Is 45# Pioneer wing an overkill?

[globaldiver]

It is true, with less weight needed around the waist, there is no real need for the harness. The harness is however great when diving the Transpak (with no weight integration). With a lot of weight on a waist belt, I have seen too many of them gliding down & hanging around the knees on drysuit divers. Having the belt under the croth strap would however prevent that, but lower back stress would still be an issue.

The extra weight in the back plate sounds like a good idea. I am progressing toward the 104 double configuration, but will also use the single configuration quite often for different situations.

Thanks for the info Pug.

By the way, do you know if the 9# Fred T plate can accomodate the new Pioneer wing without any need of a STA?

Sincerely

Anders

 

[Uncle Pug]

...you can piece together a set up from various vendors and just buy a Halcyon wing.

But for a little bit more you can just do one stop shopping and order direct from www.extreme-exposure.com (Halcyon's retail outlet) or www.fifthd.com.

Get a SS plate & harness and a 36# Pioneer for diving singles. A 27# wing might do but the 36# isn't that much more $$ and will give you margin.

 

[boomx5]

Would a 45# wing be overkill?

 

[O-ring]

Not sure what UP will have to say, but I can't imagine a situation where you would need a 45# wing with singles...I would think that would be overkill...

I could see using the 36# if you are larger or wear large amounts of weight...I dive a 27# with singles and most of my dive buddies do too and we range from about 5'9" 160 lbs to 6'2" 200...

 

[boomx5]

What about the Ranger or most of the other BC's out there? Many of them have lift greater than 45#, and most people that use them only dive singles.

 

[roakey]

Originally posted by boomx5
What about the Ranger or most of the other BC's out there? Many of them have lift greater than 45#, and most people that use them only dive singles.

The overlift problem among recreational equipment is ubiquitous. It's just one of many, many problems that recreational equipment exhibits.

Roak

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by boomx5
What about the Ranger or most of the other BC's out there? Many of them have lift greater than 45#, and most people that use them only dive singles.

Thge reason you need so much lift with a Ranger is to support the integrated weights... and the Ranger needs more weight because of its inherent buoyancy. That and most folks with Rangers and the like don't use them UW for buoyancy control... they use them as suface floatation... life jackets is what I call 'em.

Diving a BP and wing requires less overall weight hence less lift is need to carry the rig with a full tank at the surface without you in it. You really need very little lift for compensation purposes... especially with a drysuit. The greater need for lift is to keep the rig from sinking when you take it off at the surface. If you carry some of your weight on a belt instead of having it all integrated you can get by with a smaller wing.

That is why I can dive a 27# wing with a single steel LP104.

btw my weigth belt has 8# in it for cold water diving... how would you like to have a belt that light? You can.

All that said.... the 45# won't hurt... only slightly more drag than the 36#... Shane has one... I just prefer the 27#...

 

[O-ring]

Many of them have lift greater than 45#, and most people that use them only dive singles.

...many instructors overweight their students to keep them under control on the bottom (kneeling for skills) and to keep them from rocketing to the surface so students come out of OW thinking they need a ton of weight...the larger lift wings compensate for this overweighted trend that a lot of people carry on after their initial certification.

I just looked at my log and my first two OW checkout dives my instructor had 20# on my belt...now I dive with 4# on the belt and an SS bp (fresh)...I think she was trying to drown me

 

[The Chairman]

Not sure that I buy this... most students overweight themselves at the beginning. They go to the dive shop to buy weights and they sell them 10% of their body weight. Glad I don't need 26 pounds to sink! They are stressed and tend to hyperventilate at first, neccesitating more weight to drag their butts down. As the "thrill" of breathing under water diminishes somewhat and they finally relax, we find them able to take off more and more weight DURING the class. It might be hard to believe, but I encourage this! I make a point of doing buoyancy checks before, during and at the end of each class.

Most instructors THAT I KNOW prefer not to overweight their students. I would not presume to extrapolate that axiom to all instructors, but for the most part me and my homies do our best to get these guys and gals neutral.

 

[Waterlover]

Good thing you didn't drown..... PADI insurance would have gone up even higher