Favorite Harness?

[Izen Ears]

I used to have a brilliant Petrol harness. It is gone, and in its place is my old Versaflex harness. Today my shoulders just about died. I miss my petrol harness.  So of course they don't make it anymore. I see some nice looking ones from Orca and Portabrace and Versaflex.
 

I have a heavy bag that I almost never wore because it had been years since I worked an actual run and gun gig.  I took out some rx and made the bag as light as possible, but it's still a beast. My back and feet are fine, it's just the harness digs into my shoulders.

 

I'm quite intrigued by the short bag version from Versaflex. I like wearing the bag tight and high up so the bottom is at my belt line.  Also I guess I have a fairly small frame - I think I'm a normal 160 pound 5'10"er - so there's always a foot or more of extra strap after tightening!

 

Thanks JWers!

 

Dan Izen

[PMC]

I still use my petrol harness for my petrol football bag. I like it. The Versa-Flex guys were jealous of it when I picked it up in, maybe, 2006. I use it weekly and it is still in great shape. My bag weights about 12 pounds and I can wear it for 4hrs without a break on reality shows.

 

I have seen the Orca harness on sets where I am shooting. It looks nice and looks like it offers lower back support. If I ever decided to change harnesses I thought I would go for the orca.

 

Let us know what you think if you get to try one.

Ha, 160 lbs. I haven't weighed that since I was in high school back in... never you mind how long ago that was.

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

Petrol was merged into Sachtler, so you can still find a few of their legacy products under that brand.  They still make the original Petrol bags, which I like because they aren't as rigid and heavy as KTek and Orca.  I have no idea if that includes the harness ... probably not would be my guess. 

I use a short-bag Versa-Flex (BHS3) because I have the same preference you do:  High on my body and strapped tight.  I find this position gives me the greatest range of motion, and I can run with it if necessary.  I kind of doubt it will save your shoulders.  It's a pretty basic design.  I also suspect that having it pulled tight may be part of the issue with shoulders ... with the bag up high, it will pull your shoulders forward more than wearing it lower, and that can take its toll.  I'm also too lazy to loosen the shoulders when I wear it over rain gear, and I find my shoulders hurt more in that situation because the added layers make for a tighter fit.

[humbuk]

I've been using the harness from Ktek KSHRN for a long time and it's great. For a fully loaded bag, I can't imagine without it. So I use Orca bags. But it works great. So it's a lot slower to get into the whole thing. But I do it a bit the other way around than it's probably intended, I leave the top and two side carabiners on all the time and when I'm resting I don't have the harness on, but clipped to the bag and then I just get dressed and fasten the remaining two carabiners.
Unfortunately, I didn't compare the harness from Orca, it has two carabiners less, so it will probably be faster, but to hold it as well as the Ktek?

[Izen Ears]

8 hours ago, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

Petrol was merged into Sachtler, so you can still find a few of their legacy products under that brand.  They still make the original Petrol bags, which I like because they aren't as rigid and heavy as KTek and Orca.  I have no idea if that includes the harness ... probably not would be my guess. 

I use a short-bag Versa-Flex (BHS3) because I have the same preference you do:  High on my body and strapped tight.  I find this position gives me the greatest range of motion, and I can run with it if necessary.  I kind of doubt it will save your shoulders.  It's a pretty basic design.  I also suspect that having it pulled tight may be part of the issue with shoulders ... with the bag up high, it will pull your shoulders forward more than wearing it lower, and that can take its toll.  I'm also too lazy to loosen the shoulders when I wear it over rain gear, and I find my shoulders hurt more in that situation because the added layers make for a tighter fit.

You might be right about the wider harness still hurting the shoulders, but somehow I feel that will make all of the difference. I remember wearing the petrol harness with a 35 pound bag and being fine!  Also I kind of feel like my shoulders would be more sore if the bag were lower, because the angle would be pulling the muscles further downward. But then again I have not tried anything except the Petrol and the old Versaflex.

 

7 hours ago, humbuk said:

I've been using the harness from Ktek KSHRN for a long time and it's great. For a fully loaded bag, I can't imagine without it. So I use Orca bags. But it works great. So it's a lot slower to get into the whole thing. But I do it a bit the other way around than it's probably intended, I leave the top and two side carabiners on all the time and when I'm resting I don't have the harness on, but clipped to the bag and then I just get dressed and fasten the remaining two carabiners.
Unfortunately, I didn't compare the harness from Orca, it has two carabiners less, so it will probably be faster, but to hold it as well as the Ktek?

