DESIGN OF THE STANDARD BELT

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 1, 2 January 1937, Page 4

DESIGN OF THE STANDARD BELT

A COMPLAINT FROM WAIHI CLUB

"The trouble seems to be that the cut of the front is wrong," wrote the secretary of the club, Mr. W. C. Collier. "If the neck strap is shortened it will not go over the head, and at the necessary length to do this the belt rides down to the short ribs and almost suflbcat.es the beltman. He is constantly halting the line to make adjustments. We have tried it on all sizes of men, and the result is the same.

"It seems that the front wants cutting much lower, so that the neck strap ! can be shortened to make the belt ride up naturally on the chest when being towed in. I should be glad to have your comments on the matter, because the belt as it is is useless to us, and we have resorted to our old belt, which is much more comfortable, although it came out of the Ark." SAME AS AUSTRALIAN. The following reply was sent to the club by Mr. Alex. Ross, the convener of the gear committee of the association:— "Your remarks have been carefully noted, but to date we have had no similar complaints from other districts or clubs. When the standard belt was adopted it was not without considerable trial before the final design was approved. "You will find on examination that the New Zealand belt is practicaßy identical with the Australian belt. The total length and width are the same; the front corks are 2Jin long by 6in in place of 2Jin by 6in in the Australian; the back or end corks are identical in both belts, but in the New Zealand belt these corks are not located at the extreme of the belt but placed an inch from the end. Regarding the neck strap of which you complain, the New Zealand belt has the same length and width of strap as the Australian, but the method of adjusting is different in our case. "The Australian strap has slip buckles for adjusting length. It was found that these slip buckles became extremely difficult to move after exposure in use, therefore the "slip through loop and tie" principle was adopted. New Zealand standard belts have now been in use for over two seasons. At the New Zealand championships at Dunedin and Taranaki the conditions were about the worst possible, but no complaint was re-, ceived by the council relative to defective fittings of Standard belts.

A SAFETY-RELEASE BELT. ' "If you refer to your copy of the proceedings of the annual general meeting . . . you will see Where a recommendation was passed instructing the gear committee to investigate the possibility of adopting a belt with) a safety release clip and pin. During the general discussion -the 'standard belt was discussed freely, by delegates, ; and" it was mentioned that it would not correctly flit some of the "super he-men," but it was agreed that the same position would arise with the Australian belt. However, the gear committee is also investigating this point.

'"At all times my committee welcomes constructive criticism and appreciates fully any matter which will help in improving gear and equipment. In your case, might we suggest you thread the end of the strap into the loop from the outside of the loop, then tie. Thus the loop will be wider

(By "Bellman.") What is probably the first complaint relating to the new standard gear as approved by the New Zealand Surf Life-saying Association was received at a recent meeting of the council of tha association. The letter, which was from the Waihi Surf and,Lifesaving Club, concerned the comfort of the standard belt. It was considered by the gear committee that the trouble had been brought about by a faulty way of adjustment on the part of the club. No belt can be designed that will fit equally well all types of swimmers. Unfortunately, a standard life-saver lias not yet been designed, so that the equipment has to strike an average.

than if you thread from the inside t» the outside."