Question Northern Diver

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jeffg68

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Messages
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Location
Weymouth, Dorset
# of dives
100 - 199
Hi All,

Does anyone have experience with the Northern Diver Sidemount wing and harness? If so I have questions! Cheers Jeff
 
If I was in the UK and looking at a sidemount BCD I'd just go directly to SumpUK and not look elsewhere. Heck I'm half way around the world and that's where I'd be looking if I decide on a new rig.
 
If you need a link then you don't have experience with the system, as per the OP's request.

Oh come off it.

Did I comment like I had experience?

Did your 6th sense predict I was going to?

Do I have a long history of posting here straight out of my 6?

My query was only out of curiosity and to follow the thread. I searched , albeit briefly, and didn’t find it.

If I have violated the TOU, I’m sure mods will be along shortly to let me know.
 
People who have used a variety of SM systems can usually look at one and see any downsides while explaining their reasoning.

I can't even find this on their website (or anywhere else) which doesn't give me confidence that they put much effort into developing it. Good SM systems have entire videos discussing their features and use.
 
Hello

If this is the Northern Diver company you are looking for, then they do not list a sidemount harness on their webpage. At least I could not find one.

Best wishes Jens
 
The only thing I found was on ebay . I would dive this. First and foremost, it is a ring bungee system and they don't work very well IMO. It also looks to be a bungeed wing from the pics of the other side. I would guess that this is to keep it from beach balling or looking like a turtle shell...but it tells me about all I need to know about this system and it is not an optimal sidemount system.

1701264085481.png
 
I've taken one apart and seen a couple in the flesh/water, they're a joke. One diver in question ended up in an XDeep Stealth and that surprisingly (sarcasm) solved quite a few of the problems they were having.

It was yet another attempt at a company jumping on the bandwagon and throwing together a sub-par product so they could have something in the catalogue for potential sidemount divers without bothering to understand the whys and wherefores behind a successful system.
You could could buy one for £160 until recently, bodge it together, have a few dives and come to the conclusion sidemount is either terrible or not for you based on how poor that rig is.

- The wing turtle-shells/beachballs like mad.
- The wing is also a sub-optimal shape for an effective sidemount harness given the lift is all over your back like a regular BM wing.
- The harness is based off a BCD so the waist strap starts in a bad position(high on the torso) and thus the lower attachment points.
- The wing is bungeed on the inside to prevent beachballing(that doesn't work) which is questionable in itself, but for 42lb capacity it shows a lack of understanding given it was released after several other rigs with similar and larger lift capacity wings.
- The top mini D-ring attachment points on the wing are a bugger to find and anything clipped to them sits comically high.
- The build quality is questionable at best, being Northern Diver it'll probably fall apart after being wet twice.

Hopefully after @Jens Bölte's research they've been discontinued.

There's generally a couple Stealth Tec's and the occasional Apeks WSX rigs on ebay and the usual facebook groups, drop on one of them or give Andy Goring/SumpUK a shout.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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