I have a case of the 'tubular body syndrome', where due to my weight issue (220 pounds of chocolate stashed in my gut), my waist and my hips are the same size.

That said, the economy SWK fits like a glove right off the bat (my first one at least).

Another way I can see where we could 'fake' the taper would be by simply using say the first hole in both waist straps, and then second hole in the hip strap.

It has worked for my type of body (tube, no taper between waist and hip), in that it feels tapered and it also looks that way (you know, narrower on top than at the bottom of the fell)