Harness Combos & Price

[halyardz]

The earlier discussion about safety harnesses and jacklines was very informative. It seems, in terms of harnesses there are several options: just harness, harness on PFDs like sospenders, and harnesses that are built into foul weather jackets. Is there any "best" option for the price.

[Jeff_H]

I am not sure that there is one good answer here. When I sungle hand or the weather turns nasty I typically wear an inflatable harness. In summer it is actually about as comfortable as a regular harness and it gives you just a little bit more protection should something happen. Since nearly drwning last fall, my rule is that any time I put on foul weather gear, I put on the inflatable. Since the inflatable is a harness that works.

My inflatable PFD Harness is an autoinflatable. I think that also adds a degree of safety if knocked overboard but I an not sure that the inflatable would be as good an idea offshore in heavy conditions where it potentially could autoinflate.

Jeff

[davidk]

I agree I don''t think there is a right or wrong. we can only include our own views/experiences, then its make your mind up time. We are just commisssioning a new yacht and multiple sets of wet weather gear and safety equipment are on the list, which is all very bad for the cheque book but nevertheless interesting.

Have you noticed that the main manufacturers of foul weather gear are producing their latest ocean & offshore jackets without pockets for integral harnesses for the first time this season. we''ve just bought a dozen Gortex HPX Musto Offshore jackets and the new 2002 designs have no provision for integral harnesses. This is what we wanted because we figure that we now want buoyancy aids (PFDs to you!) that incorporate harnesses (with crotch straps, lights, sprayhoods, yachtname etc as per ORC). We''re now running on the theory if you need your lifejacket on you need a harness and visa versa. So I can only say we''ve all decided to have all in one equipment (and we have to pay for the priviledge!)

[JohnDrake]

I have recently purchased a SOSpenders PFD harness, manual type. I single hand and agree that it is a must. I, however, got the manual inflation type since I thought the chance of me being knocked unconscious was smaller than the chance of me going over the side while attached to a tether (though of course I make every effort to have the tether attached in a fashion to prevent this). My thinking is that a auto-inflated PFD would make getting back aboard more difficult.

And... I have recently read of some unintentional inflation problems... which is why there is the new "Millenium" model now (quite a bit more expensive).

In bad weather or while single handing I intend to wear the PFD harness religiously. I also have a submersible VHF handheld which I strap to it, as well as a strobe. In my view, safety of #1 and I like backups for backups.

[EscapeArtist]

My harness is inflatable as well. It''s practically the same size as a plain web harness. The only disadvantage is the cost, and this is not an area where I want to be cheap.

It cost just under $200, I think.

My harness is not an auto-inflate model, it has the pull tabs. There are advantages to both kinds, it''s clearly a personal thing.