Yep, that Stingray harness looks amazing.  That's probably what I'll go for.  Question - does your K tech harness allow you to set the bag up high?  The Orca looks very good also, as does the Versaflex short harness.  

 

[Jim Feeley]

14 hours ago, Izen Ears said:

 I miss my petrol harness.  So of course they don't make it anymore.

 

I'm quite intrigued by the short bag version from Versaflex.

 

Dan, I have an old Petrol harness that I really never got on with (though I like a lot of what Petrol/ORCA/Ofer do). It's in really good shape. I don't recall how many different models Petrol made; I can dig it up and post a few pix if you'd like.

 

I'll let it go really cheap. Perhaps...

 

Or maybe you have an inexpensive yet cool guitar doodad sitting around unused? Seriously, I'd rather my Petrol harness gets used...

 

Also, I met Larry Nolan, Mr. Versa-Flex, at one of our NAB mixer mixers years ago. At the time, he/they were into custom orders. Perhaps they still are?

[Izen Ears]

1 hour ago, Jim Feeley said:

 

I have an old Petrol harness

Dude!  Yes please!  I'm PMing my email.  I'd love to see if it's the same one, it had wide shoulders.  Wider than 4" I think.  I just went to the sporting goods store and purchased some boxing shin pads to put on my shoulders for the next few days.  I totally need a proper harness. I wish I knew what happened to my old one, it's one of those mysteries.

[JustusWirth]

Just in case you end up taking a look at the Stingray Harness: I am 168cm and pretty slim so I bought the small version of the harness as I was advised by the seller. I think the main differences between standard and small are the shorter shoulder parts and the shorter rigid spine. The harness doesn't hurt my shoulders at all (my bag contains a 888+SL-2, smart battery, 2 comteks and 2 Quad receivers), but I feel my back after some time. Still pretty comfortable though. My main issue with the harness is that the shoulder pads on the small version are too small for me to close the upper chest clip because it sits too high and would strangle me. I'm not sure if I should have bought the standard one or might need a mix of both (the upper part of the big one with the lower part of the small one) but it's not perfect at the moment.

I can recommend it anyway and you get used to putting it on, too.

[Izen Ears]

1 hour ago, JustusWirth said:

Just in case you end up taking a look at the Stingray Harness: I am 168cm and pretty slim so I bought the small version of the harness as I was advised by the seller. I think the main differences between standard and small are the shorter shoulder parts and the shorter rigid spine. The harness doesn't hurt my shoulders at all (my bag contains a 888+SL-2, smart battery, 2 comteks and 2 Quad receivers), but I feel my back after some time. Still pretty comfortable though. My main issue with the harness is that the shoulder pads on the small version are too small for me to close the upper chest clip because it sits too high and would strangle me. I'm not sure if I should have bought the standard one or might need a mix of both (the upper part of the big one with the lower part of the small one) but it's not perfect at the moment.

I can recommend it anyway and you get used to putting it on, too.

Oh dang that is great info!  Thank you so much. I guess I have a fairly long torso, so I should probably get the standard fit.  Probably exactly like you say, the standard upper and the smaller lower would be a perfect fit.  If I can't get a vintage Petrol, this KTek is looking like the best choice.  The Orca does kind of look like a decent replacement for the Petrol tho-

[Johnny Karlsson]

3 hours ago, JustusWirth said:

Just in case you end up taking a look at the Stingray Harness: I am 168cm and pretty slim so I bought the small version of the harness as I was advised by the seller. I think the main differences between standard and small are the shorter shoulder parts and the shorter rigid spine. The harness doesn't hurt my shoulders at all (my bag contains a 888+SL-2, smart battery, 2 comteks and 2 Quad receivers), but I feel my back after some time. Still pretty comfortable though. My main issue with the harness is that the shoulder pads on the small version are too small for me to close the upper chest clip because it sits too high and would strangle me. I'm not sure if I should have bought the standard one or might need a mix of both (the upper part of the big one with the lower part of the small one) but it's not perfect at the moment.

I can recommend it anyway and you get used to putting it on, too.

You know you can adjust the aluminum spine up and down to tweak the length of the harness, right? I’m about 1 cm taller and can definitely attach the cross chest clip (which can also be adjusted by sliding up and down.

 

 

[Strei]

The one piece of kit I refuse to sell is my Porta-Brace AH-3H-MEMS with very thick memory foam padding, waist belt, and shoulder straps (even though I almost never use it because I rarely ever solo or run and gun and if I do it's a really small kit that can fit on a waist belt) -- They cost around $300-$400. Not sure if it's still available on the market or not but there is a product page on Markertek still. But the straps have enough cushion material to hug you.
 

