Kydex BP/W: Head Banging Solved

[divesergeant]

Hey, long time no post. But I am back!

In the past I have spoken of loving my BP/W with the 17 lbs wing. The only problem was whacking my head on the first stage.

I initially solved it by rotating the tank 45 degrees which worked very well. Still, it wasn't the way Tobin designed it, so I figured I was doing something wrong.

Yep. I was doing it wrong. The easy solution was to lengthen the shoulder straps and tighten the crotch strap. Now, it feels better in the water and no more head whacking. Easy enough!

We are on Bonaire right now. Having a blast and loving my Kydex BP/W.

DS

 

[BVickery]

Hey, long time no post. But I am back!

In the past I have spoken of loving my BP/W with the 17 lbs wing. The only problem was whacking my head on the first stage.

I initially solved it by rotating the tank 45 degrees which worked very well. Still, it wasn't the way Tobin designed it, so I figured I was doing something wrong.

Yep. I was doing it wrong. The easy solution was to lengthen the shoulder straps and tighten the crotch strap. Now, it feels better in the water and no more head whacking. Easy enough!

We are on Bonaire right now. Having a blast and loving my Kydex BP/W.

DS

I hate you. Not the 'want you dead' type, but more the kind of "I'm jealous". On a serious note, great to hear you got the issue solved, and more importantly, it's not interrupting your dives in Bonaire.

 

[mahjong]

Can I ask your height? I am short and have a problem with head-reg contact. Recently in Belize, I lowered my AL80 tank about as much as you can. This solved the problem, but ONLY if I kept my waist belt pretty darn loose. If I tightened my waist belt then the tank would become a splint, locking down on my butt and not allowing me to become fully horizontal. But I found no need to keep my waist belt too tight. If the surface was rough and I needed to spend some time there, I would just tighten up the belt after I arrived there.

Hey, long time no post. But I am back!

In the past I have spoken of loving my BP/W with the 17 lbs wing. The only problem was whacking my head on the first stage.

I initially solved it by rotating the tank 45 degrees which worked very well. Still, it wasn't the way Tobin designed it, so I figured I was doing something wrong.

Yep. I was doing it wrong. The easy solution was to lengthen the shoulder straps and tighten the crotch strap. Now, it feels better in the water and no more head whacking. Easy enough!

We are on Bonaire right now. Having a blast and loving my Kydex BP/W.

DS

 

[TSandM]

Glad you got a solution!

I don't know what size the OP is, but I'm a small-framed 5'4", and I just haven't had a problem with either head-banging or tanks splinting my back. I put an Al80 in the cambands so that my head just contacts the regulator when I put it back -- but in thinking about it, I'm using DIN regs, so that may help a fair amount.

 

[mahjong]

Yes, maybe DIN helps. With the tank as low as I had it, the bottom was definitely hitting me more than half way down the back of my legs, a reach I recall you mentioning. So I also had to keep my legs well apart, with the tank becoming a third leg in the middle :shocked2:. I got used to it. But it was definitely nice to get back to diving my LP95's with STA.

 

[divesergeant]

Mahjong

I'm 6'3", so we are probably not comparable. What really did it for me was letting out several inches of shoulder webbing and cinching the crotch strap. This brought the whole thing lower on my back. I need not cinch the waist belt too much, it rides comfortably with moderate tightening.

---------- Post added April 19th, 2012 at 05:33 PM ----------

I hate you. Not the 'want you dead' type, but more the kind of "I'm jealous". On a serious note, great to hear you got the issue solved, and more importantly, it's not interrupting your dives in Bonaire.

Hey, we just bumped into a lady from Jacksonville Florida today! Small world.

You can torture yourself even more if you want by checking out my on-going trip report on Bonaire Talk!