Behind The Scenes: Developing the Halcyon Cinch (Patent Pending)

Halcyon Manufacturing has a long history as an industry leader with novel innovations for recreational and technical diving and it is our passion for diving that drives the pursuit of highly refined diving configurations. Early in our company’s history we became convinced that back mounted, harnesses BCs produced a superior configuration, providing unmatched stability, ideal in-water position and unparalleled streamlining. Over the years Halcyon refined these back mounted systems with robust materials and industry first designs. Meanwhile Halcyon pioneered the use of back mounted BCs for recreational diving, helping bring this superior performance to many thousands of open water divers.

Today, divers around the world recognize that harness style, back mounted BCs provide superior performance by reducing drag and increasing stability. Yet, many of these divers – those in single and double tanks - are frustrated by the lack of easy adjustability. Some are worried about emergency situations. Other divers express concern about shedding dive kit before climbing into a small boat. Still others worry about the need to adjust a harness after changing suits or while using one dive system for multiple divers within rental or training applications. Unfortunately current rapid adjust systems introduce failure points as well as dangling pieces of webbing, making them an undesirable option.

Charting a New Course:
Adjustability has always been a consideration in the design of Halcyon BC systems. Yet, we have not been willing to sacrifice safety or performance by using quick release buckles or adjustments that leave straps hanging free where they might damage reefs or create entanglement hazards. During our development of the Cinch, a wide range of experimental systems were rejected; yet, this process ultimately led to a unique, ground breaking style of adjustability. The newly released, Halcyon Cinch (patent pending) is a novel innovation that marries the superior performance of harness style BCs with the ease and convenience of jacket BCs. The Halcyon Cinch does this without compromising safety or performance; in fact this unique solution can actually improve in-water comfort and performance while providing the convenience of rapid adjustment.

How did we get here?
Initially the concept for the Halcyon Cinch (patent pending) was focused on the recreational dive community. The least active and/or least experienced of divers are not very patient with systems that require time to adjust. This is because a typical backplate and harness configuration may take a couple hours and several dives before it is “perfect”. Experienced divers who understand the value of such systems are not put off by this investment. Moreover, they quickly gain proficiency and the chore of sizing their system just becomes a natural part of diving. Yet, divers in training and/or new divers quickly tire of the refinement process. Many of these divers select quick fitting systems including jacket BCs and/or quick adjust straps and miss out on the superior fit and improved performance of a properly fit harness BC. Given a recreational focus, several of the first Halcyon quick adjust systems were rather different to backplate configurations. Yet, losing the rigid backplate produced other challenges, reducing performance and increasing drag. Numerous variations were developed, using roller bars, mechanical fixtures and wide ranging materials. We learned an immense amount about our own dive systems during this process, ultimately returning to a design that incorporated a modified backplate. This decision provided a highly stable platform and allowed the unique advantage of being upgradeable.

Crafting the mechanical means of quick adjustment produced a range of challenges but the most difficult aspects involved developing flexibility with waist mounted accessories. In order to fit properly the harness had to hug the divers body but had to easily release when desired. At the same time, items clipped to the waist could not interfere with the movement of the harness. Primary lights, d-rings and waist mounted weight had to remain in a fixed position while the harness was free to slide or secure the diver as needed. Numerous styles were refined and dozens of iterations developed before settling upon the existing Halcyon Cinch accessories (patent pending accessories). The primary light fixture had to provide rigidity but also be easily removable. Meanwhile, the d-ring fixture had to be robust and adjustable but allow free movement of the harness. Numerous subtle refinements are not obvious but lend themselves to significantly improved performance.

The Cinch includes patent pending components that retain the primary light on the right side and secures the left hip D-ring position while retaining free adjustment of the harness webbing
Left side, D-ring assembly	Right side, light retainer assembly

Early in the development of the Cinch system we began to realize the urgent need for double tank adaptability. This is because early testing demonstrated remarkable stability in double tanks. Our test divers quickly realized they were using a much tighter harness than in their normal harness diving. This is because most experienced divers leave their harness more or less loose to allow for easy removal and changes in thermal insulation. With the Cinch our testers would snug the harness to whatever point they desired, knowing it was a simple matter to remove the system while in or out of the water. These tests identified that divers felt even more stable in heavy doubles because they were able to nearly eliminate any tank movement.

Double tank bolt extender
The need to accommodate double tanks added some complexity because the harness had to slide freely but the backplate usually presses against a set of double tanks, inhibiting the sliding action of the harness. A very slight offset was added to the early backplate prototypes which allowed the harness freedom to slide. As the testing intensified we began to find that some double tanks did not have a long enough lower bolt to accommodate this offset. Of course it is not exceptionally difficult to change the lower bolt but this might be less convenient when borrowing a set of tanks or for divers first trying to Cinch system. Therefore, we designed a “bolt extender” (patent pending) which allows easy conversion of a short bottom bolt on most double tank systems.

Finally, the Cinch had to adjust easily but remain stable with heavy tanks on one’s back. Therefore, the Quick-adjust feature is designed to hold tight while bearing weight but to slide freely when the weight is removed. Gearing up before a dive the diver merely remains seated and adjusts the harness to fit. Once the appropriate fit is reached the diver may stand without fear of the tanks sliding loose. This same feature means that divers can easily remove their tanks while in the water. After unbuckling the harness waist belt, a simple push on the webbing allows the harness to slide freely. You can easily remove tanks while on the surface of the water and slide easily into a small boat. Likewise, emergency situations with an unconscious diver allow quick removal of the diver’s equipment.

In-water removal of a BC with the Cinch Quick-adjust harness

The result of these various innovations ultimately redefines what it means to dive a backplate. The Halcyon Cinch builds upon a time tested platform of simplicity while providing unprecedented security and ease of adjustment. Now divers can enjoy all the performance advantages of a backplate while easily changing suits or divers. All this can occur without compromising the harness with quick release buckles and while avoiding the dangling pieces of webbing common to other forms of rapid adjustment.

We hope you will enjoy all the advantages provided by the Cinch and its quick, secure adjustability. Whether you want the perfect fitting harness or would like to ease the difficulty of removing your dive system, the Halcyon Cinch is a unique innovation which can greatly enhance your diving comfort and performance.


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