SMS 100 harness

[mudchick]

I have an sms 100 and I'm not happy with the fit; it's too big. It seemed like the large would be ok in the shop but in the water it doesn't work for me. I've been told that the wing/back pad are the same regardless of the size. Can I switch out the harness to a smaller one for a better fit instead of selling it at a loss to repurchase another one? What harness would I use? Thanks.

 

[Doppler]

The fit of one's harness in SM configuration is supremely important. It simply has to be tight and has to fit the length and width of one's body. This is the foundation of getting squared away... if your sms100 does not fit, change it.

 

[tbone1004]

and to follow up on Steve, you unfortunately can't "change" the harness. You can change the shoulder pads or remove them completely, and trim various straps that will make the straps shorter, but it is still a very big harness that may just not be the right fit for you. The harness is sewn into the backplate which is integral to the function of the SMS100 so it isn't something that can be swapped out. The SMS75 is a bit smaller, and the Katana smaller than that if you want to stay with Hollis. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

 

[victorzamora]

The good news is that you can adjust it to be as small as you'd like (other than shortening the back "plate"). Worst case, you lose some of the padding. I believe the shoulder padding length is the only difference in the sizes.

 

[mudchick]

Does it make a difference that my bc is one of the older all black ones and not the red one that is currently on scuba.com?

 

[DevonDiver]

Here's what I've done with some 'inflexible' designed harnesses before....

• Cut the shoulder and waist harness away, leaving 4-6" of bare webbing at each attachment point (shoulders and waist).
• Add toothed weight retainers on each section of remaining webbing.
• Fit bare 2" webbing to the remaining webbing by co-threading through the retainers.
• Hey presto... you now have a hogarthian style harness, that is much simpler and more adjustable.

With 'American (aka Florida cave.... see: The Two Schools of Sidemount Diving Heritage ) style sidemount BCDs, you can't do anything about sizing the spine length fitting. This is why having a rig with separate shoulder/lumbar plates on either side of an adjustable spine strap offers the best fitting and performance IMHO.

 

[victorzamora]

Does it make a difference that my bc is one of the older all black ones and not the red one that is currently on scuba.com?

I don't believe there's any difference other than color. However, all of the statements I've seen on here are true for the all-black one I have.