Crow Harness - black hardware durability?

[happylandings]

I'm getting ready to order Crow harnesses for my project. I like the look of the all black hardware slightly more than the standard silver but I worry about the black finish wearing or chipping over time. Can anyone comment with experience on this? Thanks!

 

[pilot28906]

2.5 years and mine still look new.

 

[Bsquared]

2.5 years and mine still look new.

Same for me. Still looks like new after several years and lots of use.

 

[DMFenster]

Get the black HW option. Without it, they will rust - mine did.

 

[Carlos151]

7.5 years, black buckles still looks new.

 

[jcarne]

2.5 years and still looks new on mine.

 

[MacCool]

Not a problem.

 

[happylandings]

Great, thanks for all the input! Sounds like I've no reason to be concerned.

 

[Flyhud]

This is my Crow buckle, they are about three years old. The black finish will definitely chip. This is an RV-4 so when removing them, they come off of the seat and clunk on the floor, spar etc. which causes this. I imagine on the side by side airplanes they would probably fare better since there really isn’t anyway they could fall off of the seat as they would in a tandem. In spite of them not looking new anymore, I absolutely love this setup.

 

[FlyinTiger]

Stop dropping them

The black finish will get banged up if they are dropped. Tandem or side by side simply put the buckle behind yourself on the seat before exiting. I even just simply buckle them behind me, then, when getting in unbuckle them and put them on.

The nice thing is each part plugs in independently to the center buckle. No reason to drop anything when putting them on or taking them off. The old “all in one buckle” from other companies are clumsy and had to capture the shoulder harnesses before the lap belt could be latched. Lots of dropped buckles trying to do this…

Love my Crow harnesses.

 

[jbDC9]

This is my Crow buckle, they are about three years old. The black finish will definitely chip. This is an RV-4 so when removing them, they come off of the seat and clunk on the floor, spar etc. which causes this. I imagine on the side by side airplanes they would probably fare better since there really isn’t anyway they could fall off of the seat as they would in a tandem. In spite of them not looking new anymore, I absolutely love this setup.

My front seat (RV-8) buckle looks exactly like that, some chips and wear. Do I care? Nah! Love these Crow harnesses.