Beginner Diver Seeks Advice About Wing & BP Setup

[torvum]

Hi. I'm new to diving and thusfar have been using rental equipment. In September I'm going to be going to school to train as a commercial diver. It's crunch time now, and I've got a lot of gear to buy in a relatively short period of time. I've been doing a lot of research and I think that I'd like to go with a BP & Wing setup for my first SCUBA rig. The reasons for this are manifold.

Now, my program requires for me to get an AquaLung Personal Diver Harness and since I don't know the first thing about diving harnesses - especially those used for commercial applications - I have no clue whether this harness will be suitable for a backplate and wing.

Does anyone have any idea whether I can get a backplate and wing onto this harness?

 

[Bubbletrubble]

No.

Take a careful look at the harness you linked to. The Aqualung Personal Diver Harness is not designed help anchor a BP/W rig with scuba tank to a diver. The PDH is used for the secure attachment of a dive umbilical or to be used as a lifting rig for recovery of an injured person and equipment from the water (i.e., lifting into the air).

 

[Akimbo]

…Now, my program requires for me to get an AquaLung Personal Diver Harness and since I don't know the first thing about diving harnesses - especially those used for commercial applications - I have no clue whether this harness will be suitable for a backplate and wing…

I am surprised a school would specify this harness as the only one that is acceptable. The gold standard for the commercial diving industry is the Miller harness, now owned by Kirby Morgan. The North Sea Bell/Backpack Harness is accepted by all certification agencies around the world. It is assembled with Monel rivets, not sewn, and is a much heavier than Scuba harness webbing. You can use it with a wing on a single, but doubles would require modifications. I am a believer in the deadman/rescue ring and installed one on my Freedom Plate for recreational diving.

One option you might consider is Atlantic Diving Equipment, recently acquired by XS-Scuba. Their Full Body Harness with Shoulder Adjusters - FB16510A is equivalent. They also offer a tech/backplate version, Stainless Steel Backpack - BP500, but you would need to add the double/parachute harness crotch strap option.

…Does anyone have any idea whether I can get a backplate and wing onto this harness?

I have not personally seen the Aqualung harness, but you can add a wing to the rubber backpack models from Miller and Atlantic when diving a single. You will find that a valve-down single is used for bailouts almost exclusively unless supplied by the diving contractor. The Atlantic stainless pack would not be a good choice for surface supplied diving. It might be OK if you were doing a lot of Scuba work wearing doubles for a small operation. It is way too big and bulky for inside the bell — typically hatches are 24" in diameter.

The use of a BC in surface supplied diving is very rare, but has its place: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/co...using-bc-ssa-commercial-work.html#post5212114

If you want a wing that you might use around commercial work, I suggest considering the OxyCheq MACK V Extreme. It is easily the toughest, even though OxyCheq’s customer service is so-so. See: YouTube; OxyCheq Mach V Extreme Wing

Do they also want you to get a bailout bottle to go with the harness? You probably want a LP bottle since filling it offshore will usually be from cascading off a limited supply of HP gas quads or six-packs — on air jobs which is where you will likely start your career. Most work is done off LP compressors and HP compressors offshore is a rarity until you get to saturation systems. I see a lot of ~60 Ft³ 3000 PSI Aluminum but I prefer a 2400+ PSI in the 45-60 Ft³ range.

Edit: BTW, two stainless steel hose clamps inside vinyl tubing is the norm instead of cam bands to secure the bailout to the harness. There is no need to swap bottles since the bailout is rarely actually used. You can use cam bands if you elect to use this harness for Scuba, but I would not show up on the job site with them.

The primary use of the rescue ring is to get in incapacitated diver back in the bell. There is usually a block and tackle attached to a padeye above the hatch so the bellman can get you back inside through the hatch. I have never heard of the rescue ring being used on a surface diving job. If they have a winch (usually an air tugger) and davit or A-frame, they will usually have a stage that the standby diver uses for recovery.

