Need advice on crotch strap positioning

[NAM001]

There's already feedback from much more experienced divers than me, but what the heck, here goes.

The DIR way is to use a simple loop crotch strap, dead center, just long enough to fit your waist strap though, without pulling it down at all. Say you're on the surface of really choppy water, you might want to inflate your wing fully to keep the water away from your mouth, which will make the rig a lot more buoyant than your body. The crotch strap will keep it from riding upward. Assuming you're not diving with a scooter, that vertical stability is the whole idea here, so just tight enough to dissuade your rig from riding upward.

The buckle goes on the right side, approximately 1-o-clock position. This means that if the buckle is accidentally loosened, the crotch strap will be a little bit in its way, and hopefully make it easier to put it all back together without digging around for the 3 loose ends. Conversely in the case of intentional removal, the buckle will still easily slip though the loop without fiddling.

Personally, I did not realize this when I set my rig up, and just assumed that the buckle should also go right in the middle, so that's what I did. It has not caused me any problems, and works just fine. I keep meaning to move the buckle a few inches to the right, but haven't bothered to yet. One of these days I'll give it a shot and see if it makes a difference.

By the way, there was another thread on this recently, discussing putting the buckle on the left side (whether attached to the right side and adjusted, or attached on the left side). This config variation seems to have many downsides and few upsides.

doesnt having the buckle to the right also tend to hold your light canister mount in place. something an extra buckle would do also.

 

[drakcheslav]

I've set up mine the way the rest of the harnesses are setup in my club.

on the right strap, a Dring on the right hip, center body,
the buckle is on the left strap, 1-2 o clock position, on the right hip.
the crotch is centered, buckle goes through the loop, and then holds the strap. if the buckle opens, the crotch strap is gonna hold it. Same thing when doning the harness. it helps with tightening it.

As for quick releasing the BPW, it's not a weight belt and you're probably not gonna ditch it and run to the surface, so I don't think it's supposed to be regarded as a quick release.

 

[divad]

Nevermind.

 

[Storker]

diving wet the weight belt goes over the rig and dry or doubles it goes under the rig.

I've never heard that rule. Care to elaborate as to why?

 

[Storker]

The buckle goes on the right side, approximately 1-o-clock position. This means that if the buckle is accidentally loosened, the crotch strap will be a little bit in its way, and hopefully make it easier to put it all back together without digging around for the 3 loose ends. Conversely in the case of intentional removal, the buckle will still easily slip though the loop without fiddling.

I put my buckle left of center. Why? Because I wear my belt underneath my harness, and if I or my buddy need to ditch my weights, I want that crotch strap to slip off the waist strap with as little fuss as possible. I reckon that if SHTF, there will be issues getting the buckle through the crotch strap loop. Murphy's law. One thing is removing the crotch strap when everything is OK. Removing it when S has HTF may well be quite another matter.

And if I'm diving with a new buddy, I make sure to brief them about my setup during the pre-dive chat. If my buddy, too, is in a BP/W, the briefing will be... brief. If my buddy is a n00b in a jacket BCD, I use a little more time.

 

[Storker]

doesnt having the buckle to the right also tend to hold your light canister mount in place. something an extra buckle would do also.

It can still slide from the side to close to the center. And if your waist buckle is undone, the canister will slide off the waist strap. Murphy's law.

If I were to add a can light to my rig, I'd put an extra buckle on my waist strap, to make sure the canister stays where I want it to be. No matter whether I dress put my buckle to the left or to the right.

 

[Kevin Floyd]

I wear my buckle to the left.

But the most important trick I learned was to shorten the crotch strap just enough to pull the waist belt down. Not so much that the waist band forms a Y but so that it’s more of a Y and less of a flat line.

This helps keep the plate in place. In fact I found that I could loosen the shoulder straps more, enough to easily get out of the rig (DIR style single piece harness), because when the crotch strap is in place it pulls the plate down slightly and pulls the shoulder straps tight.

 

[Kimela]

Mine is to the right of the center of my BC (my BC zips up). I like to pull it pretty snug, but obviously not too snug. I end up with a whole lot of excess webbing after it's all cinched up - and I'm never quite sure what to do with that extra webbing. I'd cut it off, but then I'm not sure I'd have enough to have it long enough to find it and put it in place as I'm gearing up. Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[Brett Hatch]

Mine is to the right of the center of my BC (my BC zips up). I like to pull it pretty snug, but obviously not too snug. I end up with a whole lot of excess webbing after it's all cinched up - and I'm never quite sure what to do with that extra webbing. I'd cut it off, but then I'm not sure I'd have enough to have it long enough to find it and put it in place as I'm gearing up. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Kimela, it sounds like you might have a nonstandard crotch strap. If so, post a picture and we can take a look

If it works like the standard backplate+wing crotch straps, then it will have a loop sewn into the front, which the waistband threads through. Since the front loop is sewn, it cannot be adjusted. The hard attachment point is on the back, where it attaches to the backplate by sandwiching the backplate between a double-weaved belt slide + D-ring. This is also the adjustment point -- you can change the length by threading more or less webbing through the belt slide. If the "tail" end of the webbing is short enough, you probably won't even notice it. But if it gets to be long, you can either trim it, or tuck it into a sleeve or "snoopy loop" to keep it from being a mess. A snoopy loop is just a 1/2-inch wide rubber band, with a 2-inch diameter so that it to fits tightly onto 2-inch webbing. Commonly used as flashlight retainers.

snoopy loop: DGX Hogarthian EPDM Loop For 2-Inch Webbing | Dive Gear Express®

2-min video on how to set up a standard crotch strap:

 

[Kimela]

@Brett Hatch - thanks, I hadn't thought about using a rubber band for the extra webbing. I dive a Zeagle Zena and if there is an official way to use a crotch strap with it I'm unaware of it. I can put one of the horizontal straps of my BC through the loop in the front, but on the back, I pretty much jerry-rigged it. If I ever need a new BC I'll get one that is 'crotch strap ready' - having one is such a benefit for me. The strap I use is thinner than the ones in the video, but otherwise the same setup.

Thanks!