DSS (Old stock) vs Diverite Travelpac vs Zeagle Express Tech

[stuartv]

I don't know if it's because the rig was old, but the webbing was incredibly stiff and hard to adjust.

The webbing is impregnated with resin, that makes it stiff. I bought mine used and the webbing was just as you described. It was too short for me, so I bought new webbing and it was just as stiff and hard to adjust.

I think the DSS backplates are the only ones that have the rubber grommets (for lack of a better word) in the slot holes that the webbing goes through. Others that I've looked at pictures of just have bare metal slot holes for the webbing. I think, on those, you use an additional piece of tubular webbing as a sleeve around the harness webbing, where it goes through the slot holes. I assume that's to protect the harness webbing from rubbing on the bare steel edge of the slot hole and eventually cutting through. The DSS BP's rubber grommets seems like it would prevent that without using the tubular webbing sleeve - but, at the same time, make it harder to pull the webbing through the slot holes to adjust.

On the plus side, once the fit is dialed in, you shouldn't have to mess with it any more. And the DSS BP's rubber grommets seem like a nicer way to go than other BPs that just have bare steel slot holes.

 

[cwoco]

I have the LCD30 wing - 1 dump valve on the bottom left and a short inflator hose at the top. I do wish it had a dump valve on the bottom right, but well, apparently that's a rather contentious issue on this forum. Would be quite glad to trade to a Torus 26 or similar, but I suppose its not worth the shipping to people on this board - will ask on my local forum board.

Crotch strap wise, this one was really quite soft - much softer than the harness. I think it's more of the sudden impact and force rather than the padding - I will probably experiment with being more upright, or doing a sideways flop on the next trip. Thanks for the tip though!

 

[tbone1004]

ahh, sorry, forgot Tobin actually still made the horseshoes. The second dump isn't that contentious of an issue, just many manufacturers put too many on. You may be surprised on the trading, might get someone that wants the little more lift.

On the giant stride, don't inflate the wing all the way, far too common of a practice. Inflate about half-2/3's of the way and take a good sized breath, then inflate the rest of the way at the surface. I'm not sure how high up you are floating at the surface of the water, but the most comfortable and easiest to hold position is with the water at about chin level. Any higher and you are putting too much weight on the crotch strap and it will be painful and a bit unstable, any lower and you obviously have breathing problems.

Leaning back just a little bit can help if you're at the surface for a while, but I regularly sit at the surface for 30+ minutes when doing OW Training and haven't had an issue.

This is about the level you want to be in the water. That's in a 5mm wetsuit on a 1" crotch strap. Not a real issue at all.