What harness is everyone using? I am looking to a very lightweight 4 or 5 point harness to use as a passive braking surge effect. Most important thing is comfort and ease of disconnecting and connecting. What is everyone using? I ordered a cheap 4point nylon harness from eBay that was from China but it is way too tough/stiff that makes it far too uncomfortable to use in a sim. I want something silky smooth.
Silky Smooth Harness?
- Thread starter DotComRich
- Start date
A word of advice. If you want a good harness, just get the legit ones that go in the car. The cheaper of the legit ones. I've had 2 that are trash from eBay even though they look like decent ones. I know it's a bit expensive but if you plan on keeping it and living with it, it's worth it.
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Ive had a knock off set of 3" Sparco's from AliExpress for 5+ years now....Zero issues. I dont see the point in forking over 2-300$ for a retail set if you buy the right set.
3" wide + Cam lock = Good
2" wide + Seat belt style clicker = Baaad
IF there's one complaint i could have with the cheaper set...is the fact you cant Tighten the belts from Fully loose with "1 hand" Once tightened you can snug them with 1 hand, but from Full loose after exiting the rig and loosening the belts off, you physically need to lift the metal chunk thats tightening on your chest and pull out the slack, as the friction pulling straight Down with 1 hand doesn't work.
Small complaint if any, but thought i would mention it.
3" wide + Cam lock = Good
2" wide + Seat belt style clicker = Baaad
IF there's one complaint i could have with the cheaper set...is the fact you cant Tighten the belts from Fully loose with "1 hand" Once tightened you can snug them with 1 hand, but from Full loose after exiting the rig and loosening the belts off, you physically need to lift the metal chunk thats tightening on your chest and pull out the slack, as the friction pulling straight Down with 1 hand doesn't work.
Small complaint if any, but thought i would mention it.
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Well this is the thing. I've had 2 knock off sets that absolutely don't hold tight when the rig is in motion. The shoulder straps come loose and kill the purpose of having it in the first place. I recently found out that the better sets have a spring inside the buckle that keep the tension held even when you're bouncing up and down. I've managed to 'fix' my current harness by adding some cable ties, cutting off any excess once fully pulled, to act as a pseudo spring. This stops the buckle bouncing loose in motion, but also makes the harness annoying to use once you're getting out.
So yeah, no motion? Any set will probably do. With motion? You really do need a set that is going to hold the tension on the straps. This is basically the only difference that I can see in them, but it's one that's pretty much a necessity.
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I ordered a Jegs 5-point with my GS-5 and found it to be alright, but the 3" sub belt posed a problem when left foot braking and it is a pain to get into.
Based on that I just ordered a 4 point sparco harness. It is the seat belt style fastener which I have some concern about, but after dealing with the cam lock the single connection point (vs 4/5) appealed to me. As does the fact the shoulder straps are attached to the lap belts. The 5-point lap belt have a tendency to fall out through the belt holes in the seat. Also, racing without wearing the harness for any reason is impossible with the big camlock sub belt between your legs.
Also ordered some shoulder pads, happy to update when it arrives if anyone is curious.
Based on that I just ordered a 4 point sparco harness. It is the seat belt style fastener which I have some concern about, but after dealing with the cam lock the single connection point (vs 4/5) appealed to me. As does the fact the shoulder straps are attached to the lap belts. The 5-point lap belt have a tendency to fall out through the belt holes in the seat. Also, racing without wearing the harness for any reason is impossible with the big camlock sub belt between your legs.
Also ordered some shoulder pads, happy to update when it arrives if anyone is curious.
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Got a pic of the Questionable Buckles ? I cant say ive ever felt my buckles loosen off over time to be honest....Especially not to the level of noticing them being loose after a session, and ive ran some aggressive motion in the past. (sorry spine)
Yes it appears the newer Gen of belts have a variety of spring mech's or a 2nd cam that needs to be released to loosen. Technically With the amount of people with Motion, racing without belts, ANY belts will do for now, lol
Hilarious watching folks Bounce about in their seat only feeling a fraction of the data due to their bodies acting as springs and counteracting the motion. lol
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I would disagree with that. I would rather have no harness than one that I have to tighten every pit straight. I've had 2 of them and they are a nightmare. I've ordered another one that seems to have those springs to keep the buckles under the tension to pull them to. What happens is basically the bouncing of the motion simulates you actually loosening the shoulder straps to get out of the seat, but without you wanting it to.
As far as I could see, it was the only difference in the buckles compared to people that said their harness did not move at all under motion. Maybe I just got really unlucky with shitty buckles on both harnesses, but I honestly would rather nothing compared to something that ended up flopping around and annoying me to the point of distraction.
Notice the cable ties I've had to put where I've seen other harnesses have springs. This is to keep the pressure on the separated buckle when pulled tight. Otherwise it just works itself loose while in motion. This works, but it's annoying to undo and also there are sharp edges on the cut bit which can scratch if you forget about them being there.
