Halcyon Infinity Impression

I know I am selling a Infinity backplate. If I say too many good things about it, people may think I am biased, I am hard sell. If I say bad things about it, I may not be able to sell it at all. But I do want people to know what they are buying and I will try to be as objective as possible.

I have made total of two dives so far. First dive was with Infinity setup with 30lb eclipse wing. 2nd dive was double LP80 with evolve wing. Both dives, I took off the ACB because I have a can light.

Single Infinity setup:

First impression was how comfortable the deluxe pad is on land. I never had problem with simple webbing, but deluxe pad is just more comfortable, especially on the shoulder. The shoulder pads are made of some very soft neoprene. The width is just ever so little wider than the webbing. This implementation is much much better than DiveRite Transplate's should pads (which I used to have). DR's shoulder pads are too wide and too stiff. In term of comfort level, deluxe pad > webbing >> Transplate.

In water, I did think Infinity is more stable. Reason maybe 1) the backpad adds a little friction to the drysuit. 2)I cinched down tighter. Both make the rig seemed to stick on my back better.

The cinch system: I think H really did a nice job here. It works exactly as advertised. With drysuit and thick UG, I normally leave a little slack on the harness so I can get in and out of it easier. With the cinch, I can cinch down as tight as I want in dives. Then loosen it when don/doff. I think for single tank diver, the Infinity is close to perfect. In fact, I like it so much I was about to order a cinch upgrade for my small H plate.

Double setup is where my problem starts.

First inconvinience is the back pad. In order to switch from single to double, it has to be take off. This makes me think that Infinity is really targeted for single tank divers because once STA is on, you will never have to touch anything. For double diver, the backpad needs to come off (at least partially) every time. So I took off the backpad and left it off.

Second inconvience is the cinch plate makes the lower bolt not long enough now. H includes a extender which my friend doesn't have anymore. But it wouldn't have worked anyway. The extender only works with 5/16" and I have 3/8". The bolt holes on the plate would be too small for 3/8" extender, that is why H didn't even make one. Also, in order for the extender to work, the orginal bolt needs to be short enough so that it doesn't extend above the plate. At the end, I went to home depot and bought a new bolt, did some mod to made it work. The good thing is I found out this on Friday evening, just in time for a home depot visit. Otherwise, I won't be able to use this for Sat dive.

Here is some pictures illustrate the problem:

original 5" bolt, which works perfectly on basic harness

With Cinch, the upper bolt is still good. The thumb wheel for size reference


Lower bolt is problematic. This is a 5" bolt, the extender won't work for this even if diameter is match


The little black cylinder shape thing acts like a spacer, so the tank band won't pinch the webbing, but require a longer lower bolt.


This problem was solved by using a 6" bolt or a 4.5" bolt with extender. But think about it, if I ever go back to a normal harness or borrow the double to someone without the cinch, then these bolt length will be problem again. I do want to know what bolt length will work with both cinch and non-cinch.

Overall, the dive went well after swapping out the lower bolt. The deluxe should pad makes carrying double on land event more comfortable. I still like the ability to tighten and loosen the harness.

My conclusion

I like the Infinity for single tank a lot. If I will ever have a dedicated single system, I will definitley have the cinch system. The deluxe pad is also nice, but I can't justify the $109 price tag. If I can pick up a good condition used set for better price, I will probably have that as well. I like the shoulder pad more than the backpad.

For double tank setup, the backpad just added inconvinince. The pad is too big so you can't get access to the bolt nuts easily without taking some book screws off. I will just leave it off altogether. The cinch, I am not so sure for double now, mainly because of the lower bolt inconvinince. So I hold off ordering the cinch upgrade for my small plate.

Who would I recommend the Infinity/cinch setup to: people who dive single tank only, or people who want a dedicated single tank setup. If I ever have enough money to spare a Halcyon warm water travel setup, I will put cinch on it.

Who I will NOT recommend to: People who use the same plate for single and double setup (myself). The deluxe backpad is just inconvient. The lower bolt issue with the cinch plate can be frustrated if your doubles don't have the proper length bolts.

I hope someone will still be interested in my Infinity plate after reading this.

---------- Post added ----------

One follow up. Size comparison between H regular and size plate:

Both plates line up at the bolt hole locations. First picture shows the top edge. The regular size is about 7/8" teller. Notice the width of the shoulder slots are about the same, which is contrary to what most of us believe that small plate is narrower. It is NOT, at least not where the shoulder's concern.


Here shows the bottom edge of the plate. Small plate is 5/8" shorter. The waist slot locations are also about 5/8" higher. Again, notice the width of the plates. Very small differences, about 1/4" on each size.


I hope this helps whoever is deciding between regular and small size plate.

I have been looking to buy a new BCD. I currently use an Oceanic jacket style and I would like to go to a rear lift system. I'm trying to decide on a halcyon infinity or a transplate, or transpac? The infinity looks VERY impressive and I only dive with one tank...never doubles. Do you think that the infinity would be my best choice? even if it is more expensive? I would probably look for a good used one #40 Lb. with SS backplate and large weight pockets. Any advice would be appreciated. I really want something that is comfortable and easy to donn and doff. I am 59 years old. Thank you

The main difference between DR tranplate and H Infinity is the the continuous webbing harness in H vs 5 pieces harness assembly in DR. Do you value continous webbing harness? If the answer is yes, then the choice is simple.

In terms of comfort, I think Infinity is better than Transplate by a big margin. In terms of easy of don/doff, they are equal. They both do get the job done.

The cost for equivalent system:
Using DGX as reference, DR tranplate, SS plate, any DR wing, weight pocket, 2 inches crotch strap (+$10), STA (+$39), backpad (+$45). Total is $593.
Extreme Exposure: Halcyon Infinity is $859.

You are likely to get discount for DR but not for H. The difference is say $300 give or take. If money doesn't matter, I would say Infinity is a better overall setup. I think H wing is design better both in term of shape and material. I like continous harness. I hate DR crotch strap(way to stiff for that area).

But considering the 50% more cost, you have to make that call. Keep in mind tho, if you get DR for its lower initial cost, but then for whatever reason later upgrade to H, it will cost you even more. So like one of my mentor always says, "see the end from the beginning". I think this applies for both dive planning and equipment purchase.

You also mention "large weight pocket". If you buy H today, their ACD weight pocket only come in 10lb version (5 lb each side). DR's come in 16lb and 32lb version. If you need that weight and don't want a weight belt, this may affect your decision too.

eelnoraa:

Keep in mind tho, if you get DR for its lower initial cost, but then for whatever reason later upgrade to H, it will cost you even more. So like one of my mentor always says, "see the end from the beginning".

Click to expand...

And if - for whatever reason - you want to change H for DR later on, it will cost you even more too TBH I've tried quiet a few of BPW setups (including the H) and do find that there is not a huge difference between any setups from well known brands (like H, DSS, Oxycheck etc.). As many people around here, I started with a "comfort harness", padded packs and padded shoulder straps, and all this just to switch it out for a hog harness later on. IMO this is were the "beginning with the end in mind" saying may fit the bill but not really between two quality BP/W setups from different manufactures. YMMV. Personally I'd not pay more than 50% extra for the H. They do have good stuff and I own some of it but for me the markup for the BC setup does not really reflect a increased quality over other good setups. Of course, this is a subjective assessment and other opinions may differ

Thank you guys for all the advice. I usually carry all my weight on BCD...don't like using a weight belt much so I may opt for the DR. I wish the Halcyon offered the heavier weight system.....but I definitely will have to give it a LOT of thought.