A question regarind harness straps

[soldave]

Hi there. This is my first question in the DIR room so forgive me if the question is a simple one for you guys.
I've been reading quite a bit about this DIR philosophy and it's interesting me quite a lot. Anyway, I've just bought a Buddy Tekwing (please don't have a go - I like it!) and think it's great so far. My only issue at the moment is that the harness straps are very long, especially the crotch strap ones. This means that there is quite a lot of loose end on some of the straps. What is the best way to secure/cut off these straps?
There we go. Simple question and any answers are greatly appreciated

[MATTBIN]

http://www.gasdiving.co.uk/pages/misc/kit/harness_2.htm

Re-rig it with a metal plate and one piece harness if you want to go the DIR route. Easy enough job, I use an ali plate so I can carry some weight on a belt (persoanl preference as I want to be able to dump weight if needs be). Sopme suggest a metal plate on a Tekwing reduces lift, I have twin 12's it lifts those OK. Havent tried it with a stage (yet) but I know others have.
Use the buckles, tri-glides from the Tek and a few metres of webbing. "nd hand plates come up on e-bay or Woz (on here) sells new ones.

HTH
Matt

[Bardo]

Originally Posted by soldave

Hi there. This is my first question in the DIR room so forgive me if the question is a simple one for you guys.

I've been reading quite a bit about this DIR philosophy and it's interesting me quite a lot. Anyway, I've just bought a Buddy Tekwing (please don't have a go - I like it!) and think it's great so far. My only issue at the moment is that the harness straps are very long, especially the crotch strap ones. This means that there is quite a lot of loose end on some of the straps. What is the best way to secure/cut off these straps?

There we go. Simple question and any answers are greatly appreciated

Where you go from here really depends on how serious you are about 'going DIR'. If you're interested in DIR and simply want to 'cherry pick' some of the good bits to improve your own diving then the Tekwing will do the job just fine.

If, on the other hand, you've made up your mind that you'd like to become a fully-signed up member of the DIR club (ie. get GUE training and dive with other DIR divers) then you may want to move the Tekwing on (they're easy to sell!) and buy yourself a wing/backplate/single peice harness combination. There are a number of 'issues' with this wing that make it less than ideal - the position of the rear dump, for example (it's on the wrong side of the wing!). I know this might sound harsh but trust me - this is the reality of 'going DIR' at times but it'll make the transistion easier in the long run...

If you're just cherry picking, however (which is no bad thing!) then you can cut off the excess lengths of harness strap using a pair of sharp scissors (or trauma shears - they work best!) and then use a lighter to burn the ends to stop them from fraying. You might also want to lose that D-ring attatched to either side of the wing - that's *definately* not DIR! And if the inflator doesn't attatch to the wing using a proper 'elbow' (some do, some don't, I believe), you might want to change that too...

As I said - it all really depends on how far you want to take your interest in DIR...

[soldave]

Originally Posted by Bardo

Where you go from here really depends on how serious you are about 'going DIR'. If you're interested in DIR and simply want to 'cherry pick' some of the good bits to improve your own diving then the Tekwing will do the job just fine.

If, on the other hand, you've made up your mind that you'd like to become a fully-signed up member of the DIR club (ie. get GUE training and dive with other DIR divers) then you may want to move the Tekwing on (they're easy to sell!) and buy yourself a wing/backplate/single peice harness combination. There are a number of 'issues' with this wing that make it less than ideal - the position of the rear dump, for example (it's on the wrong side of the wing!). I know this might sound harsh but trust me - this is the reality of 'going DIR' at times but it'll make the transistion easier in the long run...

If you're just cherry picking, however (which is no bad thing!) then you can cut off the excess lengths of harness strap using a pair of sharp scissors (or trauma shears - they work best!) and then use a lighter to burn the ends to stop them from fraying. You might also want to lose that D-ring attatched to either side of the wing - that's *definately* not DIR! And if the inflator doesn't attatch to the wing using a proper 'elbow' (some do, some don't, I believe), you might want to change that too...

As I said - it all really depends on how far you want to take your interest in DIR...

Well I've just got the Tekwing, so I don't want to go selling it and getting a wing/harness combination. I'll sort of cherry pick for now and just do what I can with the things I've got. I will look at cutting and burning the excess on my straps though, and I might cut the 2 crotch straps down to just one. I was looking at whether the wing D-rings should be cut or not. As you say, they are definately not DIR, but I was thinking of hooking a reel onto it for now.

As for the inflator elbow, I'm pretty sure it doesn't have that. It just hooks onto the harness webbing via a plastic hook thing which isn't great. How would I get and install a "proper elbow" for it?

[MATTBIN]

Originally Posted by soldave

I'll sort of cherry pick for now and just do what I can with the things I've got.

Good idea

Originally Posted by soldave

whether the wing D-rings should be cut or not. As you say, they are definately not DIR, but I was thinking of hooking a reel onto it for now.

Nigel does that on his Inspro wing. I'm going to try it, as hanging it off the belt isnt the best option, although I do know when/if it gets caught on anything, whereas if it gets knocked off the D ring, who knows?

Matt

[soldave]

Originally Posted by MATTBIN

Good idea



Nigel does that on his Inspro wing. I'm going to try it, as hanging it off the belt isnt the best option, although I do know when/if it gets caught on anything, whereas if it gets knocked off the D ring, who knows?

Matt

Yeah - there is a chance it could rip the wing. Not sure what the chance of that happening is though.

[MATTBIN]

Doubt that would happen, but as the outer bag (orange and black bit) only holds the inner (clear plastic) bag so if the outer ripped you might still be ok.

Matt

[soldave]

I'd still rather it didn't happen though! Don't usually dive near places it would get caught anyway so I should be ok I think.

[nigelH]

Originally Posted by soldave

I'd still rather it didn't happen though! Don't usually dive near places it would get caught anyway so I should be ok I think.

Anything that ripped the rings out of a Buddy Wing would probably be 4m long with big teeth and take your leg off at the same time.
This is APV: Overengineering-r-us.

[MATTBIN]

Nigel, have a virtual green one mate. Gotta spread it apparently.

Matt