MSA Swivel harness

[redtrucks]

Has anyone purchased or used the new swivel harness on a MSA SCBA?

How does it compare to the Drager?

[jpsmith2]

Just did a six month evaluation on the MSA FireHawk with the 6-way lumbar swivel, and wear Drager AirBoss PSS100's at work.

I like the MSA much better.

I think it is because the pack is 2.5 pounds lighter than Drager's. So there isn't as much weight on your back.

Drager tends to give me the feeling that the bottle sits further away from my back, changing my center of gravity, which adds to the perceived weight.

Drager isn't the heaviest pack on the market (the NxG2 holds that title) but it "feels" the heaviest to me.

As a skinny guy, I had a better time cinching up the waist belt on the MSA, probably because it is less bulky than Drager's. And felt as though I could get the weight on my hips better.

As far as movement, etc... I can't say I preferred one over the other. They both seem to move with you.

One note on the Drager, if you rotate the assembly to hook the waist belt between a downed firefighters legs as is recommended in certain evolutions, the assembly can disconnect from the backplate.