BP/W (Proper Donning and Doffing)

Hi all,

If condition allows, I will be using my BP/W setup(Hammerhead plate, Oxycheq 45# wing) for the first time.

Before I embark on this journey, I figured it would be a good idea to try it on and off at the pool last night. Well things didn't go smoothly. My biggest issue, was donning and doffing off the harness. Let me start by saying that I have been diving a Back inflate Sherwood (regular bc) since i started diving. With the the Sherwood, I had the armbands loosen before I don the bc and then tighten after I have the thing on. With a fixed size one piece webbing hardness I didn't have that option, so I had trouble getting the darn thing on. I almost through out my back doing this. Doffing the BP/W was another problem. In the old BC/W I had the Quick release buckles to aid in taking off the bc, now it's a lot of work. I know it has to do with experience, but I dont' want to pickup bad habits on my own.

Can someone enlighten me on the correct way of Donning and Doffing a BP/W.

On a positive note, I loved the BP/W in the pool. Swimming around in it was a dream. Trim was perfect.

Uh Uh hear it comes..... Get a harness with a quick release buckle makes life much easier but in all honesty practice makes perfect just be careful I found that having the straps a little looser solved the problem for me anyways. Also were you trying to don and doff the rig in the water? because that makes life much harder for someone who hasn't used a BP/w too much. And great to hear you loved the setup welcome to the darkside

I flip mine on and off with the single tank. Takes only seconds.

Place rig in front of you, with the the plate facing away (Tank nearest to you). put the belt out to the sides, crotch strap straight out ahead of the rig. Put arms through arm holes and grab the back of the tank. Lift the thing over your head resting the plate on the top of your head for a second if you need to.. then let it slide down onto your shoulder. Piece of cake.

Removal is the reverse. Loosen everything, bend over at the waist, and it'll nearly slide off before you're ready.

it will take a while. i use the end of a picnic table or the go in the water and put it on.
i also put in my left arm first than my right. but when i put it on i put the left strap father in my chest to make room

I sit into mine... it's easier if it is on a raised platform.

I put my hands on the insides of the shoulder straps, sit down, and then slide my arms through.

If it is on the floor, I'll squat and put my right arm all the way through, lift it from the ground (supported by my right shoulder and with my right palm on the bottom of the tank), and then slide in my left arm.

It can sometimes get jumbled when you have attached items, so I don't hook my gauges or lights to D-Rings until afterwards.



As for getting it off, I generally reach around and place my right palm on the bottom of the tank, pull on the right shoulder D-Ring with my left hand, and squat, placing the tank on the ground (again, a platform makes it easier). Then I simply pull my left arm out.

I think this is the third thread in as many weeks about Hog harnesses being hard to get into/out of. Those failure points on my adjustable harness are looking pretty good. . .

Of course when I go to pack it, it takes up a lot more room than the Hog harness. And there is the whole plastic buckle spontaneous-combustion-instant-death thing. . .

Seriously, everyone I know with the Hog harness had a short "break-in" period before they got the adjustment and technique just right. You'll get it.

I truly feel your pain . . . http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=115306

I don't have too much trouble getting INTO the harness. Attach dry suit hose first, slip left arm through, get dry suit valve clear, then put right arm through. I do clip off everything before donning and I haven't found that to create issues.

For getting OUT of the harness, one key was that I had the shoulders just a little too tight. A half inch more slack helped a lot. Bob showed me how to hook my thumbs in both D rings and pull them outward, and combining that with setting the tank on something high enough that I can slip DOWN out of it has made the process, if not graceful, at least reliably accomplishable.

At least you didn't get stuck in yours

TSandM:

At least you didn't get stuck in yours

Click to expand...

A condition we should call "permadiver."

Blackwood:

A condition we should call "permadiver."

Click to expand...

:lol:

PerroneFord:

I flip mine on and off with the single tank. Takes only seconds.

Place rig in front of you, with the the plate facing away (Tank nearest to you). put the belt out to the sides, crotch strap straight out ahead of the rig. Put arms through arm holes and grab the back of the tank. Lift the thing over your head resting the plate on the top of your head for a second if you need to.. then let it slide down onto your shoulder. Piece of cake.

Removal is the reverse. Loosen everything, bend over at the waist, and it'll nearly slide off before you're ready.

Click to expand...

Just thinking about that hurts in my back, I position the rig on a platform and sit in front of it, then strap myself to the rig and then stand up, for doffing is the reverse.
My back isn't what it used to be 20 yrs ago so now I roll my gear to the boat in the pelican box and never stress my back.

I got a QR in the left shoulder strap, but if going hog, I would do the same procedure to save my back.

Practice and adjust a couple of times and you'll be OK in a few dives.