Halcyon Kit

I am keen to get some more kit and noticed Halcyon around. Seems like a
nice streamlined way to get around, has anyone had any good/bad
experiences with it?

Lee Bell...

Generally speaking, it's good quality,with good customer service, but it
comes at a high price.
Few discounts are available.

hammond...

I agree with Lee that Halcyon Kit is good but overpriced.

Lee Bell...

I didn't say overpriced. There's too much judgement in a call like that. I
suspect, however, that I could replace most, if not all of my Halcyon
equipment with equipment of similar quality for less than what new Halcyon
equipment goes for.

While I have no personal complaints, there is at lest some suggstiong
that customer service is not always good.

Lee Bell...

I've had some initial quality issues, but have never had a problem with
customer service. They deburred and changed the slots in one plate and have
replaced two scout lights for me. So far, so good.

Halcyon attempts to enforce a no-discounts policy -- and succeeds well
from what I have seen. For this reason alone I will NOT purchase

Lee Bell...

They succeed pretty well. I occasionally find some discounted Halcyon
equipment, but not often, and usually not for long.

Halcyon gear unless there is no alternative. DiveRite is probably
what I would buy today.

Check out WWW.DIVERITEEXPRESS.COM -- but always copare prices among
the brands you find acceptable.

Whistler...

I'm happy with pretty much every piece of equipment I've bought from
them. The only two things I no longer use are the backplate pouch for
lift bag storage and the integrated weight pockets. The backplate pouch
was always kind of a pain and I prefer putting my lift bag in a thigh
pocket now. The integrated weights worked very well, but I didn't like
the way my canister light wobbled around on the right, and the d-ring
for the spg on the left was harder to use when on the weight pocket as
opposed to just being on the belt. I switched to using a standard
weightbelt.

My pioneer wing, harness, scout lights, HID light and lift bag have all
served me well. I would buy all of them again.

Adam Helberg...

I've struggles with weight integration with BP/wing and could never get it to work
properly. It seems the happiest people with BP/wing use a weightbelt.

Al Wells...

I have one of their lift bags, but haven't used it in years. I use
Carters and Subsalves, stored in 2 sets of bungees below the backplate.
Yes, I know, pure heresy, but those Halcyon bags are a PITA to fill and
they leak at the seam, and I wouldn't even think about trying to lift
something with one of them. If you look at a Sunsalve or Carter, there

Whistler...

Good points. I shoot a bag about once in a blue moon and I've never
used any other bag, so I can't really compare. After a little practice
I found it manageable, but I'd be happy to find better.

I've never known mine to leak at the seam, but it definitely leaks at
the valve.

I agree they are kind of a pain to fill with a dry suit hose, but I've
found that just breathing into the valve works fine.

If you look at a Sunsalve or Carter, there

is no seam at the top, and the material is ridiculously heavier (which
does make them harder to store/carry). The other downside to the Carters
and subsalves is their color - last I looked, neither was available in
orange, which is easier for boat captains to see.

Whistler...

Yeah, it seems that noone has got it perfect yet. But the boat captain
of the liveaboard from Ft Myers to the Dry Tortugas that I did with
George M and Mike B was very impressed by how visible the Halcyon bags were.

Al Wells...

I own several Halcyon wings, all first generation, which was excellent
stuff. They have served me well for several years.

Lee Bell...

I've got two. My experience is the same.

The latest doubles wings I've seen are not so good. They've changed the
outside cover to something flimsier, and use a 70 lb lift bladder in
all of the smaller sizes. I was on a dive with a buddy who had a brand

Lee Bell...

I've heard that quality was not as good. I didn't realize that they were
using bladders at all. That's certainly a chance from the thinking when
mine were manufactured.

Al Wells...

They always used bladders in the doubles wings. The bladders are made
from a coated cloth material instead of plastic, and they are quite
good. I looked a an Agir-Brokk wing when I was at Salvo a few weeks
ago, and it looked to be close to the old Halcyon wing.

My 27 lb single wing has no bladder, but I think they now offer a
single wing with a bladder.

new one, first time in the water, and one of the seams came completely
apart. He did not overinflate it - we were diving double AL80's in
wetsuits, with no stages, and he is a very experienced diver.

I don't know what their latest single tank wings look like.

If you like the look of this kind of setup, try also looking at
Dive-Rite, Oxycheq, and Agir-Brokk. You can generally mix and match
wings and plates, they all have the same hole spacing. Last time I
looked, anything other than Halcyon requires an adaptor bracket for
single tank. I like the adaptor better, because it allows for easier
change over between single tank and doubles (something I do often in
Mexico).

Lee Bell...

Damned if I remember who, but somebody made a plate that was bent to
stabilize a single tank without an adapter. I seem to recall it worked well
with twin rigs also.

Whistler...

Hmm... I don't think this is the same, but it is worth mentioning.

My buddy dives a thing called a ``JetHarness''. Think I've got the name

Whistler...

Actually, he dives the backplate and wing, but not the harness.

right. It's a backplate and wing with the slots cut in both for the cam
bands. But there's no bending. The plate is completely flat. There
aren't any little plastic rods in the wing either. I'm not sure what
keeps the tank from rocking, though it occurs to me that if the slots
are set out near the tank diameter that would provide enough stability.
Whatever the mechanism, the tank does not rock and the whole thing
lays very flat and neat, very attractive for strictly recreational travel.

Does not work with doubles and I don't like the wing that much, but in
general it is quite nice.