I had exact same problem regardless of placement with the HSS system....it sure as heck is unnacceptable to give up that much...heckI didnt wear mine half the time for this reason....until i used the rope/knot combo...it only added about 6" of slack, the way i do it, but thats all thats needed to be able to shoot anywhere.

GMATT is right though, staying in one piece is priority numero uno, luckily you dont have to sacrifice anything in this case.