What is the purpose of a bungeed bladder

[rfwoodvt]

Just beginning my Explorations into BPW setups. I seen reference to bungee cords on bladders and haven't quite figured out what their specific purposes.

Any enlightenment would be appreciated.

 

[Shabaday]

To help them "expel" air easier and to keep larger bladders "closer" to the BP/W trying to help prevent "taco" effect of a larger bladder Not that it matters but I don't use bungeed bladders

 

[PEDiver]

Would recommend staying away from bungeed (bondage) wings. They can actually trap air in the wing. There are an abundance of non-bondage wings on the market from a variety of brands.

 

[tbone1004]

two types of bungees. One is a really not great choice and is synonymous with OMS, also referred to as bondage wings. You can see in the image below that these actually constrict the outside of the bladder going around the entirety of the wing. The original "bungee" was not actually shock cord but was medical tubing and took some serious effort to fully inflate, was very difficult if not impossible for most people to orally inflate this wing fully because of the compression from the tubing. The wing below was entirely excessive in terms of its lift capacity and if it was left without the bungees in place would be extremely difficult to manage with a set of doubles. You can see that it has slots for tank straps though and it was also used for single tank diving and it is exceedingly stupid to try to use one of these on anything other than a big set of doubles where the tanks can help keep the wing contained.

The other style is what Dive Rite uses and is more for shaping the wing when it is empty. This uses thin bungee cord and can be easily adjusted or removed. If you size your wing appropriately it shouldn't be necessary though on the Nomad XT it's certainly appreciated for some shaping and trim adjustments. I have mine removed on my Classic wings because I don't find them necessary but I don't have any strong opinions on whether people leave them in or not.

If you are shopping for a single tank wing, very few of those will have bungee on them and most of the newer designs are pretty narrow to begin with so there is no need for them.

 

[Manatee Diver]

two types of bungees

I think the Oxycheq/VDH bungee is a third type, as it is much more unobtrusive than even the DR bungees.

 

[The Chairman]

Bungees are used to keep the wing under control. They're like speedos: some people love them and others think they are of the devil, with lots of people in between. Divers of yore were often bullied for using them, even here on SB. I have a few hundred dives on them and never experienced any of the issues that were hypothesized. When asked, most of the critics had never even dove one, so how would they know? It seems they heard it from a friend, who heard it from another friend's instructor that once upon a time on a Great Lakes wreck found in the Florida Keys, this one guy...

 

[Dann-Oh]

two types of bungees.

If you are shopping for a single tank wing, very few of those will have bungee on them and most of the newer designs are pretty narrow to begin with so there is no need for them.

There is also a third setup for bungees its is used on the OMS Deep Ocean 2.0, seen below. This setup has the bungee internal to the wing but external to the bladder, they say it is to limit the lift capacity (48-60lbs lift) by restricting how much the bladder can expand, OMS also markets this as a hybrid wing for use with both Singles and Doubles. In my experience the wing is too large for the following single tanks sizes AL63, LP72; I have also used it with a HP100 and it was okay. I dont like how far away from me the lower dump valves are when on a singe back gas. I havent tried doubles as I dive sidemount most of the time. but I also changed out the Deep Ocean 2.0 for a smaller wing the OMS 32lb Performance Mono Wing, Im not too sure when Ill get it in the water but Im looking forward to doing it soon.

 

[Eric802]

I've got a 32lb HOG wing and it has the "#2" type from tbone1004's post. I haven't noticed any difficulty in orally inflating the wing. I don't know if it makes a huge difference but I suppose it keeps things a little more pulled in when the wing is empty. The bungee would be easy enough to take off if I wanted.

 

[stretchthepenn]

two types of bungees. One is a really not great choice and is synonymous with OMS, also referred to as bondage wings. <snip> You can see that it has slots for tank straps though and it was also used for single tank diving and it is exceedingly stupid to try to use one of these on anything other than a big set of doubles where the tanks can help keep the wing contained.

I halfway disagree. When I was strictly a recreational diver, I bought a used OMS Trieste "bondage" wing paired with an OMS semi-BCD-style harness, and I used that rig in a single-tank recreational setup with an AL80 tank. It ruled. Ultra-stable, easy to orally inflate, zero tacoing...and the integrated weight pouches were Teh Awsum. The only downside was the rig being kinda bulky out of the water. I halfway regret selling it.

That being said, I also currently own a different OMS Trieste wing, but I'm just not groovin' on it with my backplate-and-harness, and I think I'mma sell it.

 

[Wibble]

Were these 'bondage' wings popular in the past due to the weight of torch batteries -- lead acid back in the day?

Nowadays smaller wings are normal, say 18kg/40lbs.

Always remember seeing someone walking across a car park with an OMS wing fully inflated -- think that was 98 lbs! It looked like he had an inflatable dinghy on his back; just lacked the 4hp outboard.