A question on wings - Halcyon & OMS

[ElectricZombie]

Everyone says that the Halcyon wings are very well made and good performers. Halcyon states that their wings will "fold" to help with streamlining. Can someone actually describe what is going on? How do they work?

I've also heard that the OMS non-bungee wings are nice too. How do they compare to the Halcyon in build and function? Is the streamlining any better or worse? I can get my keyman discount on the OMS, but not on the Halcyon.

By the way, I own a Scubapro X-Tec cell that has one long bungee around the perimiter of the wing. I've been diving with this bungee wing for about 2 years. Today I decided to test out the wing without the bungee. I think I actually like it better. I don't know about the streamlining but, it inflated easier and didn't trap air to one side on the surface. Deflating was maybe a tad slower though. I thought that not having the bungees would cause the air to shirt around underwater, and roll me...it was a non issue. I will test the wing with and without the bungee again on Saturday to verify the results.

I'm very glad I found this board.

[JamesK]

I can not naswer for the build quality of the OMS, as I have never dealt with them. I cna however state how happy I am with my Halcyon 55lb wings. They work great. As for the "folding" you asked about, it is when the wings wrap up around the sides of the tanks. They lay almost flat against the sides of the tank, decreasing your profile and causing less drag. Almost any non bungeed wing will do this however.

[Bottomfeeder]

The bladder in the OMS wing is clear plastic; the one in the Halcyon is a coated fabric life raft material that is more robust. The OMS comes with an inflator hose that I think is too long. I don't remember if it has an elbow or pull dump. I would also check on which inflator valve they put on it; OMS likes high flow valves that I don't like.

The shape of the OMS wing is similar to that of the Halcyon and the Dive Rite Classic, so it probably dives about the same. It would be ok for me if I line it with an innertube (like cavers do with the Dive Rite), change the inflator hose, and take the knob off the bottom dump.

[john_a]

It is made of virgin urethane, not plastic, and is very difficult to puncture, especially when layered behind urethane lined Cordura as it is in the OMS wings. This was demonstrated to me by an OMS sales rep who let me take a key (the sharp end) and try and push it through some of the material. I was unable to puncture the material, though with enough pushing I was able to create a dimple.

OMS wings come with elbows on the inflator hose, not dump valves. The inflator hoses are too long for my liking as well, but OMS does sell a shorter version. Also, the valve flow rates on the OMS are not very high - I would like for them to be faster myself.

[SeaGypsy]

is very difficult to puncture, especially when layered behind urethane lined Cordura as it is in the OMS wings.

I have to disagree with this. I used them for about six months. After just a few dives the dump valve was sticking and had to be replaced. Then after using them for a few more months I had to end a dive when the wings wouldn’t hold air. They had a quarter inch slit in the bladder. After I patched that I discovered several more pinholes in the bladder.

I've never had a problem with my Dive Rite or Halcyon wings.

[deepocean]

Hi

do you have by any chance a pic of your OMS Bladder? I would be very thankfull. Thanks


Xerxes

[SeaGypsy]

I could take one. What in particular do you want to see?

[deepocean]

Hi
"They had a quarter inch slit in the bladder. After I patched that I discovered several more pinholes in the bladder. "

Can you take pics of these baldders and wings? I am interested in these parts.
Thanks , Xerxes

[SeaGypsy]

picture of OMS wings

[SeaGypsy]

another picture of OMS wings

[diveaway]

I have seen those 'plastic' (yes I know ther is fancier name for the material) bladders break .. on a two week dive expediation in the Sudan. I'm not sure what brand the wing was since I wasn't into BP/Wings setup at that point, but it looked very similar to the one on the photos of your previous post. Anyhow is was not repairable any more! Just image that guy needing to the remaining 20 dives with a conventional BC :banging:

That's why I opted for the Halcyon wing, its bladder is almost as tough as the outside material. I think it is almost unbreakable. At least I haven't heard of anybody having a problem with beeing punctured.

Ray

[JamesK]

Me thinks you "New Thread" instead of "Post Reply"

:D ;)

[diveaway]

This message was supposed to be a reply to the thread 'A question on wings - Halcyon & OMS'

Can a regulator please reassign the post to the correct thread?

[Dee]

Originally posted by diveaway
This message was supposed to be a reply to the thread 'A question on wings - Halcyon & OMS'

Can a regulator please reassign the post to the correct thread?

You need to give me the URL of the thread you want it moved INTO.

[diveaway]

Here you are:

http://www.scubaboard.com/t11887/s.html

Thanks Dee


Ray

[trheeltek]

Very nice fingernails in that pic, SeaGypsy - mine are all chewed from before I owned my Halcyon wing, and worried about things like punctures.

Ok, I'm kidding, I still worry about punctures, but not as much. I love my Halcyon wing; the bladder is some reinforced Cordura stuff that's hard to pop, and the wing has seen some pretty rough limestone walls with me without much wear so far. It's got aluminum threads or something woven through it. I still double wing it when diving wet though (too warm for drysuits off the coast here in summer). FYI, if you dive wet and want to save a buck by not buying two wings, the DiveRite dual-rec or Superwing both have a double bladder.

[SeaGypsy]

I agree that the Halcyon wing is much better. Although I patched the OMS and keep them around I mostly use the Halcyon ones. I have done many times more dives on them than on the OMS wings without a single problem.

I find there are better alternatives than double bladder wings, even when diving wet.

[trheeltek]

Originally posted by SeaGypsy
I find there are better alternatives than double bladder wings, even when diving wet.

Other than double wings, which is what I do, what better alternatives exist to a double bladder wing when diving wet?

[Bottomfeeder]

Originally posted by trheeltek


Other than double wings, which is what I do, what better alternatives exist to a double bladder wing when diving wet?

A good alternative is to not be ridiculously negative in the first place. This usually means aluminum doubles and aluminum 40's for deco. You should be able to swim the rig from your deepest depth with no gas in the wing. If you have to drop a weightbelt to do this, it's ok, but you should still have enough weight left to make a controlled ascent and hold a 20 ft stop. If you're not diving deep and are using a heavy enough wetsuit, this may be possible with Faber steel tanks too. It varies with the diver, the depth, and the wetsuit.

BTW, I like Sea Gypsy's fingernails too.

[trheeltek]

Originally posted by Bottomfeeder


A good alternative is to not be ridiculously negative in the first place. This usually means aluminum doubles and aluminum 40's for deco.

Hmm...not sure I think that's better than my double wing system, honestly. I dive steel for a couple of reasons, mostly for all the extra gas - makes turning at thirds a lot more palatable when I've got almost twice as much gas in my 104s at 3500 as I would in my Al80s at 3000. I'm diving al stages though, that does help. In any case, whether you can swim them up or not, I still believe you should have backup buoyancy of some sort.

[SeaGypsy]

Bottomfeeder is right. Ditching weight is your backup buoyancy. All I can add is that you may find that changing your rig to be less negative will result in a better air consumption rate. Also, even though the water feels warm, you are losing body heat. If you are staying in the water long enough to use that much gas it could be that you would be better off in the drysuit anyway.

But the important question is; which NC operator lets you do that? Most I've used either think deco is a four-letter word or are also trying to accommodate single tank divers.

Now I'm off to get a manicure - I need to protect my assets.
:)

[deepocean]

Hi Seagypsy

wow , this does nt look very good he he ...

Anyway thanks. By the way may i use this photo to send it to other people in another list and inform them abouth this matter as well?

Xerxes