What's the Largest Size Wing You Would Ever Use?

[cool_hardware52]

8" doubles get a 55-60lb wing

7" doubles get a 40-45lb wing

Singles get a 30lb wing.

Done and done.

Tank Diameter plays no part in required lift capacity.

Exposure suit buoyancy remains the prime driver of required lift capacity.

Should 2 x LP 95's (8 inch tanks) with thin undies in a shell suit demand a 60 lbs wing?

Should 2 x HP 120's (7 inch tanks) with 4th Element Artic undies be used with a 40 lbs wing?

Tobin

 

[PfcAJ]

Tank Diameter plays no part in required lift capacity.

Exposure suit buoyancy remains the prime driver of required lift capacity.

Should 2 x LP 95's (8 inch tanks) with thin undies in a shell suit demand a 60 lbs wing?

Should 2 x HP 120's (7 inch tanks) with 4th Element Artic undies be used with a 40 lbs wing?

Tobin

Yeah, pretty much, because if I take the stuff off in the water full tanks, plate, regs, lights, etc weight the same no matter what undergarment I'm wearing.

Balanced rig and all that.

 

[cool_hardware52]

Yeah, pretty much, because if I take the stuff off in the water full tanks, plate, regs, lights, etc weight the same no matter what undergarment I'm wearing.

Balanced rig and all that.

Details please. As in specifics.

Tobin

 

[Jack Hammer]

8" doubles get a 55-60lb wing

7" doubles get a 40-45lb wing

Singles get a 30lb wing.

Done and done.

For the tank sizes I use this works great for me too and how I pick which wing to use. The 45# wing I tried with HP130s/LP104s could barely keep me at the surface with full tanks. (Personal bouyancy is a factor too)

 

[PfcAJ]

I think you'd agree that *generally speaking* most 8" tanks are more negative when full than 7" tanks? Right? Like double 104s are more negative than al80s. I'm sure you can find some specific case where this isn't accurate, but generally speaking, I think it's legit.

When full, the wing needs to be able to float the tanks (assembled...) without your buoyant self in the rig, right? Right. At this point what undies you're wearing doesn't matter. You could be Michelin Man with a snowsuit on under your drysuit and it wouldn't matter because you're not in the rig.

Heavy ass steel tanks (see paragraph 1, those 8" bad boys that'll give ya a hernia if you look at em sideways) don't float so well with a 40lb wing. A 55lb wing works much better. Accordingly, a 55-60lb wing is almost always quite wide on a pair of 7" tanks. It's a less pronounced taco effect like when someone uses a doubles wing with a single. A 40lb wing will float them adequately, too, hence the recommendation.

 

[PfcAJ]

For the tank sizes I use this works great for me too and how I pick which wing to use. The 45# wing I tried with HP130s/LP104s could barely keep me at the surface with full tanks. (Personal bouyancy is a factor too)

Oh come on man, you've gotta get out the slide rule and come up with the precise wing lift needed. What if you ate a burrito the night before and had a little extra bean enduced buoyancy!?

 

[cool_hardware52]

I think you'd agree that *generally speaking* most 8" tanks are more negative when full than 7" tanks? Right? Like double 104s are more negative than al80s. I'm sure you can find some specific case where this isn't accurate, but generally speaking, I think it's legit.

When full, the wing needs to be able to float the tanks (assembled...) without your buoyant self in the rig, right? Right. At this point what undies you're wearing doesn't matter. You could be Michelin Man with a snowsuit on under your drysuit and it wouldn't matter because you're not in the rig.

Heavy ass steel tanks (see paragraph 1, those 8" bad boys that'll give ya a hernia if you look at em sideways) don't float so well with a 40lb wing. A 55lb wing works much better. Accordingly, a 55-60lb wing is almost always quite wide on a pair of 7" tanks. It's a less pronounced taco effect like when someone uses a doubles wing with a single. A 40lb wing will float them adequately, too, hence the recommendation.

The primary function of a Buoyancy Compensator is to Compensate for things that loose buoyancy, or have the potential to loose buoyancy. That's pretty much only the diver's exposure suit...........

If Diver A is using a suit that is initially 32 lbs buoyant and Diver B is using a suit that is 18 lbs buoyant, Diver A will need a larger wing, regardless if his tanks are 7 inch in diameter or 4 inches in diameter or 8 inch in diameter or are perfect spheres 14.2 inches in diameter.........



Tobin

 

[cool_hardware52]

Oh come on man, you've gotta get out the slide rule and come up with the precise wing lift needed. What if you ate a burrito the night before and had a little extra bean enduced buoyancy!?

Wing calcs are simple integer addition and subtraction, no need for a slide rule.....



Tobin

 

[cool_hardware52]

Accordingly, a 55-60lb wing is almost always quite wide on a pair of 7" tanks. It's a less pronounced taco effect like when someone uses a doubles wing with a single. A 40lb wing will float them adequately, too, hence the recommendation.

Another fallacy. The center to center distance on a set of doubles is a function of the manifold and bands used. Nearly all modern manifolds are 215 mm center to center, or about 8.46 inches.

Regardless of the diameter of the tanks any doubles built up using 215 mm manifolds will require a wing with a ~9 inch wide center panel, and the resulting "Taco" or tank wrap difference between 7 inch and 8 inch tanks is trivial.

It's true that some older manifolds were narrower, 185mm was common, but these can't be used with tank large than 7 inches, these narrow manifolds are becoming uncommon.

Manifold spacing can impact tank wrap, but tank diameter has almost no effect.

Somewhere I have some pics that clearly show the trivial impacts of 7 vs 8 inch tanks on tank wrap. Maybe I'll dig them up tomorrow.

Tobin

 

[PfcAJ]

The primary function of a Buoyancy Compensator is to Compensate for things that loose buoyancy, or have the potential to loose buoyancy. That's pretty much only the diver's exposure suit...........

If Diver A is using a suit that is initially 32 lbs buoyant and Diver B is using a suit that is 18 lbs buoyant, Diver A will need a larger wing, regardless if his tanks are 7 inch in diameter or 4 inches in diameter or 8 inch in diameter or are perfect spheres 14.2 inches in diameter.........



Tobin

A drysuit doesn't loose buoyancy. It stays the same because there's a button on it where you add air to it.

Go take some heavy ass tanks, put a baby wing on them, and plop em in a pool. No floaty with a small wing.

When the rig has a diver in it, it's purpose is to float you on the surface (easier because divers are typically buoyant) and to adjust for consumed gas. Tanks are heaviest in the beginning. You're compensating for the negative buoyancy of the breathing gas with the bouyancy compensator.