Looking for BP/W harness setup for my father

[Bigeclipse]

All,
My father has dove BCs since he started scuba 5 years ago. He wants to give BP/W a go. He loves how easy it is for me to trim out on my setup but is hesitant to try the one piece style hagarthian type Harness. He seems to be more interested in the more expensive quicker entry type harness setups. He does not do any tech diving (pretty much all warm water diving where 3mm suit would be most he would need). I do not know what is out there. I gave him my 30lb wing which is in excellent shape so now all he needs is a Plate, harness, and STA. Please let me know what your thoughts are on harness and plate for someone who is in their 60s and not in the best shape. Thanks!

 

[rongoodman]

Unless he has some specific shoulder mobility issue, a properly adjusted one-piece harness and standard plate should be fine(spoken as a not in the best of shape 70 year old). It's a place to start, and if it doesn't work out, you won't be out a lot of money for the piece of webbing and some hardware. The biggest issue with adjusting one-piece harnesses is that they're made too tight. They don't need to be, since it's the crotch strap which will lock everything down.

 

[divad]

There are various sliders that replace the lower rear tri-glides which, with the tri-glides on the front of the strap as stops, make the BP/wing, by far, the easiest/neatest/slickest BCD to get in and out of.

 

[Bigeclipse]

Unless he has some specific shoulder mobility issue, a properly adjusted one-piece harness and standard plate should be fine(spoken as a not in the best of shape 70 year old). It's a place to start, and if it doesn't work out, you won't be out a lot of money for the piece of webbing and some hardware. The biggest issue with adjusting one-piece harnesses is that they're made too tight. They don't need to be, since it's the crotch strap which will lock everything down.

I should have stated he does actually have shoulder mobility issues. He also likes the padding in shoulder straps as he does do some shore diving in thin shirts and does not like just the bare webbing. He is not really worried about budget.

 

[Doby45]

HOG Deluxe Flex Harness

Get it, it is good..

 

[tbone1004]

I would grab a DSS backplate in whatever size he needs and then if he doesn't want bare webbing, grab a pair of these

OMS Neoprene Shoulder Pads, Pair

Believe it or not, the one piece harness is going to be better off for shoulder mobility issues as the straps have enough rigidity to support themselves. As long as his knees and back are fine, there shouldn't be much shoulder contortion required to get into and out of them provided they are sized properly.

If it becomes a concern, grab a triglide and one of these to make one the shoulders quick release
quick release buckle QRF | Divesoft

 

[dberry]

For warm water diving and travel the very light weight "travel plates" are quite nice. I bought the OxyCheq travel plate and set it up with a standard 1-piece webbing harness, but OxyCheq also sells a "user-friendlier" harness variants with pads and clips and such. Using such a light BP will change the weights, of course, and you'd want to get some cam-band pockets to keep all the weight off the harness belt (or use a traditional weight belt.)

 

[Bob DBF]

If needed, a buckle on one of the shoulder straps can mitigate a mobility issue. I have an old plastic backpack that was made that way back in the day. I use it in the pool for testing so I can get in and out easier, or just use one strap to keep the rig with me for a quick check.


Bob

 

[hakuna]

If he wants releases, I can recommend an OMS (now owned by DUI) Comfort Harness II and a OMS backplate (doesn't need a STA). Should be $250 or so. I just got one and it's nice (but don't try to take a GUE/DIR course with it!)

 

[rongoodman]

If I was going to use a harness other than a single piece of webbing, the G2 adjustable diving harness is the one I would buy. It's clean, inexpensive, and the buckles are bombproof--I've hung from helicopters in harnesses using them.

(It's only fair to point out that there have been number of complaints here about Golem Gear taking a while to reply. I've personally never had a problem with them.)