[JustusWirth]

7 hours ago, Johnny Karlsson said:

You know you can adjust the aluminum spine up and down to tweak the length of the harness, right? I’m about 1 cm taller and can definitely attach the cross chest clip (which can also be adjusted by sliding up and down.

 

 

Yes I do, but if I adjust the upper part to sit higher it doesn't feel good either as the pressure is then on my upper back and I find the spine to be much more comfortable pressing on my lower back. I've settled on a compromise at the moment, but it's not ideal.

[Izen Ears]

11 hours ago, Strei said:

The one piece of kit I refuse to sell is my Porta-Brace AH-3H-MEMS with very thick memory foam padding, waist belt, and shoulder straps (even though I almost never use it because I rarely ever solo or run and gun and if I do it's a really small kit that can fit on a waist belt) -- They cost around $300-$400. Not sure if it's still available on the market or not but there is a product page on Markertek still. But the straps have enough cushion material to hug you.
 

Yes that one looks awesome, similar to the Orca.  Have you tried that one?  The Portabrace AH-3HD looks pretty dang awesome.  And it's significantly lower in cost.  I must say I'm super intrigued by the KTek invention, but that Portabrace does look like a great alternative to the Petrol.

 

 

[Jim Feeley]

Dan, I sent you a message with a couple pictures of my harness. Just saying that here incase that doesn't go through.

 

And if you decide a different brand/model/etc of harness is more intriguing to you and my Petrol isn't for you, that's no worries for me.

 

Hope you find one that works great for you.

[Izen Ears]

Alright so I went with the Ktek standard sized stingray harness.  So far it seems great!  My old Petrol bag isn't the most ideal bag to use with it, because it doesn't have hooks on the upper corners against the body, but it does have two sets of hooks so I think it will work.  I am thinking I should install some hooks on those corners. Maybe just some steel loops or something bolted there. I've got a job starting Thursday where I'll be running and gunning so that'll be the true test.  

 

Most of the weight lands where my lower back connects to the waist.  I don't really feel it on my shoulders too much.  I really appreciate the design of the carabiners, the fact that they have the little nib on the big curved part instead of the straight part.  It's actually much easier than the Petrol harness.  Also I quite like the six points of attachment. It is a bit of a process to connect, but there is that "shortcut" of leaving one side fully attached.  The standard size fits great, but yes most of the straps are pulled out a bunch.  I did raise the spine part to the topmost position.

 

I will say that the chopped up kids shin pads really did the trick on that old Versaflex! I wore that and walked around for a couple hours without rest  yesterday with that set up, and my shoulders and back feel totally fine.  I did not have to do any overhead booming, which is good because then those pads would have pushed into my shoulders.

 

Right now the bag is sitting at 26 pounds, but with all the stuff in it it is more like 35 pounds.  I just don't do enough of these small bag jobs to justify purchasing a whole smaller rig. I do have a Nomad but it is installed in the big cart as a back up deck. I suppose I could pull it out; I do have a smaller bag for it. But I would (always, every time and forevermore) much rather use the Deva so I'm gonna "big bag" it as long as my body holds out!

 

That beefy Portabrace would have likely been the next best candidate. I like the look of the Portabrace way more than the too-colorful Orca.  (Sadly the timing was bad to get Jim's Petrol.)  Thank you everyone for your replies!

[Display Name]

On 4/20/2024 at 6:07 PM, Izen Ears said:

Dude!  Yes please!  I'm PMing my email.  I'd love to see if it's the same one, it had wide shoulders.  Wider than 4" I think.  I just went to the sporting goods store and purchased some boxing shin pads to put on my shoulders for the next few days.  I totally need a proper harness. I wish I knew what happened to my old one, it's one of those mysteries.

Dan, even I might actually have an unused Petrol harness, still in plastic bag in my storage. 
I’ll take a peek tomorrow and send you a PM if you like. 

[humbuk]

On 4/20/2024 at 3:36 PM, Izen Ears said:

 Question - does your K tech harness allow you to set the bag up high?  The Orca looks very good also, as does the Versaflex short harness.  

 

  

 

K-tec can be adjusted in many directions. I found a video of the Orca and it doesn't look bad either, I guess I'll have to compare with my K-tec. Maybe they have a better solution for deploying carbines - it should be faster. Also, nothing will stick up from the spine reinforcement (sometimes I have to put the jacket over the harness in a hurry, which is not very possible with the K-tek). The Orca also has a different middle part of the carabiner, it is not placed on the top of the bag, but on the bottom, I can't judge which is more convenient - it will have to be tried.
Has anyone tested these two harnesses?

