Weight Harness's (stupid question)

[ardhill]

My wing harness goes around my waist, and my bowstone harness goes below that, around my hips.

But do play around till you get the weight in the right place for your trim. It's one of the good things about a harness, you can move it up and down a bit to suit.

[Woz]

Same as Paul, there. It all fits rather nicely and I am a Trim God. Bow down before me.

[mad major]

Just above the hips when using my BCD. Only way i could get to the weight pockets. I am switching to a wing this weekend so will see how it feels. Dry run seems to suggest i can bring the pockets up towards my waist.
Major

[Sparky750]

Tried it on saturday an i absolutely loved it so much more comfortable and i don't know if it's just because of more experience but my trim and buoyancy felt better.

[alistairb]

Hi...i use this harness since i started diving this yr ( may 06 )as wen i tried the weight belt been a big lad it ended up found my ankles on many occasions it also happend in my ow dives in qualifying my instructo spent 5 min tryin to lift it off the bed.... just not comfy hence i bought the bowstone...and NEVER looked back i wear it around my hips just below my bc so i can get at the pockets if needed. ifound wearing it lower it would dig into my thigh and very uncomfortable... try it on ur hips i think u `ll find it very comfy and easy to get at....

[endoman]

I'm off to get one this week, will report back when I've given it a dive.

[msdkeith]

One point to mention, if you have a BCD with integrated weight pockets you can dispense with a weight belt.
For example I can dive OC on 8kg. My two front pockets easily hold 3kg apiece and the two balance pockets 1kg each...belt redundant!!
On rebreather I need more weight but the integrated pockets on the wing would easily accommodate that. However I like the harness because I prefer to keep weight away from the gear, it's hard enough to put on as it is!
Seems reasonable to say that people who try harnesses don't appear to regret them.

[Richard Mason]

Originally Posted by pieater

I use a Ralftech harness when singles diving. I have to position the pouches around my hips otherwise I can't get the wing on. Once the wing is in place it holds the weight pouches solidly, no problems.

I've got a Ralftech too. Best bit of kit I bought in yonks.

Only thing is, I'm considering fitting a crutch strap to it, as I find that the way I wear it, with a BCD, I have it in a low rider position, past my hips so that I can reach the quick releases. I find it quite comfortable and it's pretty similar to how I wore my basic webbing when in the Army Reserve here....the only difference being that for most of my army career, I didn't spend a goodly proportion of my time hanging upside down.

When I invert with my H-patterm Ralftech weight harness, I sometimes find that the whole bloody thing slides down (or up) under my BCD and ends up around my chest somewhere which totally bu99ers my trim and it's a real struggle to get upright....so I reckon a crutch strap, secured to the waist belt part of the harness would be a good thing to have.

[msdkeith]

Never hurts to experiment with kit mods. I played with my webbing in the Army, generally you need extra water bottles as opposed to ammo pouches and spare rounds can be accommodated in various places.

I plan to attach a chest strap to the harness of my Dolphin to make it sit more firmly, also many Dolphin users add extra D-rings and clips, I know I have.

The basic configuration may suit most people but it ain't illegal to play and you might find a modification that particularly suits you. I contemplate moving onto cave diving in due course and the configuration of the average c-diver is quite different to open water gear.

Dive safe amigo!

[Freeflow]

I use a Beaver velcro closing harness I have had for years.

NEVER use solid weights with the harness, they are more likely to suddenly move and then you have 'auto dump' pockets, not good.

Mine is positioned so the pockets can be released, that is all you need to do, whether the pockets are below the BC/wing/RB or removable from inside said device. However make sure you fully inflate the BC until the overpressure valve pops before you try dumping in case the BC pinches the pockets closed.

Also buy an extra pocket as a spare, and check the closer every dive and not just forget about it.

Keep the handle area free of hanging kit and make sure that nothing is clipped to the handles by mistake.

Most of the above comes from experience

Oh, and practice putting a pocket through the shoulder strap so you know what it looks like twisted and you know how to undo it!