the_xena•1mo agoProlific Poster

Took me 3 years to learn my drysuit inflator valve was mounted wrong

I was up in Port Hardy last month doing a pipeline inspection and kept getting water down my back on every dive. My buddy took one look at my setup and asked why my inflator hose was routed under my harness instead of over. That little change fixed the whole problem. Has anyone else had a small gear tweak that made way more difference than you expected?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannah_perry1mo ago

Started using a backplate and harness about 4 years ago for local wreck diving in Lake Michigan. Same thing happened to me - had my inflator hose routed under the shoulder strap and couldn't figure out why my drysuit kept feeling off balance. Moved it over the top and it was like a whole different suit. Had a similar fix with my crotch strap too. Kept getting twisted up on descents until I tightened it so the harness sat higher on my hips. Small stuff like that makes a huge difference in comfort underwater. The naysayers don't get it until they try it.

the_nathan1mo ago

I switched from a waist mounted weight belt to a backplate and harness setup about 2 years ago. Took me almost a year to realize my dump valve was sitting too low on my left shoulder because the shoulder strap was twisted. One simple adjustment and suddenly I could actually dump air without twisting like a pretzel. What kind of diving are you mostly doing with that setup?

felix_black1mo ago

Why would you even bother with a backplate and harness for recreational diving though... Seems like overcomplicating something that was working fine for decades. Waist mounted weight belts are simple, cheap, and if you get a quick release buckle there's nothing to screw up. I've seen guys with harness setups forget to clip their shoulder straps and end up with their whole rig floating away from them on the surface. Plus with a waist belt you can just dump your weights in an emergency without having to think about where the release is on your shoulder. Not saying harnesses don't have their place for tech stuff, but for most recreational diving it's just extra expense and potential failure points for no real gain.