What wings are you using with your Freedom Plate?

[Bison Ravi]

I use my freedom plate with a oxycheq extreme 18lbs wing. As I pretty much only dive in tropical waters with a 3mil wetsuit, it fits perfect. I don't really need weights, but if I want to be a bit more negative I use 4lbs in pockets on the aluminium cam bands. I don't need to use a crotch strap because of how well the plate fits me.

The wing fits perfectly with the plate. I sandwiched the wing in between the plate and the tank rail, with the cam bands passing in the slots. Everything lines up perfectly, I didn't even have to remove the roll tabs from the wing, the rail fits nicely in between them.

It makes for a very light and streamlined minimalist setup, especially since I don't bother with an spg, only a transmitter for my computer and I use a 40" hose for my primary and bungeed secondary on a short hose. I also put the smallest corrugated hose I could find.

The wing is very small, but except at the surface I almost never use it. Because it is so narrow, it is not as stable in the roll axis as other wings, but personnally I love it, giving me the impression I don't have anything on my back. If they made an even smaller wing i'd probably buy it; even at the surface I never inflate the wing completely.

Very easy to travel with. Could be lighter with an aluminium wing, but being able to dive without weights is worth the extra weight in the luggage. The wing doesnt roll on itself for travel like other wings, but it's pretty much bulletproof.

here are a few pics:

 

[maniago]

View attachment 182489

Wow. The Oxy is narrow. Looks like the plate is right at its edges. Interesting.....

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I use my freedom plate with a oxycheq extreme 18lbs wing. As I pretty much only dive in tropical waters with a 3mil wetsuit, it fits perfect. I don't really need weights, but if I want to be a bit more negative I use 4lbs in pockets on the aluminium cam bands. I don't need to use a crotch strap because of how well the plate fits me.

The wing fits perfectly with the plate. I sandwiched the wing in between the plate and the tank rail, with the cam bands passing in the slots. Everything lines up perfectly, I didn't even have to remove the roll tabs from the wing, the rail fits nicely in between them.

It makes for a very light and streamlined minimalist setup, especially since I don't bother with an spg, only a transmitter for my computer and I use a 40" hose for my primary and bungeed secondary on a short hose. I also put the smallest corrugated hose I could find.

The wing is very small, but except at the surface I almost never use it. Because it is so narrow, it is not as stable in the roll axis as other wings, but personnally I love it, giving me the impression I don't have anything on my back. If they made an even smaller wing i'd probably buy it; even at the surface I never inflate the wing completely.

Very easy to travel with. Could be lighter with an aluminium wing, but being able to dive without weights is worth the extra weight in the luggage. The wing doesnt roll on itself for travel like other wings, but it's pretty much bulletproof.

here are a few pics: View attachment 182489View attachment 182490View attachment 182491

In that last pic it almost looks like you're freediving, except for the reg in your mouth.
You can't even see the rig it's so narrow.

 

[Murf-Diver]

It's my personal opinion that it's no big deal to set up a rig with loose components without needing to have the wing attached to the plate like the thinking would be for a jacket or back inflate unit hanging in an LDS.
Pretty much all the side to side slop is gone and the components pretty much self center when cinched down. The height adjustments is where there is still movement. What I do is loosely snap down the top cam band and tug on the different components to get them where I want then go for the final tight snap down.
.

Hi Eric
Sorry but I must disagree about this. I believe a STA or book screws to secure the plate to the wing is essential.
I used your freedom plate (the model before the contour) with an Oxycheq V #40 for about two years and tried every single layout but in the end I gave up because the movement of the plate, wing and straps every time I changed the bottle was like setting up you gear for the first time..everytime. Please don't get me wrong the FP is the most comfortable stainless plate out there but the advantage of the extra comfort does not outweigh the hassle. The final straw for me was on a liveabord in Egypt last year doing 4 dives a day. The crew were very 'helpful' and refused to let me change my bottle after each dive, so in the end I let them set it up, only to reopen the straps and reset it all again after they were gone, for 20 dives!! The gear was slotted into holders on a dive rack which only made things worse.
I have now gone back to this STA by Agir , on a stainless plate for cold water and I use an alu plate with stainless book screws like these for temperate waters and a plastic plate with the same book screws for warm water.
The STA pushes the bottle away from your butt, so no rails needed, plus the extra 1" between your back and the bottle because of the STA feels the same to me as the FP did with the rails.
If you can come up with a FP that comes with a STA or holes for book screws I will get one.
The STA does not have to be big, the guys at X-Deep have a very small and functional STA, shown here.
Anyway, best of luck and keep innovating

 

[Bison Ravi]

Hi Eric
Sorry but I must disagree about this. I believe a STA or book screws to secure the plate to the wing is essential.

If you had the plate with the removable rail, why didn't you screw the wing in between the rail and the plate? That's what I do, and nothing moves. I use two cam straps, but I'm sure it would work fine with only one and be even easier to setup.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Hi Eric
Sorry but I must disagree about this. I believe a STA or book screws to secure the plate to the wing is essential.
I used your freedom plate (the model before the contour) with an Oxycheq V #40 for about two years and tried every single layout but in the end I gave up because the movement of the plate, wing and straps every time I changed the bottle was like setting up you gear for the first time..everytime. Please don't get me wrong the FP is the most comfortable stainless plate out there but the advantage of the extra comfort does not outweigh the hassle. The final straw for me was on a liveabord in Egypt last year doing 4 dives a day. The crew were very 'helpful' and refused to let me change my bottle after each dive, so in the end I let them set it up, only to reopen the straps and reset it all again after they were gone, for 20 dives!! The gear was slotted into holders on a dive rack which only made things worse.
I have now gone back to this STA by Agir View attachment 182566, on a stainless plate for cold water and I use an alu plate with stainless book screws like these View attachment 182565for temperate waters and a plastic plate with the same book screws for warm water.
The STA pushes the bottle away from your butt, so no rails needed, plus the extra 1" between your back and the bottle because of the STA feels the same to me as the FP did with the rails.
If you can come up with a FP that comes with a STA or holes for book screws I will get one.
The STA does not have to be big, the guys at X-Deep have a very small and functional STA, shown here. View attachment 182567
Anyway, best of luck and keep innovating

Sorry the Freedom plate didn't work out for you. I'm glad you're happy with your new plate.

 

[TN Traveler]

I have one of the early Freedom Plates and use it with both an Oxycheq 30# Extreme and the 18# wings.
I did modify my plate by drilling a hole in the plate to accept a book screw to hold the wing in place during changeouts.
It took about 5 min to drill the hole and radius the edges with a Dremel.

 

[undrwater]

I have one of the early Freedom Plates and use it with both an Oxycheq 30# Extreme and the 18# wings.
I did modify my plate by drilling a hole in the plate to accept a book screw to hold the wing in place during changeouts.
It took about 5 min to drill the hole and radius the edges with a Dremel.

Can you show a pic? What kind of bit did you use?

 

[Murf-Diver]

If you had the plate with the removable rail, why didn't you screw the wing in between the rail and the plate?.

The rail was welded to the plate, it was not removable.

 

[maniago]

The rail was welded to the plate, it was not removable.

Hacksaw. Its just a backplate, not the Sistine Chapel. If it doesn't work, just weld it back together. No harm done.