Using rescue belts w/ rear slider/buckle

TheKrikkitWars · Post by **TheKrikkitWars** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 10:08 pm

mahyongg wrote:Very helpful btw. since I am on the lookout, thinking about a new vest for next season and wondering which belt setup I should be looking for.

They're all functionally identical , but I'd very strongly reccomend against retrofitting a PFD with a rescue belt (or wearing one round the chest or abdomen seperately). I'd also reccomend removing any metalwork, whilst the a ring protects against mis-clipping to some extent... If you can't trust your belayer to clip, check and screw the krab correctly what on earth are you doing trusting your life to them in the water?

the great gonzo · Post by **the great gonzo** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 10:23 pm

Just to clarify Joshua's post (which I agree with), it's ok to retrofit a PFD with a rescue belt, as long as the pfd was designed for it and has the appropriate loops.
A PFD that has not been designed as a rescue PFD and that does not have the rescue belt loops should never be retrofitted with one. the belt will slip and can lead to serious injuries or worse due to entrapment.
As far as what belt setup to use, I would recommend the use of a rescue PFD where the belt is an integral component of the PFD and attached to it.
As far as how to tread the belt through the buckle, unless I am going in for a life bait I go straight through the buckle, without using the metal backing plate. I only use the backing plate when I am on life bait and then I thread it through the metal plate only once. I have done this on an almost daily basis while raft guiding for Esprit on the Ottawa last summer and during numerous life bait practices. This provides enough friction and holding force to keep the belt from blowing open, while still releasing when pulling the quick release.

TGG!

TheKrikkitWars · Post by **TheKrikkitWars** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 10:48 pm

the great gonzo wrote:it's ok to retrofit a PFD with a rescue belt, as long as the pfd was designed for it and has the appropriate loops.

I can't actively disagree with this, as it's true. But my expereince of multipurpose PFD's that have the option of "upgrading" with a rescue belt is that they're generally still poor compared to a purpose built design (I'm thinking of the Palm Symbiant, and various Yak models, but I think it would extrapolate to other manufacturer's gear); as a result I would strongly urge people to spend that extra $40 and get a purpose built pfd.

Also, this might be of interest, it's all set to supplant the Green Jacket and Hydraulics River-Pro as the best PFD's on the market.

the great gonzo · Post by **the great gonzo** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 11:16 pm

Yes, the Hydroscapes is definitely the best PFD out there. I had one of their earlier ones, and when it was time to replace it 2 years ago I found out that they had gone out of business. I ended up going with an Astral Green, but I definitely felt that, compared to the Hydroscapes, it was a step back. Glad to see them back!

TGG!