Which HARNESS and why? for your BP/W

[LakeCountyDiver]

I have witnessed it. When the double 72s hit the ground, everyone noticed. The harness must have snapped near the top center or he had only one arm through as he was gearing up for it to drop like that, but it made a bang.

I am confused. You say you "witnessed" it but then you say it "must" have snapped "or" he only had one arm through when it fell. Did it break or just fall off???

I bet everyone did notice when it hit the ground thats A LOT of weight.

 

[hypertech]

I am confused. You say you "witnessed" it but then you say it "must" have snapped "or" he only had one arm through when it fell. Did it break or just fall off???

I bet everyone did notice when it hit the ground thats A LOT of weight.

I was gearing up probably 30 feet from him. I heard the bang, saw the gear on the ground. I went to make sure everything was OK and was told the harness snapped. The harness was replaced and we all went diving. I didn't inspect it myself to know exactly what broke so I don't know exactly if he had one arm through and one side snapped or if he had both arms through and it snapped in the middle and came loose. Either way, the gear hit the ground and I watched him put a new harness on.

Reflecting back on it - if the guy had another harness in his gear bag, I'm guessing it was worn and he knew it. It was probably one of those things (replace the harness) that was on his list to do that he hadn't gotten to yet.

 

[LakeCountyDiver]

I was gearing up probably 30 feet from him. I heard the bang, saw the gear on the ground. I went to make sure everything was OK and was told the harness snapped. The harness was replaced and we all went diving. I didn't inspect it myself to know exactly what broke so I don't know exactly if he had one arm through and one side snapped or if he had both arms through and it snapped in the middle and came loose. Either way, the gear hit the ground and I watched him put a new harness on.

Reflecting back on it - if the guy had another harness in his gear bag, I'm guessing it was worn and he knew it. It was probably one of those things (replace the harness) that was on his list to do that he hadn't gotten to yet.

Ok cool now there is an arguement for the other side. I was just unsure with the wording there. Well now I have heard of a one-piece snapping, I was not trying to be a smart ass I was really confused.. Either way I am still going to give the HOG a run for it's money. I have never been a fan of plastic anything.

 

[bvanant]

Well we have established that the HOG one piece style harness is by far the choice of most divers around the globe. It seems to be by far the simplest and strongest harness in use today. The new argument is how strong "PLASTIC" is????? It seems to me plastic is the weakest link in the chain. Stories from all over have come here stating that there Plastic buckles have broke.

]
We have established no such thing at all. Most divers around the world use standard BCs not backplates and wings. By my count there are like 15 or 20 divers who have responded to this thread. If that is most divers around the globe, how come my diveboats are all so crowded. It is clear that a one piece harness is the simplest (if you count parts) but whether it is the strongest is still not obvious. The sea/air rescue guys use harnesses that have buckles (metal for sure but buckles none the less) and mostly I guess they don't just break.
Metal breaks, plastic breaks, nylon (which is plastic by the way and so is every other webbing that I can think of except perhaps steel wire mesh) breaks, polypropylene breaks, everything breaks. My original question was about a quick disconnect on an unloaded (if it fits right) 2 inch wide piece of webbing. How many of those have you seen broken?

Bill

 

[Kern]

BTW, if steel/aluminum are so strong then how come they are being replaced by plastic when it comes to gun parts? Guns that are designed to be used by soldiers and in combat?

This is mainly about weight, & reducing the front line soldiers load. An SLR, with it's wooden stocks & grips, weighs a lot more than an AuSteyr or M16 which are plastic. I think it will be some time before the barrels & chambers of reliable high powered weapons are made from ceramics/plastics.

 

[aquaregia]

Metal breaks, plastic breaks, nylon (which is plastic by the way and so is every other webbing that I can think of except perhaps steel wire mesh) breaks, polypropylene breaks, everything breaks. My original question was about a quick disconnect on an unloaded (if it fits right) 2 inch wide piece of webbing. How many of those have you seen broken?

A lot of the left-side webbing releases I've seen are the same metal buckles as the waistband or weight belt, so we can sort of even ignore the plastic issue if we wanted.

I have seen a few of those buckles (but plastic) broken, but never in the water. Its very possible it was due to weight belts or tanks being dropped on them. I had the buckle on my waistband catch on kelp and release, and see no reason why a similar buckle on my shoulder strap wouldn't be susceptible to the same event.

 

[LakeCountyDiver]

]
We have established no such thing at all. Most divers around the world use standard BCs not backplates and wings. By my count there are like 15 or 20 divers who have responded to this thread. If that is most divers around the globe, how come my diveboats are all so crowded. It is clear that a one piece harness is the simplest (if you count parts) but whether it is the strongest is still not obvious. The sea/air rescue guys use harnesses that have buckles (metal for sure but buckles none the less) and mostly I guess they don't just break.
Metal breaks, plastic breaks, nylon (which is plastic by the way and so is every other webbing that I can think of except perhaps steel wire mesh) breaks, polypropylene breaks, everything breaks. My original question was about a quick disconnect on an unloaded (if it fits right) 2 inch wide piece of webbing. How many of those have you seen broken?

Bill

OK my bad on not wording it right I was refering to the TEC BP/W side of diving. Your right EVERYTHING breaks at one point or another it's just how often? How much use can you get out if it before it does break? What kind of stress can it endure before breaking? I use Harnesses everyday in my work (industrial construction) that have metal buckles and yes they are as strong as the webbing itself. The webbing is triple stiched back on it's self locking the "METAL" clips in place.
The common argument in this thread is about Plastic buckles being just as strong as one-piece webbing. It's not sorry. I have NOT seen any "unloaded" plastic buckles broken. The ones on my jacket BC are doing just fine I am not arguing that. It has just been stressed over and over that many plastic buckels have broke on many many harnesses in the past but next to none of the one-pieces have broke(snapped)
MY op was about what everybody's choice of harness is and the favorite among BP/W users is a HOG one-piece.

 

[PfcAJ]

BTW, if steel/aluminum are so strong then how come they are being replaced by plastic when it comes to gun parts? Guns that are designed to be used by soldiers and in combat?

Not all plastic is created equal.The plastic used in clips and buckles is not the same as the plastics used in firearms. I'm sure you knew that though. You generally don't want firearms parts to flex, but fastex type buckles HAVE to flex to work.

And btw, some plastic parts are being replaced by metal. Wild!! Take the front hang guard of m16 type weapons. They were plastic, but it broke often (I broke a set of them myself) and can melt (I melted a pair a little, as well). M16a4's and m4s have the Knights Armament style metal guards now.

 

[fnfalman]

Not all plastic is created equal.The plastic used in clips and buckles is not the same as the plastics used in firearms. I'm sure you knew that though. You generally don't want firearms parts to flex, but fastex type buckles HAVE to flex to work.

Glock frames flex pretty good if you ask me.

And yes, not all plastic is created equal, and the same goes for metal.

But let's get back to scuba. Any death in scuba that is attributable to broken plastic clips on BCs? Any death in scuba that is attributable to quick adjustable harnesses getting hung up while wreck/cave diving?

 

[DevonDiver]

When the SA80 was first released to the British military, the plastic used in the butt and foreguard would actually melt if you got insect repellent on it. They remedied that now. Issues like that would impact on your diving gear during your tropical holiday when smoothered in DEET 50....