 

[torvum]

The reason I need to purchase that specific harness was because I was told that the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) has only recognized that single harness as being fit for job for the last while. The instructor went on to say that there was a couple other harness manufacturers that offer CSA approved harnesses, but that it would be difficult and expensive to obtain them because of a lack of distributors in Canada and shipping costs.

In case you're wondering, I'm going through all this hassle because I think that in end I will have saved money, and come out with a more versatile rig if I opt for a BP & Wing setup that works together with my diving harness (that's suited surface-supplied-type work.)

By the way, does anyone know if I can just call the CSA and get a clear answer on this issue?
Or is this something that a team of lawyers needs to be involved in? (I imagine these standards are written in lawyerese and would be incomprehensible to the lay-person.)

 

[Akimbo]

The Aqualung harness “looks” like the D-ring to attach the umbilical is too high for comfort and doesn’t have other D-rings for tools. It also doesn’t look like it is riveted, but the photo is marginal.

You want the umbilical coming off lower so it naturally falls about elbow level. It makes it easier to grab in bad visibility, is out of the way when working, and is a better for steadying the diver coming up the ladder so it doesn’t get in the diver’s way. The tender will keep a strain on the umbilical as the divers goes up or down the ladder to help steady and share the load.

The photo showing the simulated unconscious diver being lifted out of the water is a really bad idea. The weight of the hat is enough to cause neck/spine injury in a heavy sea with limp muscles. That is why a stage or basket is preferred.

Diving is an international business so you want to make sure your gear is accepted everywhere unless you think you can find full employment in Canada alone. I am not implying that the Aqualung harness is not approved everywhere, but I have never seen one so it may warrant checking.

I suggest calling/E-mailing Miller and Atlantic to check CSA approvals. Do you know about Amron International? Check pricing with them.

 

[torvum]

Wow Akimbo, thanks for the sound advice and timely response. You've given me a lot to think about. Come Monday I'm going to make some phone calls and see if I can clear this up. I'll check back in with this thread if I have any more questions.

Again: thanks a bunch.

 

[wcbdiver]

no, the harness is not to be used with anything else. I am a commercial diver, what do you want to know?

I use a backpack, and a winged BCD. The backpacks are hard on suits and mine wrecked my zipper after only about 400 commercial dives. That is a Hunter 1050 full on drysuit, wrtecked within 6 months from a backpack. Love the backpacks, but not worth a $2100 suit. I like using my winged BCD cause I can hang alot of things off it, you can't hang working tools and such from a backpack. And you can't divide up your weight with a backpack. Hope this helps.

JJ

 

[torvum]

So here's the scoop: the North Sea Bell/Backpack Harness made by Miller is evidently a piece of crap. It's not CSA approved and not strength rated, evidently. Miller makes a lot of good things, but according to my instructor, this is not one of them. I've emailed Atlantic Diving to find out whether their Stainless Steel Backpack (BP500) is suitable and I've yet to hear back from them.

Can anyone else think of other solutions? Strength-rated, CSA-approved, dive harnesses/backpacks that will be suitable for surface-supplied type work as well as SCUBA diving together with a BP&Wing setup?

BTW, wcbdiver, why can't you hang tools from a backpack? The Atlantic Diver harness I mentioned above includes several D-rings that seem suitable to hanging things on. Am I misunderstanding something?

 

[torvum]

In my research I've come across the Barry DH401 Sub Diva Diving Harness. It seems to meet CSA standards (not sure if it meets the correct standards), has a breaking strength, and supports a single tank with its current backplate.

Will I be able to use it with a wing? How about switching out the backplate and installing an aftermarket one so that I can dive with 2 tanks?

Thoughts, anyone?

 

[Akimbo]

So here's the scoop: the North Sea Bell/Backpack Harness made by Miller is evidently a piece of crap…

I believe there are thousands commercial divers around the world that would take issue with that statement. I personally know hundreds of them. Ben Miller died 2001 and there may have been some production issues for a while, but it is owned by Kirby Morgan now and has the same address.

It sounds like your instructor is insisting that you buy the Aqualung harness and there is little point in looking at others. You might ask in the Commercial Divers forum, DCBC does a lot of work in Canada.