SM Wing -- Characteristics?

[Dive-aholic]

That's not many wings to be claiming there's no other wing out there that works as well.

 

[tbone1004]

I'm open to suggestions, but I think Lamar hit it with that wing for the kind of diving we do. For the caves something like the Hollis or new UTD thing is fine, but not with some of stuff we have to deal with...
If they made a 40-50lb wing similar to the UTD wing, that'd be great. Wouldn't have the versatility of the Nomad, but would be better for dedicated SM

 

[CamG]

Greetings Peter I have a modified "bungeed" Rec wing that I have used cave line to secure the lower wing tips to my harness.
While it is placed under the Trans Pac it limits the lift considerably but I still have little trouble floating Faber 95's and 85's.
I have been diving mostly in a DS but this summer experimented with 7mm and just shorts.
DS not an issue at all, 7mm less buoyancy but still ok, just the shorts it was fun but not what I would want on a rough boat / shore dive.

I have looked at many wings and keep coming back to the Nomad EXP because it can be bungeed down or let out to accommodate larger tanks.
In the long and short if you had a Trans Pac I would consider building the harness, butt plate / bungees, and or use a REC wing till I got a Nomad EXP.

Just my opinion though and there are many great wings out there.
I would encourage you to try on and if possible test drive some of the new rigs.
Having tried on several I keep coming back to the Nomad but that is why there are more than one option.
It would be tough to beat the advice of Rob, he and others have been SMing for a while these guys know what they are talking about.
I am but a novice at best but learning all I can!

The journey is exciting and fun, enjoy!
CamG Keep diving....Keep training....Keep learning!

 

[Dive-aholic]

I'm open to suggestions, but I think Lamar hit it with that wing for the kind of diving we do. For the caves something like the Hollis or new UTD thing is fine, but not with some of stuff we have to deal with...
If they made a 40-50lb wing similar to the UTD wing, that'd be great. Wouldn't have the versatility of the Nomad, but would be better for dedicated SM

First, I do dive the Nomad, but I've had to make several modifications to it to make it work for small passage. As it is out of the box, when inflated, the Nomad bulges out way too much on top. It retains its lift this way, but makes it difficult to get through really small passage. I've made several modifications to my rig to keep the wing as low and streamlined as possible. I still haven't found the "perfect" sidemount wing. I don't know if one exists or could even exist. Once my wing finally gives (shouldn't be much longer now), I will be replacing it with a different type of wing. Hopefully, I'll know which one before the time comes!

 

[tbone1004]

I knew you dove the Nomad as you were the one who recommended it to me. I never said it was perfect, but it beats everything else out there.
I have the original expedition rig or whatever, and the slides on the edge of the wing are in slide locks to keep them tucked way down, and I put air hosing over the bungees to keep it tied into the D-rings.
That was the appeal of the UTD wing, much better streamlining for the tight passages, but the Nomad is nice especially out of cave country to be able to throw a set of doubles on with no problem. For me at least, I prefer diving doubles with the Nomad wing over a classic wing or any other. Not having wing wrap is nice, and the butt plate makes clipping stuff off much easier.
OP said he's not interested in it for caves, so the perfect streamlining isn't needed for the wicked tight passages, and for the wings that are out now, I really do think the Nomad is the best of them for what he needs, a lot of lift for big heavy steel tanks with drysuit.

 

[TSandM]

Oh, he IS interested in it for caves . . . but also for open water, because of course, we do far more open water diving than cave diving (to my everlasting disappointment). But I don't think either of us has ambitions to crawl around in a large amount of very small passage, so ultra-streamlining is probably not a big consideration.

 

[Dive-aholic]

I knew you dove the Nomad as you were the one who recommended it to me. I never said it was perfect, but it beats everything else out there.
I have the original expedition rig or whatever, and the slides on the edge of the wing are in slide locks to keep them tucked way down, and I put air hosing over the bungees to keep it tied into the D-rings.
That was the appeal of the UTD wing, much better streamlining for the tight passages, but the Nomad is nice especially out of cave country to be able to throw a set of doubles on with no problem. For me at least, I prefer diving doubles with the Nomad wing over a classic wing or any other. Not having wing wrap is nice, and the butt plate makes clipping stuff off much easier.
OP said he's not interested in it for caves, so the perfect streamlining isn't needed for the wicked tight passages, and for the wings that are out now, I really do think the Nomad is the best of them for what he needs, a lot of lift for big heavy steel tanks with drysuit.

My point is there are other wings on the market that can be held down and still have sufficient lift - Hollis SMS100 and Oxycheq Recon wings. While I see issues with those wings as well, I do see some advantages to them over the Nomad wing. Enough advantages that I'm considering replacing my current with with the SMS100 wing. Now when we talk about the harness, I definitely like the Transpac (Nomad harness) better than any other sidemount harness on the market.

 

[CamG]

Greetings Dive-aholic "Rob" I am interested in the Hollis SMS 100 as well.
Have you had the opportunity to play with one?
I have looked at it in pictures on line but not in my hands as of yet.
If you get one to experiment with please share your findings.
I will try to get one in my hands and ponder the same.

Safe diving all,
CamG Keep diving....Keep training....Keep learning!

 

[noreastDIVER84]

You can build a setup of your own, but it works out to be more cost effective to just buy the fully assembled Nomad or other alternative. I was going to do it with my bp/w setup and priced everything to build my own, and it was just better to get the Nomad and have two setups. I actually tried slinging both my tanks with the backplate and I found that even though they weigh less in the water, they still pulled down enough on my backplate to cause discomfort from it.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Oh, he IS interested in it for caves . . . but also for open water, because of course, we do far more open water diving than cave diving (to my everlasting disappointment). But I don't think either of us has ambitions to crawl around in a large amount of very small passage, so ultra-streamlining is probably not a big consideration.

That's hard to predict - in even my comparatively limited experience it's somewhat addictive - the smaller you go the smaller you start wanting to get. I'd have said exactly the same thing you've just said a couple cave trips ago, but now I'm feeling things in ever smaller passage that are making me think about going smaller and more streamlined than a Nomad. I've already pulled all the padding off it and modified the bungees to get slim the profile and it still feels a bit bulky. But the lift is nice with larger tanks and stages for "normal" diving.