Hooker Harness Buckle style Rotary or Military?

penguin · #1 02-15-2006, 11:07 AM

I was certain that I was going to get a Military buckle for my Hooker Harness, but with the excellent group buy discount the price of a Rotary buckle is now much more affordable ($490 for the pair). My question is does anyone have a close-up picture of a Rotary buckle, or has anyone used one and can comment on their experience?

I have used the Military buckle and found it no problem, but see the potential advantages of the Rotary buckle as:
- Easier to engage all the straps, Military buckle requires all straps to be positioned on left lap strap before inserting into latch on right lap strap, I imagine that with the Rotary buckle the straps could be plugged in one at a time?
- A little more comfortable in the cockpit - Military latch occasionally gets in the way slightly.
- Doesn't hurt your butt so much when you get in and sit on it.

Potential disadvantage is that the thickness of the Rotary buckle will be slightly objectionable.

Anyone have an experiences or pictures to share?

Yours, Pete

TerryPancake · #2 02-15-2006, 01:30 PM

Hey Pete, I have used the rotary style for the 15 years at work. I like them a very much. I had a race car in college that had the military style and they were fine but I'd have to say I prefer the rotary style today. Maybe because I have about 9000 hours under my belt using these. I noticed too that passengers don't look at them like a pig looking at a wrist watch. Rotary are real self explanitory. I don't think either are a bad choice.

aadamson · #3 02-15-2006, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by penguin

Anyone have an experiences or pictures to share?

You mean this one....from the Hooker site?

I've found that pictures are usually scaled for the web, but if you right click and download, you *usually* (not always), get the larger version. That's what I did with this one. Unfortunately, the contrast of colors makes it a little hard to see...

These are a friends Lancair legacy...with Hooker Sports, with Rotary and Inertial

Hope this helps

penguin · #4 02-15-2006, 04:41 PM

Alan,

Thanks very much for the pictures - just what I wanted. I did the same thing with the picture from the Hooker web site, with the same result. The pictures from the Legacy are exactly what I was after. The rotary buckle doesn't look at thick as I thought it might be, so I think I will order a set. Thanks once again, and to Terry.

Pete

Gunter Malich · #5 02-15-2006, 05:57 PM

I just went through the same "Military vs Rotary" decision process today, while making my order with Scot at Hooker. Even with the group buy discount, the rotary still adds a good 75% to the cost...... but on the other hand, it's pretty easy to use, looks good, and doesn't have the potential for inadvertantly catching the latch and opening it. Decisions, decisions...

Well, after some humming and hawing, I just asked Scot what his choice would be. Interestingly, he preferred the military latch since it is simple, and all of its guts can be seen. The rotary has springs and stuff hidden away inside, which in his opinion could get jammed or suffer FOD damage without it being apparent ahead of time.

It's food for thought that hadn't occured to me before. I ended up ordering the military latch -- that money saved can be added to my autopilot fund!

Gunter
RV-8 Fuselage,
Waterloo, Ont

Highflight · #6 02-15-2006, 07:34 PM

aadamson,
On the Lancair above with the Sport Hookers; is that a set ordered without the pads or did the owner decide to take them off and not use them?

aadamson · #7 02-15-2006, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Highflight

aadamson,
On the Lancair above with the Sport Hookers; is that a set ordered without the pads or did the owner decide to take them off and not use them?

I'm not sure, it might have been ordered without, or he took them off, either way, I didn't notice that they weren't there.

Broken-wrench · #8 02-15-2006, 07:47 PM

Alan Clean nice cockpit! Where did you get the sticks? Do you like them and are the dark grey Belts?

fl-mike · #9 02-15-2006, 09:56 PM

Is Hooker using Schroth rotary buckles again? I know they quit using them a while back and had another style rotary buckle. The newer one is/was a bit bulkier. Might want to check it out.

rv8ch · #10 02-16-2006, 12:24 AM

Not sure what Hooker is using now, but here is what I got with mine ordered from Mark Frederick last summer: (click picture for more info)