HELP - Zephyr Vest - Pull Pin Missing

[Ryan Setzer]

Hi all, after a year of use of my Zephyr I have recently found that the socket block bracket pull pin in missing. The photo with the drawing is my vest, and I have attached another photo as a reference image as to what it should look like.

Does anyone know where I can buy one in the United States? The EU Steadicam Store has them for pre-order and they do not ship to the US.

Buying another vest isn't really in the cards for me -- I'm a senior in college with next to no money to my name so I'm trying to find just the pin replacement.

Any and all help is immensely appreciated, need to figure this out asap due to a few big jobs coming up!

Thanks

[Tom Wills]

I would contact Tiffen support to see about getting either a replacement part, or sending in the vest to be serviced. From my memory (it’s been a little bit since I saw one of those in person) the entire pull-pin assembly needs to be pressed out of the hole in the plate in the vest and a new one would have to be pressed in. 

However, all is not lost for the moment. I forget if the holes on the spar of the vest that the pin goes into go all the way through, but if they do, run a bolt from the backside of the vest spar out through the socket block mounting plate and secure a nut on the front side. The pin is really there as a safety mechanism - the locking screw should be enough to hold the mounting plate in place, and the tension of the rig being off to one side should lock it even harder. But a bolt through the main spar would be a great replacement. 

[Ryan Setzer]

Tom, thank you so much dude! Your suggestion worked great. Waiting to hear back from support if they have a replacement part or if I need to send it to be serviced.

 

Appreciate all  your help!