Some years ago I experimented with using hydraulic cylinder O-rings (borrowed from aircraft oleos) as a substitute for D rings. Why, to reduce the weight of a rigged harness. Now again, you ask why am I, Nemrod, so fascinated with the effects of gravity. Well, again, I have spent a good deal of my life helping people to defy it
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But, really, some of us lead simple lives, we throw our gear into an old station wagon and mosey on down the road a quarter mile and jump in the Clattermosu River and document the inner life and psychology of crawdads. Others of us must, to even find water, climb aboard a big ol' jetliner and go someplace exotic like Flaridah to SCUBA dive
. And so, with my being rather cheap, having grown up understanding the value of money, I do not like giving it away without good purpose.
The weight limit is 50 pounds for airline bags or less. Sometimes if I look really exasperated and sweet talk the counter lady they will let me slide but, not blessed with much in the way of good looks, personality or luck and those things fading fast even as they were, yeah, every ounce of weight counts. Especially given that some of us, me (do not even think about how much Luis brings), like to bring multiple regulators, tools, overhaul supplies, chemistry experiments and all manner of VDH's latest "New Stuff" to play with, my dive bag appears to be quite swollen and about to burst. It gets that scarlet letter of infamy every time, they slap that HEAVY tag on it and give me the evil eye
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Rambling on, taking advantage of good luck and the Christmas sale, I seem to have acquired a set of the NEW VDH lightweight D-ring kit for the plate harness that substitutes some plastic D-rings and sliders for metal. I added a plastic buckle, the VDH sourced plastic cambands and voila, a noticeably lighter rig. The D rings are not as large as the typical metal D-rings but they are big enough and seem rather sturdy. I have rigged them on to MCs new VDH plate and 18 pound Argonaut Dive wing. I am so jealous of her new outfit that I am trying to figure out how I might, uh, borrow it
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How did the O-rings work out, hmm, well, they did work but I had to chase them around too much to get clipped, especially on the hip D-ring where I stow my SPG. And, yes, they would hold a 19cf buddy bottle slung but the bottle just did not feel as secure to me so in the end I abandoned that idea, though not totally a failure, for the time being.
My ongoing quest to streamline my gear, minimize my footprint in the water, reduce clutter, eliminate foolishness and put my gear on a weight reduction program continues. The minimalist diver is my goal. And all of my and MCs gear in one bag, cloths in another and that leaving the remainder for carryon for someday an upgraded camera rig if my luck holds out.
Uh, Bryan, if the slots in the VDH plate at each corner for the harness had a T-slot with the (top of) the T then wider, rather than a straight slot, then it would be easy to swap a harness out. Now why would I want to do that. Well let me 'splain this to you. It would facilitate me borrowing MCs new rig because try as I might, I cannot squeeze into a harness that is sized to her tiny body. And, yes, I can squish the harness keeper of a well broken in harness with the thinnest of metal keepers through the slot but it hurts my fangles and causes me to utter bad words like dang-nabit and gol'durnit
. The additional slot would go away from the load/pull. Just thinking. Y'all never like my ideas
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Nem