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Welcome to the wonderful world of harnesses.
If you have a direct drive wheel you have so many memorable moments to look forward to, they all involve spending ages strapping yourself in, loading the game, maybe putting on your VR headset to then realise you forgot to turn the power on to your wheel and having to unstrap yourself and do it all again.
If you have a direct drive wheel you have so many memorable moments to look forward to, they all involve spending ages strapping yourself in, loading the game, maybe putting on your VR headset to then realise you forgot to turn the power on to your wheel and having to unstrap yourself and do it all again.
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Yep, that's me..!
Re the actual harness, my £30 4-point Sparco knock-off from eBay is fantastic. Hasn't worked loose once.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/382624492545
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Im also on the Sparco Knock offs......the Area's where my belts tighten up on the knurled shaft are kinda fuzzy and no matter how hard i pull, there's no give at all.
Having never experienced this loosening, didn't realize it was such an issue, were both your sets the same Sabelt knock offs Anton ? where did they come from ?
Your belt seems to have a unique weave to it, Where as mine and Mascot have a consistent weave across the whole belt, What is the thickness of the belts in a non worn area? Im thinking maybe the retailer of your belts used a belt that is slightly thinner and therefor isn't biting againsty the knurled shaft as hard as the Belts we have ?
Fwiw the belts on mine are 1.6mm
Having never experienced this loosening, didn't realize it was such an issue, were both your sets the same Sabelt knock offs Anton ? where did they come from ?
Your belt seems to have a unique weave to it, Where as mine and Mascot have a consistent weave across the whole belt, What is the thickness of the belts in a non worn area? Im thinking maybe the retailer of your belts used a belt that is slightly thinner and therefor isn't biting againsty the knurled shaft as hard as the Belts we have ?
Fwiw the belts on mine are 1.6mm
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Thats actually the one I bought, however the second I strapped myself into it I wanted out it was so uncomfortable. Those straps are way too thick and hard and just dug into my neck. Sure I could get some shoulder covers for them but still this belt is far too big and clunky for what I want. A simple 2inch belt with a much light/softer material is what I am after.
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My belts were eBay belts. Pretty sure both came from there, at first I thought I got really unlucky with the first one and tried one slightly more expensive and nicer looking, albeit very similar to the first one. They are not listed as Sabelt knock offs, that is just the pads that I bought to go over the top of them. They are a no name harness.
I've ordered a third one in light of this conversation. Most expensive one I've bought but still not bad at 125 AUD. The pics show the little spring in them, so if they turn up and don't tighten I'm just going to send it back and be done with it.
Not sure if anyone else has experienced the Xbox / PS3/4 controller knock offs, on eBay? When eBay first became a thing, you'd always look there for cheaper sellers than what you'd normally buy from the shops. Well anyone looking for a cheaper controller was surprised with a very shitty Chinese knock off of the original pads. They look exactly the same but as soon as your skin touched the pad you knew something wasn't right. Point is, the only way to have known is to have bought a couple thinking you just got sent a dud and realised that it's an actual thing to sell really cheap imitation pads to unknowing, or uncaring, people. From then on I only ever bought pads with GENUINE in the title and description.
I've ordered a third one in light of this conversation. Most expensive one I've bought but still not bad at 125 AUD. The pics show the little spring in them, so if they turn up and don't tighten I'm just going to send it back and be done with it.
Not sure if anyone else has experienced the Xbox / PS3/4 controller knock offs, on eBay? When eBay first became a thing, you'd always look there for cheaper sellers than what you'd normally buy from the shops. Well anyone looking for a cheaper controller was surprised with a very shitty Chinese knock off of the original pads. They look exactly the same but as soon as your skin touched the pad you knew something wasn't right. Point is, the only way to have known is to have bought a couple thinking you just got sent a dud and realised that it's an actual thing to sell really cheap imitation pads to unknowing, or uncaring, people. From then on I only ever bought pads with GENUINE in the title and description.
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Fair point about the webbing, it's definitely on the thick/stiff side compared to 'legit' race harnesses and production car seat belts. I don't feel any discomfort though, but that's maybe because the shoulder straps feed through ports on my R333 seat and are positioned nicely.
Re 2" vs 3" webbing, all the advice I saw was to go for 3" webbing to spread the load and for better comfort as a result.
The only negative I can find with my £30 Sparco replica is that a simple tug on the shoulder straps won't tighten/lock them, it's a two-handed job to feed the strap through then pull the slack. I think it's due to the design of the buckles. The lap buckles are much better and can simply be pulled tight. This isn't an issue for me as I have the harness at one constant setting and connect up to the cam lock 'slack' with the motion rig down. Raising the rig then tensions the whole harness, which kind of feels like I imagine a joint of beef feels when being vacuum packed in plastic.
But no, it never slips or needs retightening. I have heavy-duty springs on the base attachment which also help during motion.
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