Buckle Releases with BP/W

[Akimbo]

Not to start a religious war but how many people actually need a crotch strap? I never used one on doubles or singles unless the instructor in Navy Scuba School insisted or the commercial diving code in that area mandated it on a safety harness.

Maybe I just have a lucky body shape but my tanks stay put as long as I can tighten the shoulder and belly straps. I even have a deadman ring (Rescue D-ring) on my rigs (doubles and singles) and never started to slip when being lifted???

Life sure is simpler if you can ditch it, not just for weight release.

 

[smorneau]

FWIW, I'm with smorneau 100% unless I'm in a cave or cavern.

I mount my BP's waistbelt buckle upside down. Why? Because the most common procedure is to tighten your waistbelt at depth. I really don't want to drop my 8# WB down to my crotchstrap just to find out that I grabbed the wrong tab. BTDT, total PIA.

Now, BabyDuck is also dead on. Diving a can light presents a serious problem with respect to having your buckle on the other side. This is truly a problem without a clear solution.

So do what works for you. (Kilili beat me to it.)

flame on...

Two questions, why not in a cave or cavern? How does a can light affect it. Both buckles would be out front and the can would be on the right hip or are you referring to adding and removing the can from the webbing?

 

[lowviz]

You can't just simply thread the buckle through the can light webbing loop, loop too small. Bigger loop and your can light flops all over the place. Restringing a buckle is a pain...

---------- Post Merged at 07:32 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:11 PM ----------

Akimbo: Religious wars make the world tick, I'm in. You can put me in the "needs a crotch strap" column...

 

[spectrum]

Not to start a religious war but how many people actually need a crotch strap?

I think it opens you up to loosen the shoulder straps for more mobility and still be well supported in surface situations. Some of this may be overcome with a snug hip strap but again it's nice to not be bound up especially when asking air to move through a drysuit.

You are correct that it's all shades of gray with different people, gear and preferences.

Pete

 

[Peter_C]

Weight belts are nice to have since it does allow you to don and doff your gear underwater. Otherwise the diver would be headed to the surface with their kit headed towards the bottom. Much safer splitting the weight up.

Where you have your two releases is most likely where the problem is arising from. The weight belt should be centered with the back plates waist strap on the left side passing thru the crotch strap, then sliding as far as possible to the right. Mine are inches apart so it is very easy to tell what is what. Never do I have to tighten my weight belt up underwater, as I have it set so it bottoms at the proper tension. Meaning I tighten it until I run into a hard object.

 

[lowviz]

A balanced rig with weight belts set to your planned gas load allows you to head home gracefully in case of a really big OH S**T on splashing...

 

[Nemrod]

Not to start a religious war but how many people actually need a crotch strap? I never used one on doubles or singles unless the instructor in Navy Scuba School insisted or the commercial diving code in that area mandated it on a safety harness.

Maybe I just have a lucky body shape but my tanks stay put as long as I can tighten the shoulder and belly straps. I even have a deadman ring (Rescue D-ring) on my rigs (doubles and singles) and never started to slip when being lifted???

Life sure is simpler if you can ditch it, not just for weight release.

View attachment 136918

I do not need a crotch strap but I use a 1 inch one because I use the front ring for a scooter or for hooking my camera lanyard. I leave it very loose. I also leave my shoulder straps quite loose and just cinch my waist strap. Never had a problem. I do put a light or accessories over on the right waist strap so I need my buckle to be on the left strap and I pull it over to the right if that makes sense, I think your rig is backwards, not sure where in the bible that is though.

The right release is an old teaching for weight belts, flip it and make it left, who cares.

BTW, at least once I have had to doff my gear when I got tangled in some sort of throw net. I easily doffed my gear, cut the monofiliment net from my valve and donned my gear and continued my dive. Of course, I was solo or I would have expected a buddy to perform the task.

N

 

[Colliam7]

Whats the problem with having the BP buckle on the left of the crotch strap with a left release and the weight belt buckle on the right of the crotch strap with a right hand release.

No problem at all if it works for you.

The right release is an old teaching for weight belts, flip it and make it left, who cares.

It may be an old teaching, but it is also a current teaching. I agree, however, what matters is what works. I guess an argument could be made that in the (unlikely) event of a rescue being required, a buddy / rescuer would look for a right hand release on a weright belt. But, there are so many different weight configurations in use, I doubt a left hand release poses a real issue.

 

[Mubble Bubble]

I would move the majority of my weight to weight pockets and only keep a small amount on the belt. After class I would switch to weight pockets exclusively if possible and move 6lbs to 10lbs up to the sta and top cam straps. Depends on how much you have to weare but with sta weight, cam weights and weight pockets you can stash 20lbs easily enough with 1/2 being ditch-able.
My 2 cents, anyway

This is the setup I use when diving dry in New England (ie STA weight or v-weight in doubles and the rest in my pockets). It has worked great so far. Plus, I never liked the idea of messing around with a weight belt if I could avoid it.

 

[tracydr]

Halcyon makes some nice, ditch able weight pockets that slide onto your waist band. Perhaps check them out?