Non Minelab harness purchased off the net - seems to be a winner - maybe, maybe not.

As I do not get to go detecting as much as I would like, I spend a lot of time tinkering with my gear and trying to find better and more efficient ways of doing things. This gives me a lot of pleasure.

I have been getting annoyed with the failings of the standard Minelab harness. The belt is stitched so that it is impossible to get the gadgets on it that I "absolutely must have" at my fingertips.

So last week, I bit the bullet and ordered ( sight unseen) a new harness I saw in an advert in Gem and Treasure. It was expensive at around $145, but I had to have a new toy. When it turned up, I was happy to see that the belt was removable and would accept accessories all the way around.

This means that I can now leave my pick holder and hip stick thingie attached all the time. Previously I was always pulling the belt off my pants at the start and finish of each session.

I also ordered a big green gold/dirt scoop from them. This is large and quite a problem to store on you. You can hang it off somewhere, but I wanted it in a holder on my new harness belt. I found just the thingie at Bunnings. It is belt attachment for holding some sort of tool, but the big scoop sits in it perfectly.

I am all set now and will road test it it at Hill End when I go up there on Dec. 8 for a few days.

Jigalong

Yeah Jig
The word Minelab and well designed harness will never be used in the one sentence.To keep producing the same rubbish year after year shows a total lack of what is required.
Cheers Dig

Hello Jigalong, with the harness it might pay you to acquire yourself some spare clips (male ones) as we have had a couple lately causing problems. These can be easily bought at most camping stores (maybe even Bunnings). The clips I am referring to are the ones that attach the two shoulder straps to the belt section, in a couple of cases they have been pulled out with force and when forced once will come out easily from then on which can put a big damper on your detecting session. I am on my way to the big smoke next week so will try and source some spares whilst there and forward them onto you as soon as I get back but in the meantime it might pay you to try and source a couple any way as they are relatively cheap (may cost a dollar at most). Sorry for any inconvenience, but felt it necessary to get you up to speed straight away.

PS the other way to prevent this happening is to zip tie the upper and lower clip parts together.
JP

Pic of clip, upper one with barbs is the one that sometimes fails.

Thanks for the warning Jonathan. I have a camping store near me. They may have some quality ones in stock - I will check this afternoon. Cable ties are always in my car, so I will be right in an emergency.

I had to shorten the belt at a shoemaker yesterday (the stitched end with the female clip). I just could not get the adjustment correct with so much of it sticking out. Why is it neccessary to make this end permanently stiched to the vertical strap and to the clip ? The other end works fine without this adjustment hindering "permanence" ?

Cheers,

Jig

Jonathan ,

I tried two camping stores to get a new male fitting for the vertical strap clip - no success. They both stocked a more rounded looking type which they said was stronger.

Let me know if you had more success. It is not a big problem. I can use cable ties in an emergency and get new straps made with the stronger fittings, if you cannot find replacements.

It's not a big deal. I am just very pleased to have a harness that I can put all my gadgets on.

Cheers,

Jig.

No worries Jig, will look into it when I get over to Mackay next week, if not then will sort something out with the supplier. Not sure why they stitch the web on one side only, maybe to stop it creeping? Anyway the good thing is they are easy to modify to suit your particular requirements. Will keep you posted via the forum if you like.

JP

Jig, JP,

I have bought various sizes of these clips from an army surplus store. Great places to get all sorts of stuff we need and use for our hobby.

Hope this helps

Robert

Dig,

I couldn't agree with you more about the ML harness. I think it is more useful as a harness on your great dane when you take him for "walkies"

Robert

OK thanks Robert. I will have a look around for a disposal store. Not many around any more - they seem to have gone out of fashion. Pity, I used to love rummaging through them.
Jig.

I use Vietnam era army surplus webbing (deja vue), pretty cheap, hard wearing with lots of options re bumbags, pouches etc. I place the battery in the bumbag, the pick holder is a 150mm length of 50mm plastic pipe slotted to fit on the belt.

