or wherever I stage it, it's as light as I can make it.

I've also gotten way more used to the weight on my shoulders, and I rarely get shoulder or neck pain any more, even when I have to hike in doubles.

 

[Guy Alcala]

"The crotch strap goes a long way in keeping the rig where it belongs."

Yep, I can see that - but I'm not really worried about the rig shifting "yet"..

My goal is to (while on land) transfer almost all of the load from the shoulder straps to the waist strap which I will try to get to ride on my pelvic/hip bones like a backpack.


I'm thinking of trying a DSS "long plate" to move the waist belt down and then use a harness that has padded shoulders.

I know where you're coming from, having backpacked for 40 years or so. I can tell you that a BP with Hog harness is excellent at many things, but transferring the load to your hips on land isn't one of them. For one thing, the strap is much too narrow for comfort. For another, the lack of adjustable shoulder straps as well as the fact that the straps come over your shoulder from below instead of above, means that the thing hangs from your shoulders no matter what you do.

Oh, and there's one more issue. If you hitch the BP/tank up and bend forward to hold it there while tightening the strap as much as you can (like you would with a hipbelt), if you use a drysuit you may find that this tends to pull down on your neck seal, causing it to pucker in back and leak. Took me a while to figure that out.

Since then, I tighten it while standing straight up, and not very tight at that. Solves the neck seal problem, and fortunately I don't have to carry it all that far on dives. But there are some entries I know of locally that involve steep ascents/descents of 1/4 mile or more, and I'd much rather use a good back inflate BCD (Seaquest Balance for choice) or something like a Transpac for those dives, because the waist belt is wide enough and padded enough to act the way a hip belt should, and the adjustable suspension with sternum strap allows me to move the weight around while keeping the load in close to my back.

The rest of the time, I just put up with the 'sack hanging from my shoulders' feeling, because once I'm in the water the hog harness and plate come into their own. If your local diving involves a lot of hiking approaches while wearing your gear, I'd definitely consider something other than a BP with Hog harness.

Guy

 

[fnfalman]

"The crotch strap goes a long way in keeping the rig where it belongs."

Yep, I can see that - but I'm not really worried about the rig shifting "yet"..

My goal is to (while on land) transfer almost all of the load from the shoulder straps to the waist strap which I will try to get to ride on my pelvic/hip bones like a backpack.


I'm thinking of trying a DSS "long plate" to move the waist belt down and then use a harness that has padded shoulders.

A typical BPW setup doesn't move the weight of the load down to your waistline. If you're going to purpose use a longer-than-necessary plate to try to move the weight distribution around, you're going to mess up your trim.

I know what you're talking about as far as bringing the weight to your waist. I was an infantryman for some years and a backpacker after that until I got lazy.

The Transpac is your best bet if you want a rig that lowers the weight farther down because it's specifically designed to do that.

Also, you can pull the waist belt down below your belly button by tightening up the crotchstrap.

 

[gcbryan]

It isn't going to work as other have said...a BP/W isn't a backpack. Weights on a waist belt will be borne by your hips and the only other thing that helps is just to lean forward just a bit so that at least your entire back is carrying the load rather than just having in hang from your shoulders.

I have a bad back and wish it was carried as comfortably as a backpack but they're just two different things. That's one reason I don't use a weight harness as it simply hangs more weight off your shoulders.