nzhorse
03-01-2007, 02:02 AM
I'm having some minor problems with the vest on my Basson 925, and I was hoping I could gather some advice and suggestions from the experienced community here.
The "symptom" of my problem is that I've broken the side latch on the vest, the one on the same side as the arm attaches, as shown in the below image as (1).
855
I operate goofy, so the sides etc are actually reversed compared to this image.
The broken latch isn't a big issue per se, I've already bought a replacement and having the "female" end sewn back in as we speak. But the reason the latch broke is because these side straps tend to angle down from the back to the front once the vest starts carrying the full weight of the rig (and, being a Basson, I do mean "full weight". :) ), rather than staying horizontal. This puts a lot of strain on the bottom prong on latch clip (the "male" part), and it was this releasing under strain that caused the top prong to snap off under the sudden increase in tension.
I notice that the side straps do sit mostly horizontal without any load on the vest, but under load the front of the vest inevitably sags and the side straps end up on an angle, loading up that bottom prong on the latches (but clearly there's more stress on the arm-attachment side - I've never had the off-side latch pop open, whereas the arm-side latch and separated a couple of times over the last few weeks, before finally breaking this past Sunday).
Do I have the shoulder straps (2) too long? Would shortening them improve the "sit" of the vest. At the moment everything's pretty snug, but I can probably take the should straps in a bit.
I've seen some references to vest mods with back straps running between the upper torso section and the waist belt - would this help to stop the back of the vest rising up under load?
Any other thoughts would be appreciated.
The "symptom" of my problem is that I've broken the side latch on the vest, the one on the same side as the arm attaches, as shown in the below image as (1).
855
I operate goofy, so the sides etc are actually reversed compared to this image.
The broken latch isn't a big issue per se, I've already bought a replacement and having the "female" end sewn back in as we speak. But the reason the latch broke is because these side straps tend to angle down from the back to the front once the vest starts carrying the full weight of the rig (and, being a Basson, I do mean "full weight". :) ), rather than staying horizontal. This puts a lot of strain on the bottom prong on latch clip (the "male" part), and it was this releasing under strain that caused the top prong to snap off under the sudden increase in tension.
I notice that the side straps do sit mostly horizontal without any load on the vest, but under load the front of the vest inevitably sags and the side straps end up on an angle, loading up that bottom prong on the latches (but clearly there's more stress on the arm-attachment side - I've never had the off-side latch pop open, whereas the arm-side latch and separated a couple of times over the last few weeks, before finally breaking this past Sunday).
Do I have the shoulder straps (2) too long? Would shortening them improve the "sit" of the vest. At the moment everything's pretty snug, but I can probably take the should straps in a bit.
I've seen some references to vest mods with back straps running between the upper torso section and the waist belt - would this help to stop the back of the vest rising up under load?
Any other thoughts would be appreciated.