I have experimented with a belt vs harness but it was a bit uncomfortable for me - too much weight on the belt. The weight would have been acceptable if I had carried my pick on my shoulder as some do.
Jig.

I was not happy with the performance of my new harness which I used for four days at Hill End.

The webbing belt is not stiff enough and the weight of things like the pick, pull it down and distort it. The webbing belt needs to be adjustable and you need to be able to lock it into position ( in relation to the padded belt section) after the adjustments are made.

It needs some modification as the belt padding also. It is not stiff enough and distorts badly when the various items on the belt (and the actual belt) move.

The holes for the battery attachments are slightly out of alignment and could be improved.

I need a harness with the stiffness of the Minelab model, but with the ability to attach items to the belt like this new aftermarket one.

I will get one from doubledleather.com in Bendigo and check that out.

Jigalong.

jigalong hi
 a few years ago i was given an old confined space  harness not unlike this one.
http://www.fallsafeaustralia.com/images/UserFiles/Image/4.jpg
 not the same , but pretty close. i cut the legs off it and any other bits i didn`t need,and it works fine.battery on the left hip,water bottle on the right hip and pick hanging off the back of it.  the thing with these harnesses is the law says they must be taken out of service when they are 10 years old,thats how come i was given mine.
  there are buisnesses around the place that do height and confined space training and i would imagine that they would probably have harnesses that they cant sell or use,so i recon if you hunted around you could probably get one for pretty cheap,once you convinced them you werent going to use it for fall arrest.
   

Thanks for the tip Dave. I will have a look while I am searching for a better harness design or a way of modifying the ones I have.

Jigalong

I cut my my battery and harness off and had them sown to an old army web belt,with army water bottle and ammo pouch.makes it easier to adjust
greg

Greg,

Sewing on the battery box to something new, is a good idea, but for me it would still have to be a harness not a belt. When a big pick is on there, it's too much weight around my gut to just use a belt. I need the harness.

I think the J.Porter harness I purchased, will be greatly improved by the replacent of the standard belt with a thick stiff webbing belt. I think I spotted some good 2" ones while searching the net last night.

Thanks,

Jig.

Hi Jig,
I use an old diving weight belt nice and stiff and a good quick release nylon buckle my mate just bought one of those harnesses and was not happy with it so we have redesigned it and I have built one from scratch to suit my own needs if you like I can send you the design and some pic's during construction, you need the lock clips that go with the buckles they stop them sliding try a leather goods supplier thats where mine came from via my mate who is into leather work.
Regards, Ian.

G'day Ian,

I would be really interested to see your design. It seems such a simple thing to get right and yet they all seem to have problems. I am on a mission now - to make the perfect harness ! Actually, I get nearly as much fun mucking around and modifying my gear, as I do detecting. Weird, but my wife says I'm anal retentive, obsessive compulsive (sometimes she drops "repulsive" in there for "compulsive")

I am not sure about that big metal quick release buckle on the weight belt. Doesn't it affect the machine ? I have mine and my wife's weight belts here - I can't see us doing any more diving, so I could hack them up if I need to.

"you need the lock clips that go with the buckles they stop them sliding try a leather goods supplier thats where mine came from via my mate who is into leather work"
I am very interested in these, although I cannot picture what they look like.

My email address is jigalongjigalongATgmail.com

Thanks a lot,

Jig.

I have a gpx with the heavy battery and the bag has the harness attached to it.Just means I can slide or fix any thing to it,eg ammo pouch with compass first aid and rubbish bag.have gone to external speakers now,hope to try them with hearing aid.Best web belt is WW2 canvas with brass buckles,doesnt affect detector.
Greg

Hi Jig, have a look on ebay item no 170419589058 that belt from DD Leather shows the clips you are missing. Regards, Ian.

Thanks for that Ian. I Googled DoubleD Leather and had a look at their website. They have got two nice looking Harnesses on there which look good. That webbing belt you found, would improve the harness I bought from J Porter. I understand now the clips you were referring to.

I wish I had known about Double D when I was detecting in Bendigo last month.

Jig.