halocline
Contributor
There is no substantive reason that you cannot add a quick release to a hog harness, other than offending the DIR crowd...wait, that might be a reason to do it!
The failure point argument is silly; since there is essentially zero weight loading on the straps once in the water, chances of a quick release failure are pretty slim. Remember that backpacks, designed to carry heavy weights up over mountains in remote country, ALL use plastic quick releases on load bearing straps, in particular, the hip belt which carries most of the weight. For the ultra-paranoid, there are SS quick release buckles available.
The argument that quick releases are not needed has some truth to it; it's not difficult to learn to don-doff a hog harness. In my rescue class I was required to remove both the victim's gear and my own while towing and providing rescue breaths. I did it in a hog harness, but I had to skip breaths; you only have 5 seconds between breaths, and I can't get out of my hog harness in the water, while keeping one hand on the victim, in under 5 seconds. It's easy with a single quick release.
(In a "real" rescue situation, I would simply leave my gear on while assisting the victim, and if the victim was wearing one, I'd cut it off)
The reason I have not added one is because it's simply more comfortable diving without one. The hog harness essentially "disappears" while diving, and anything that adds bulk or folds in the shoulder straps would interfere with that. I'm sure you could find a place, maybe way down near where the strap goes through the plate, that a quick release would add minimal bulk.
The real beauty of the BP/W set up, one that can't be truly duplicated with a back inflate BC, is the weight distribution of the steel plate, uniformly placing the weight between the two sources of buoyancy; your lungs and the wing.
The failure point argument is silly; since there is essentially zero weight loading on the straps once in the water, chances of a quick release failure are pretty slim. Remember that backpacks, designed to carry heavy weights up over mountains in remote country, ALL use plastic quick releases on load bearing straps, in particular, the hip belt which carries most of the weight. For the ultra-paranoid, there are SS quick release buckles available.
The argument that quick releases are not needed has some truth to it; it's not difficult to learn to don-doff a hog harness. In my rescue class I was required to remove both the victim's gear and my own while towing and providing rescue breaths. I did it in a hog harness, but I had to skip breaths; you only have 5 seconds between breaths, and I can't get out of my hog harness in the water, while keeping one hand on the victim, in under 5 seconds. It's easy with a single quick release.
(In a "real" rescue situation, I would simply leave my gear on while assisting the victim, and if the victim was wearing one, I'd cut it off)
The reason I have not added one is because it's simply more comfortable diving without one. The hog harness essentially "disappears" while diving, and anything that adds bulk or folds in the shoulder straps would interfere with that. I'm sure you could find a place, maybe way down near where the strap goes through the plate, that a quick release would add minimal bulk.
The real beauty of the BP/W set up, one that can't be truly duplicated with a back inflate BC, is the weight distribution of the steel plate, uniformly placing the weight between the two sources of buoyancy; your lungs and the wing.