I still have my halcyon 18n pound lift wing from 1997 ( or whatever the first year they came out was
It is just as good today, as then....And I also have the 30 pound wing for when I use heavier tanks without a drysuit on...and the 40 lb for doubles....
- Build quality is fantastic
- Drag is as low as it can get, the Halcyon system could not be more streamlined.
- dumping when flat horizontal is so easy it is amazing---in other words, getting dead neutral is easy.
- Halcyon WAS the ONLY BP/Wing system to be developed purely for function, back in the late 90's, when ALL of the other manufacturers could care less about optimal functions for tech diving or advanced diving...dive rite would not do it, scubapro was not interested, forget Mares, or anyone else..Each was asked for the WKPP spec of what an optimal rig would be, none would have any part of it...Just Brownies, who made Halcyon as the response to the request.
- Cool innovative features in Halcyon....when I do a 90 foot drift dive in North palm Beach, we are out about 3 miles from shore...Between your back and the steel plate, is the MC storage pouch, that is like a comfortable pad, except it has room for me to stuff a Halcyon surf mat in it ( like an inflatable belly board, with an opv on it so it can be sent up--also has a wet notes sleeve for messages to boat)....this is much better than a sausage, and if I was to be going really far from shore, like Stuart where I might be out 25 miles from shore, Halcyon has a one man life raft I can stuff into this pocket....it can be just a signalling object like sausage and surf mat, or, if no boat is in sight, you can lie down it it and chill till you are located!!! These are ZERO DRAG solutions, as they are completely removed from hydrodynamic surfaces.
- Great Waranty service! Way back in 1998, when Jimmy abernethy first got into playing with sharks, I had talked him into a halcyon bp/wing, with the 30 pound wing....he was trying to feed a big reef shark with a fish on the end of a pole ( this was before he figgured out feeding sharks was stupid , and while he was playing with the reef shark, a BIG hammerhead came in from behind him, and bit down on his side and butt....fortunately for Jim, half the teeth hit the steel plate, the other half hit the wing, making a half circle outline of the bite radius....the Halcyon wing was so tough, it did not tear at all, but did get tiny punctures in it that prevented it from holding air well.....Jimmy ended up with little more than some skin punctures harldly worth putting neosporin on....He was very happy that the Wing and plate protected him so well ( after the 50 foot ride the hammer gave him and also happy that halcyon decided to Warranty the 30 pound wing, because they are not supposed to punture during dives
