HOGARTHIAN / DIR Back plate & Harness configuration

The backplate is metal, generally made from stainless steel, some divers use aluminium. If you don't need the extra weight then you can use aluminum. The harness is made from one continuous piece of webbing with no clips or joints in the shoulder sections.No quick releases - quick releases are week points and will fail.

No quick releases - quick releases are week points and will fail. Quick releases are just not needed when the backplate is correctly threaded with one continuous loop of webbing. Loop webbing “one continuous uninterrupted” is less likely to fail then quick releases.

Notice how the webbing under face follows your body to the lower notch of the backplate. The side with the d-ring is the side that is facing out at the bottom, otherwise it cuts into you. The strap must go to the inside slot first, and then out through the outside - this prevents the webbing from slipping (if you web it in the other direction it will slip) if you don't fit weight retainers behind the plate - see later. The final reason to weave it this way, is that if you weave to the back of the plate, you will need a chest strap to prevent the shoulder sections from slipping off you. Simplistically the webbing has a D ring at each shoulder and one on the left hand hip to which the contents gauge is clipped. Often this clip on the contents gauge is actually on the hose itself as you then don't have to worry about anything breaking causing the gauge to flop around. These D rings are all that's needed for mounting all the stages that you can ever use. If you look carefully in the photograph to the right you will see a spare piece of inner tube that is mounted on the webbing, this is to hold the backup light in event of the failure of the inner tube loop which normally holds the light in place.
Steel D-rings (plastic will fail). D-rings on kit – 5 D-rings is standard on the hogarthian kit (three on backplate harness and two on crotch strap). Four D-rings are all that’s actually necessary for swim dives as the D-ring in front of crotch strap is for DPV use only.

A small knife, which must be serrated and with the metal blade all the way through the handle, is all that is needed.  The knife is mounted on the belt to the left before the buckle, it can be seen in the diagram right at the top of this page.

Lastly on the harness is the crotch strap which runs from the bottom back of the backplate and has a loop which the waist belt runs through. Crotch strap – crotch strap is necessary to hold your equipment securely in place. Again we have a D ring at the front to attach the scooter tow to and a D ring at the back which is used for reels or lift bags and spare scooters.
How to correctly set-up webbing you will find in future article.