 

 

 

 

 

[Izen Ears]

I'm about to go out today and give this Ktek Stingray a go!

 

On 4/23/2024 at 1:53 PM, Display Name said:

Dan, even I might actually have an unused Petrol harness, still in plastic bag in my storage. 
I’ll take a peek tomorrow and send you a PM if you like. 

Thank you!  If this Ktek doesn't work out I'll holler!

[Display Name]

Just checked it out and unfortunately it’s a back pack harness PUBP like this one. 

 

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/264604-REG/Petrol_PUBP_PUBP_Adjustable_Harness.html

[Izen Ears]

10 hours ago, Display Name said:

Just checked it out and unfortunately it’s a back pack harness PUBP like this one. 

 

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/264604-REG/Petrol_PUBP_PUBP_Adjustable_Harness.html

No wonder it was never used haha!  I can't think of a use for that.

 

I used the Ktek today and it was great!  I was able to adjust to basically all the weight is on my waist, it's great.  It is pretty hard to get on and off, but I don't see a way to make it better while enjoying the 6-point system.  This thing is pretty great, so far.  We'll see if I wake up tomorrow with anything sore.

[humbuk]

1 hour ago, Izen Ears said:

I used the Ktek today and it was great!  I was able to adjust to basically all the weight is on my waist, it's great.  It is pretty hard to get on and off, but I don't see a way to make it better while enjoying the 6-point system.  This thing is pretty great, so far.  We'll see if I wake up tomorrow with anything sore.

Yes, it's slower to get the hang of it. For that reason, I wonder if the Orca harness will be better at this. At Ktek, the carabiner covers are annoying because they make it harder to snap the carabiners onto the bag. And Orca also has the option of having carabiners clipped onto the bag and fastened using plastic "pieces". Unfortunately, no one in our state has an Orca harness in stock for me to try  . Does anyone have a comparison?

 

[Izen Ears]

On 4/26/2024 at 2:09 AM, humbuk said:

Yes, it's slower to get the hang of it. For that reason, I wonder if the Orca harness will be better at this. At Ktek, the carabiner covers are annoying because they make it harder to snap the carabiners onto the bag. And Orca also has the option of having carabiners clipped onto the bag and fastened using plastic "pieces". Unfortunately, no one in our state has an Orca harness in stock for me to try  . Does anyone have a comparison?

 

I've been able to grab the whole pad with the clip and use that to take it on and off. I found it pretty easy to slip on and off, once I got the hang of the grip. I was thinking about cutting those pads off, but upon closer inspection those are what holds the clips on so they must stay. I did install corner loops using some beefy straps after poking holes.  I guess this harness is meant to be loosened for putting it on, then tightened when it's on.  Yesterday I did not do this, because I forgot. Today I will be loosening them and I predict that will make the clipping easier.  I'm kinda smitten with the six-clip system, I feel like I could never go back to four ha ha!

[Erob]

One thing I find is often overlooked in the process of setting up a harness is tightening it to your body properly. I currently use the KTek harness, came from the older Orca and absolutely love the KTek. I've seen so many mixers have loose harnesses with bags just flopping all over the place, just seeing that hurts my back. I do a lot of run and gun type productions where I am wearing the bag for 8-10 hours a day and have very little pain throughout that time. Take a moment to get the bag as tight to the body as possible, particularly around your waist and you should be good with the KTek. Just my .02

[SDsmixer]

On 4/20/2024 at 3:41 PM, JustusWirth said:

Just in case you end up taking a look at the Stingray Harness: I am 168cm and pretty slim so I bought the small version of the harness as I was advised by the seller. I think the main differences between standard and small are the shorter shoulder parts and the shorter rigid spine. The harness doesn't hurt my shoulders at all (my bag contains a 888+SL-2, smart battery, 2 comteks and 2 Quad receivers), but I feel my back after some time. Still pretty comfortable though. My main issue with the harness is that the shoulder pads on the small version are too small for me to close the upper chest clip because it sits too high and would strangle me. I'm not sure if I should have bought the standard one or might need a mix of both (the upper part of the big one with the lower part of the small one) but it's not perfect at the moment.

I can recommend it anyway and you get used to putting it on, too.

Same story here. The bottom 2 clips are always a drag ....but have worn the rig for 10 hour shoots with minimal damage.  

[LuisT]

I have used the orca harness (previous model without hard rigid metal thingy) and it has been great.

 

After been completely drenched in sweat and squeaky i decided to go with the Ktek stingray harness after trying them all.

I am 1m80 and been using this bag since 3 years without problem.

 

I think it's great to save your back even though it takes a bit of time to put on. (vs other harnesses)