I was able to look at one of the prototypes of the new Nomad today. While there are some differences between the one I looked at and the final version, I was told about them and they are very minor. I do like most of the characteristics of the new wing. It has been designed to maintain a low profile without trapping air anywhere. The bungees run under the wing, not over it like most people do with the current Nomads. I’ve been running my bungees under my wing for a couple years now and am glad to see Dive Rite is finally doing the same. And they’ve figured out a way to keep the wing low profile. However, any repairs/replacements will likely have to be done by Dive Rite because of the way this rig is designed.
I don’t understand all the exhaust valves. But keep in mind that this rig is being marketed to the general public. If the general public thinks they want more exhaust valves, then that’s what they get. Apparently, there are enough people that wanted them. I don’t like the position of the top exhaust valve . They put it there to keep the back of the wing as flat as possible, and to help prevent water accumulation in the wing. I haven’t had much of an issue with my exhaust being on top of my current Nomad wing. However, I’d love to have a recessed exhaust, and I think it would be easy to design on. Simply drop the exhaust inside the wing with the threads on the inside rather than outside like they currently are, and place the threads of the cover on the outside so it can be threaded into the wing component rather than on it. Place some mesh over top to prevent debris from falling in and problems are resolved. As for the water issue, whoever is having issues with too much water in their wing simply needs to learn how to exhaust air appropriately by pulling the dump cord for a shorter period of time. I don’t think changing the location of the exhaust is going to fix this “issue”. When the exhaust is open and there’s no air coming out, water will go in. The issue with having the exhaust on the front of the wing is you can’t dump all the air from the wing from a horizontal position. To get the exhaust in the highest position on the wing, you’ll need to go vertical. I’ve experienced this in the Hollis wing, which has the exhaust on top but it folds over toward the front when in worn. I may experiment with making a recessed exhaust like I described and see if I can install one in my current Nomad.
The webbing on the new Nomad is a continuous piece, but, in my opinion, that does away with one of the things I really like about the original Nomad. The shoulder webbing now routes to the rear of the rig rather than being able to be routed straight down. This position places the webbing directly under where the valves/1st stages sit and, for those of us that store backup lights on our shoulder webbing, traps the lights under the valve/1st stages. I don’t have room in my pockets for the backup lights and I don’t want to point them up on the shoulder webbing.
For those of you that don’t like the shoulder pads, they are incorporated into the design of this new rig. Personally, they don’t bother me. The dump cord for the top exhaust is routed through a channel in the shoulder pads. Anyone wanting to remove the shoulder pads would have to modify that, but it doesn’t appear it would be much of a problem.
Finally, the rig is one piece. I like the modularity of my Nomad. If I need to replace the harness or the butt plate, I can. Not so with the new Nomad. However, I don’t see how they could have made it modular.
All in all, I really like the design of the wing, with the exception of all the exhausts (the bottom ones are not necessary for me) and the position of the top one. I could see this working for me with some modifications. However, before spending the money on one, I’ll have to work on the exhaust modification and see if I can make that work. If so, I may end up getting one of these eventually.
