Recommended technical harnesses and wings

[PfcAJ]

If you will be diving wet and need to have the absolutely lightest setup possible to avoid being overweighted, the carbon fiber Halcyon backplate is amazing. Spendy, but I love mine. I'm still just a hair negative in my 5mm and mostly empty AL80s, but so much better than my old steel or aluminum plates were.

Lightens your wallet, too.

 

[ajduplessis]

I've been in the process of choosing a harness, backplate and wing. Which, according to you guys, are the best harnesses and wings on the market? Between Apeks, Hollis, Halcyon and Scubapro, there's no shortage of choice and they are all incredible brands but is there any particular system which stands out above the others or is it difficult to go wrong with any of them?

I have my eye on the Scubapro X-Tek range but if there are any more preferable choices, I would greatly appreciate to hear of them.

Or if there are those of you who have mixed brands on their tech systems (Hollis harness and Scubapro wing or any other match etc), what would make the best custom system?

Thanks guys

Hi Chase,

I am in South Africa and hope my inputs are of use to you. I would only consider Apeks and Halcoyn. Halcyon IMO is the way to go, however it will most likely also be the most costly!!

Where are you located and who is your instructor if I may ask? PM me if you want to discuss.

 

[rongoodman]

I seem to remember reading about Apeks using non-standard threads on their OPV and inflator fittings, so that you can't just replace them with the readily available generic versions(or the great OPV from DSS). Something to keep in mind.

 

[PfcAJ]

Also the harness slots on Apeks plates are pretty wide. I've seen tri-glides hit the wrong angle and pull through the slots.

 

[electric_diver]

If you are in technical realm you should be in a 1-piece harness which are all the same.

I am going to disagree with this. Why? Because we once recovered a diver who was equipped with a one piece harness. He had lost a fin and popped up to the surface from a dive on the Oconto in the St. Lawrence river. Luckily it was at the start of the dive so no deco involved. He was thoroughly exhausted when we recovered him. If he had a connector on his harness, it would have been a quick and simple thing to get him out of it. The one piece harness was a total bitch.

The benefits of quick removal of gear far out weigh the infinitesimally small risk of failure of a clip.

 

[tbone1004]

I am going to disagree with this. Why? Because we once recovered a diver who was equipped with a one piece harness. He had lost a fin and popped up to the surface from a dive on the Oconto in the St. Lawrence river. Luckily it was at the start of the dive so no deco involved. He was thoroughly exhausted when we recovered him. If he had a connector on his harness, it would have been a quick and simple thing to get him out of it. The one piece harness was a total bitch.

The benefits of quick removal of gear far out weigh the infinitesimally small risk of failure of a clip.

I don't disagree, but I also don't count a single quick disconnect on one of the shoulder straps changing from a one-piece harness. Many of my buddies have the quick disconnect on one shoulder for similar reasons. My objection is more to the chest straps, shoulder pads, etc that just make them unnecessarily bulky

 

[Lorenzoid]

I am going to disagree with this. Why? Because we once recovered a diver who was equipped with a one piece harness. He had lost a fin and popped up to the surface from a dive on the Oconto in the St. Lawrence river. Luckily it was at the start of the dive so no deco involved. He was thoroughly exhausted when we recovered him. If he had a connector on his harness, it would have been a quick and simple thing to get him out of it. The one piece harness was a total bitch.

The benefits of quick removal of gear far out weigh the infinitesimally small risk of failure of a clip.

In addition to what tbone said, it's my understanding that in the case of a real emergency on the surface--something more than just a tired diver--you shouldn't hesitate to cut the straps and free the diver that way. Harness webbing is cheap and replaceable. I think if I were truly "exhausted" and in need of assistance, I wouldn't fault my rescuers for cutting me out of my harness.

 

[Colliam7]

I also don't count a single quick disconnect on one of the shoulder straps changing from a one-piece harness.

Very good point. And, I agree with Tom - the concern is more associated with the 'deluxe' harnesses, with swivels in the shoulder straps (in addition to quick releases on both sides), chest straps, etc., which eat up webbing territory and may limit a diver's ability to optimize D-ring placement, and add additional failure points.

I have a single quick release sewn into the left shoulder strap on my harnesses, to facilitate getting out after a dive, particularly a drysuit dive.

 

[KevinNM]

In addition to what tbone said, it's my understanding that in the case of a real emergency on the surface--something more than just a tired diver--you shouldn't hesitate to cut the straps and free the diver that way. Harness webbing is cheap and replaceable. I think if I were truly "exhausted" and in need of assistance, I wouldn't fault my rescuers for cutting me out of my harness.

Gear, no matter how expensive, is expendable if it is necessary to save someone from death or serious injury. If you are loading me on a helicopter to fly me to a chamber I’m going to shocked as hell if I have an intact dry suit when they let me go. And that’s ok.

 

[KevinNM]

A lot of the release hardware is light plastic, which gets easily crushed between the metal tank and the metal or concrete surface you band into. Going to things like stainless steel cobra buckles will resolve the vast majority of the damage issues.