North Water C-1 Lap Belt question

[Craig Smerda]

...ok, so i get this in the mail and start looking it over.... quick release... nice, ok. pre-burned holes... nice, ok. two adjustment buckles... nice, ok. so now comes my question.... how does this thing mount in the boat correctly... i give up... i'm not exactly a rocket scientist but something doesn't jive here? anyone have pic's or a easy v-e-r-b-a-l description of how this goes together so you can get in and out of your boat correctly. i've had a long day... can't think anymore... need help. (it's going into a robson twintip c1... maybe)

thanks... i hope

[the great gonzo]

Craig, I just put one into my prelude 2 weeks ago (something about getting tired of getting sucked out of my boat when getting thrashed in holes...) and I had the same problem.
If I understand the belt system correctly, then the short end of the belt goes into the one adjustment buckle, while the long one is supposed to loop through the other adjstment buckle and then back to the quick release buckle.
The problem with this is that if you loop the long end of the belt through both slots on the adjustment buckle and the quick release buckle, then the belt won't slide through the adjustment belt properly and when you open the buckle, you may have a hard time getting out ) (someone correct me please if I am wrong), but if you loop the long end of the belt only through one of the slots on the 2nd adjustment buckle, the belt will slide through the slot easily when you open the quick release and you can get out easily .
In my Prelude I simply glued in some D-rings, I only use the adjustment buckle on the short end and simply loop the long end of the belt through the D-ring. Works well so far, although I have only used it once so far...

Hope this helps.

martin

[NZMatt]

Hi Guys

I've been curious about this product myself since my incident earlier this summer. I emailed North Water and they sent me three pictures by way of instruction:

<img src="http://www.gradschool.cornell.edu/~mds3 ... t_left.jpg" width="400">

<img src="http://www.gradschool.cornell.edu/~mds3 ... center.jpg" width="400">

<img src="http://www.gradschool.cornell.edu/~mds3 ... _right.jpg" width="400">

Looks like a good system, but I wonder how tightly you can snug it down - that's been my concern over that style of buckle before: they're hard to tighten fully. Be interested in hearing your feedback.

Matt

[the great gonzo]

Thanks for the pictures Matt, that's exactly what I tried to explain!
As far as tightening the belt is concerned, I can tighten the one I recently installed in my Prelude so tight that I can virtually not lift my butt off the saddle any more.
I can't say how tight it really is, as I have not yet dropped in a big enoug or run big enough water yet to really put it to the test.
The one I have in my C1 is much harder to get really tight, but the belt itself is a different, much stiffer material, as it is not a lap belt, but a cut up rescue PFD belt. What makes a big difference as well is that it is onlt a single belt, which does not give you the advantge of the double pull. I also noticed that the PFD rescue belts have a different, smaller buckle and a metal loop in front of the buckle that takes the stress, but also makes it significantly harder to fully tighten the belt.

Hope this helps

martin

[Craig Smerda]

...yeah I was trying to cheat the loop through the adjuster. I may make a modification by making the webbing on the piece that you slide through longer.... in other words.. easier to reach. I like the buckle and release, and Nikki at Northwater shot the pic's via email to me as well. She's the berries.

FOLLOW UP! 10-16-03
Nikki at North Water emailed me some great news. They will make the webbing longer on the glide for less than $10US. They will be sending me a replacement piece to test. I think this will make getting at the glide way easier. Cheers!