Hello all,
I'm looking to upgrade my harness to have the quick release system. Right now I have an older hobie race harness. In order to upgrade do I only have to buy the spreader bar with quick release?

If so, which do you recommend, magic marine spreader, or the RWO spreader?

Also, I'm looking to buy a new harness for my crew. I looked over the posts of the past regarding comfort and performance, and saw that basically everyone had a different opinion.

What I am wondering about is if there is anywhere to get a relatively inexpensive (ie: $100-$130) harness with the quick release already on it. Im pretty sure the RWO spreader is $130, but I remember someone telling me I could get a Gul harness with the spreader already on it for around $130. Is this true? if not, what harness would you recommend.

Also, I'm looking into investing in a good knife to bring with me. I checked out Spyderco and their, "NO RUST" marine knife costs $99. Is there anywhere else to get an inexpensive (ie: $35-$60) sailing knife that will hold up to excessive use?

Thanks in adavance......

Knife:

I keep a Titanium Divers knife ($50 to $60) on my boat tied to the rear crossbar for quick access.

Dan

I've been using the Bethwaite key&ball setup on my traps for over a year now. Advantages are there is no hook on the trap harness to snag rigging or puncture decks/hulls (happened twice in 6 months with a standard hook system on my Tornado) and the key/ball system is noticeably lighter over the standard stainless hook & rings. Go with the carbon/kevlar option on the key spreader...there were problems with the plastic ones in the past.

For emerg knife, I found a titanium blade called "River Knife" for $45 from MEC (that's Mountain Equipement Coop...Canada's answer to REI here in the States). I have also seen a type of blade called a bear claw that search & rescue folks wear. It has a short, curved serrated blade that is held in such a way as to reduce accidental hand cuts etc.

What ever type you go with, make sure you can easily attach it within reach by either hand onto your life jacket or leg. When you need it, there's no telling where on/under the boat you'll be.

Mike.

Yeah, I've been looking at the Keyhole entry system for a bit now. The only problem for me is that sometimes I may be crewing with other people on their boats, and unless they have the ball ends, I would have to swap out the keyhole for the spreader bar. Is this an easy process? It seems as though you only need to thread the webbing straps and thats it, am I right or wrong?

Yes, you can swap out the keyhole spreader to get back to the stainless hook type. Make sure your trap harness doesn't have a sewn in type strap around the original spreader (Like one of my old Gul units...required stitch ripping & re-sewning to put the key hole on...and never went back to steel).

Alternatively, we find it quicker to just swap out the trapeze rings for the balls and back again when done. I regularly have different crew and they don't always want to try the key hole setup for an important race, so we swap the ball for steel rings/dogbones on the crew position wires. Quick & easy.


Mike.