Before reading this: It may be a touch long, and I like to break up my thoughts with paragraph breaks. I work as a 911 dispatcher for a living, this is how we keep our thoughts organized and easy to read in call cards, it spills over here. If it bugs you Icouldtypeitallinonereallylongsentence(do you know how many times I had to backspace to take the spaces out of that??)
Picked up a halcyon eclipse system that came with the cinch a few months ago. I've put quite a few dives in, very pleased, will never go back to a conventional bc both from a utilitarian standpoint, and a comfort standpoint. I guess I took a "hogarthian" approach within my first ten dives or so, in that I've been trying to build a rig that allows me to carry as much, or as little as I need, with minimal encumbrance.
I also dive with our local fire department, and routinely descend into 15-20 foot of sub 6" vis silt out that would make most cave divers start muttering under there breath....
This bc came with the cinch unit on it, and I'm currently debating whether to bother with it any longer. I probably need to loosen my shoulders a touch more, but I find I can don and doff my gear much faster NOT trying to adjust it than anything else. I currently only dive wet, but dry MAY be in my future.
There are some downsides to it. It is rather bulky, and to install the weight pouches, and other accessories, is a bit of a pain, and requires some bubba rigging. The whole thing is starting to feel like extra bulk and work.....
I guess the long and short is: Would you use the cinch setup if available?
Here's close to my current config, I've replaced the primary hose with a true long hose(that was an experiment in using a necklaced octo ), i've purchased a can light in place of the bulky pistol light, and I had the octo clipped off wrong.
Before you laugh to hard at the knives, I actually have a use for both. They're large enough I'm not fumbling with them, and they've been the best tools I could find that would work for cutting heavy rope, and for breaking car windows(both have points on the pommel caps.....we refined them, I can take a submerged car window out in two swings). The drop pouches I'm using in place of hip pouches on a wetsuit when we make deployments, simply because I don't know that I'll have a wetsuit on. I have no intentions of trying to shimmy into a suit if I can make a quick rescue, and our water gets warm enough a 3mil isn't even always the right choice. They slip off with two loops.
Picked up a halcyon eclipse system that came with the cinch a few months ago. I've put quite a few dives in, very pleased, will never go back to a conventional bc both from a utilitarian standpoint, and a comfort standpoint. I guess I took a "hogarthian" approach within my first ten dives or so, in that I've been trying to build a rig that allows me to carry as much, or as little as I need, with minimal encumbrance.
I also dive with our local fire department, and routinely descend into 15-20 foot of sub 6" vis silt out that would make most cave divers start muttering under there breath....
This bc came with the cinch unit on it, and I'm currently debating whether to bother with it any longer. I probably need to loosen my shoulders a touch more, but I find I can don and doff my gear much faster NOT trying to adjust it than anything else. I currently only dive wet, but dry MAY be in my future.
There are some downsides to it. It is rather bulky, and to install the weight pouches, and other accessories, is a bit of a pain, and requires some bubba rigging. The whole thing is starting to feel like extra bulk and work.....
I guess the long and short is: Would you use the cinch setup if available?
Here's close to my current config, I've replaced the primary hose with a true long hose(that was an experiment in using a necklaced octo ), i've purchased a can light in place of the bulky pistol light, and I had the octo clipped off wrong.
Before you laugh to hard at the knives, I actually have a use for both. They're large enough I'm not fumbling with them, and they've been the best tools I could find that would work for cutting heavy rope, and for breaking car windows(both have points on the pommel caps.....we refined them, I can take a submerged car window out in two swings). The drop pouches I'm using in place of hip pouches on a wetsuit when we make deployments, simply because I don't know that I'll have a wetsuit on. I have no intentions of trying to shimmy into a suit if I can make a quick rescue, and our water gets warm enough a 3mil isn't even always the right choice. They slip off with two loops.