Why does DIR reject quick disconnects?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Status
Not open for further replies.
cys:
Are ACB's DIR? They are sold by Halcyon and use plastic buckles.
Nope, the ACB pockets are not DIR. It's one of the few Halcyon products that isn't DIR.
 
Some, but not all. I had a crotch strap, but the waist band was too high even with that. I was uncomfortable underwater and extremely uncomfortable when on the surface. My current harnesses straps are lower.

SeaJay:
Did you try your TP with the optional crotch strap? I did, and it seemed to take some pressure off my diaphragm.
 
ElectricZombie:
Nope, the ACB pockets are not DIR. It's one of the few Halcyon products that isn't DIR.

I agree, FWIW. I just didn't want people to forget that Halcyon sells something with plastic buckles.
 
Atticus:
A somewhat related question...

I dive a halcyon BP&W and have keepers installed such that the shoulder portion is a fixed length (keepers behind the backplate which prevent webbing from moving from the shoulder loops to the waist loop).

Some friends dive without the keepers so they can unbuckle the waist strap and enlarge the shoulders for donning/doffing.

The left waist strap has a D ring installed (stage bottle ring), so it cannot slide out more then a few inches. The right waist strap has the light and extra buckle which holds the light in place, so it too cannot slide out more than a few inches. I really can't see the rig "falling off", which was my first concern.

I haven't removed the keepers from my own rig, but I've considered it.

Comments?


I would think that if it moves to loosen up, it might just loosen up when you don~t want it to and create a situation underwater. I~d keep my keepers in, learn how to get in and out of your rig, takes a little practice.
 
cys:
I agree, FWIW. I just didn't want people to forget that Halcyon sells something with plastic buckles.

Actually, their retail store -Extreme Exposure- sells quite a bit of non-DIR equipment.
 
Doesn't Halcyon own the "DIR" logo now? And any thing they offer IS DIR, not to be confused with GUE standards and their way of "Doing it Right"....just clearing it up a bit, don't know who kicked it up in the first place....LOL careful, you could be doing it right with the wrong DIR gear. :11:

tony
 
ElectricZombie:
I've seen them break before; it can and does happen. Those plastic buckles are tough, but they do break on occasion.

Over the past quarter century, I've seen a few of them duct-taped, but that's about it.

I don't see the point of introducing potential failure points. It would be different if the buckles offered some sort of advantage, but they don't. I can get in or out of my gear as fast or faster than someone with quick release buckles. Why add something if you don't need it?

A fair and valid point. Introducing anything is going to alter your overall risk -- sometimes better, sometimes worse. It comes down to the specific requirements of your diving as to if that nets out to something better or worse.

For example, awhile back I was on a dive trip and I was changing my thermal protection amounts on a daily basis as conditions & locations changed...as such, some adjustments in my rig were required. Additionally, all of the diving was done off of a live small boat and while carrying an UW camera. As such, shoulder QD's were very frequently utilized by the dive customers and overall, it was advantageous to have that particular tool to have in that particular environment to make boat reentry faster/easier/safer.

You can also make a similar case about "QD" wingnuts on STA's on many popular backplates today...the fallacy is that if the objective is to have a system that tolerates being harder to adjust, but doesn't need to be changed once adjusted, then going from singles to twins should require two dedicated rigs so as to eliminate the detachable STA. The normal wingnut defense is to point out that they're made metal instead of lowly plastic, but that's bogus: a materials change does not eliminate a failure point. We can also say that wingnuts are tough, but they do break on occasion too. Ditto for anything else that have threads that can be stripped.


-hh
 
I just glanced through some of the replies. The reliability might be one reason why QD's aren't used but there are other reasons too. The backup lights are carried clipped to the shoulder d-rings and banded down to the shoulder strap of the harness. That's hard to do with buckles on the harness.

Divers using harnesses with buckles on the shoulder strap often carry backup lights some place else. So...you added the buckle that isn't DIR, now you move your light's because you added the buckle. Now where to put the lights? The contents of the right and left thigh pockets are already pretty well defined so do you add a pocket for lights? What about backup light deployment procedures? In DIR you simply pull the light which causes the band to slide up out of the way and you turn it on without unclipping it from the shoulder d-ring. Now you can probably use the light as is but if you do have to unclip it it's on so you'll be able to see it if you drop it.

A diver who doesn't need backup lights might not care but in my non-expert DIR opinion when you added that shoulder buckle the change rippled through other parts of the system to the point that it effected well defined emergency procedures which violates the very reason for having a "system" in the first place because uniform predictable emergency procedures accross the team is the whole point.
 
By that logic, diving doubles is dangerous because the bolts may break. What difference does it make whether or not its one rig or two? Two rigs just doubles the number of failure points.

I think the logic is seriously flawed on this one. SS bolts are far stronger than plastic QDs. Maybe all of us diving doubles need to think about using cam bands in addition or in lieu of bolts. ;)


-hh:
You can also make a similar case about "QD" wingnuts on STA's on many popular backplates today...the fallacy is that if the objective is to have a system that tolerates being harder to adjust, but doesn't need to be changed once adjusted, then going from singles to twins should require two dedicated rigs so as to eliminate the detachable STA. The normal wingnut defense is to point out that they're made metal instead of lowly plastic, but that's bogus: a materials change does not eliminate a failure point. We can also say that wingnuts are tough, but they do break on occasion too. Ditto for anything else that have threads that can be stripped.


-hh
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top Bottom