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Here is my new Kraken rig (hope the photo works!) after it's maiden voyage to the frigid depths of our pool, the only issue encountered was a rush of cold water down the inside of the wetsuit!
If anyone is interested: It is paired with a VDH backplate and a variety of old and new components that I tinkered and procrastinated with for a month. The harness is a combination of DiveRite deluxe lower straps with heavy upper straps and a quick detach on the right shoulder. I have a left shoulder injury that makes getting in and out of a HOG harness difficult these days hence the QR and I also find that the chest strap cinches the upper harness together and helps keep the backplate close to my back.
The tank bands are a mix of a OEM lower cam band with an Apollo Bio something or other for the upper strap. The Apollo band is very tight and gets a good grip close to the shoulder of the tank- the closing mechanism also takes up very little room and leaves the space I need for two trim weight pockets.
One modification I made to the VDH plate is to drill small holes on each side of the holes for the harness straps. The reason for this is that I found that the sliders retaining the straps tended to move away from rear of the backplate and shorten the harness straps- especially the shoulder straps. So after getting the adjustment of the harness right I ran a tie wrap through the holes, lengthwise over the tank side of the slider and between the straps on the shoulder side. So far the harness has stayed perfectly in position with no slider or harness movement.
The secondary is an Aqualung Titan LX on a 40” miflex with a right angle swivel and held on a necklace.
The wing is a DiveRite EXP and I chose this because of the very narrow top of the bladder to fit between the Kraken can and the tank. It also has an inverted “V” shape bladder with bungees that tend to force any air lower down than most wings and this is useful because the ideal tank position is low on the backplate, so the center of gravity/buoyancy should allow better horizontal trim.
The real test will come in about 3 weeks when I get the Grand Turk where we expect to be staying for at least a few months this year and hopeful a hundred or so dives…can’t wait!
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