dlarbale
Contributor
All,
Thought I'd write up my experience with a TransPac II over the weekend...
1st Dive - 13m's single steel cylinder, Rec Wings bungied up (well for some of the dive at least).
Had difficulty descending due to the air in the wing being difficult to dump. Adjusted bouyancy on descent using both my drysuit and the transpac. Trim seemed to be fine and practiced a few different kicks shown on Fith D web site (Frog, Flutter etc).
Depth varied between 11 & 13m's so played around with the bouyancy a bit. One thing I noticed was severe difficulty getting air out of the wing! I had to disconnect the inflator (long) and wave it above my head like a mad man whilst trying to get the right position for the air to dump!
At one point I thought I'd never be able to get the air out and I'd end up making an uncontrolled ascent at the end of the dive - really wasn't looking forward to hanging onto the anchor line to prevent this!! Even got paraniod about the bungies and disconnected them in an attempt to get the air out (Ok I was desperate!).
All in all a frustrating experience. I spoke to a guy at my LDS who uses a TransPac on regular occasion and he said that I should have had the bungies pulled up tighter and that instead of using the purge button on the inflator hose I should have just used the pull dump feature on this hose or the bottom dump (he also mentioned that the pull dump sometimes gets tangled in the bungies so some people have fitted glof balls to make it easier to find!!).
Just ove 1 hour dive time.
Second Dive - 9m's double steel cylinders banded together using DiveRites twin tank adaptor (independants). RecWings left un-bungied from the previous dive.
Much better diving with doubles. The trim was a bit off with a slight surge almost pushing me head over heels - probably just have to move the cylinders down a notch.
Had none of the problems dumping the air and felt alot more stable.
Just under 1 hour dive time.
General Points - Liked the free feeling around the front (also noticed this with my BackPlate and harness). Have real issues using the TransPac II with the RecWing on single cylinder configuration - suppose I should really use the right wing for the job!!
Not too sure if the chest strap is really necessary as every time I tightened it it still felt loose. Also not too impressed with the position of the quick release clips - they sit right underneath the arm against the waist and I found getting my hand in the right position to undo them a real struggle (the clips are also not as good as on my Mares Vector 1000).
Using the rig with a weight belt was a PITA, the waist strap is too wide with the extra padding and just gets in the way of the belt.
Overall I think I prefered the BackPlate and Harness than the Transpac II because it was a simpler system to set up - didn't have to mess around with the extra padding over the bolts or around the waist strap, also no shoulder strap adjustment is simpler but maybe a bit more difficult to get used to!
Haven't used my BackPlate and Harness to dive singles yet so still haven't made a final decision. I'll try and borrow a smaller wing and try it on both systems.
Any suggestions on an initial setting for singles on the BP & harness, I seem to remember someone saying they mount their cylinder as low as possible - is this generally the norm??
I'll keep you posted - Dave.
PS// What are peoples views on the use of the pull dump valves instead of the inflator dump button? I was under the impression that the shoulder pull dump wasn't fitted to Halcyon wings - is this true?
Thought I'd write up my experience with a TransPac II over the weekend...
1st Dive - 13m's single steel cylinder, Rec Wings bungied up (well for some of the dive at least).
Had difficulty descending due to the air in the wing being difficult to dump. Adjusted bouyancy on descent using both my drysuit and the transpac. Trim seemed to be fine and practiced a few different kicks shown on Fith D web site (Frog, Flutter etc).
Depth varied between 11 & 13m's so played around with the bouyancy a bit. One thing I noticed was severe difficulty getting air out of the wing! I had to disconnect the inflator (long) and wave it above my head like a mad man whilst trying to get the right position for the air to dump!
At one point I thought I'd never be able to get the air out and I'd end up making an uncontrolled ascent at the end of the dive - really wasn't looking forward to hanging onto the anchor line to prevent this!! Even got paraniod about the bungies and disconnected them in an attempt to get the air out (Ok I was desperate!).
All in all a frustrating experience. I spoke to a guy at my LDS who uses a TransPac on regular occasion and he said that I should have had the bungies pulled up tighter and that instead of using the purge button on the inflator hose I should have just used the pull dump feature on this hose or the bottom dump (he also mentioned that the pull dump sometimes gets tangled in the bungies so some people have fitted glof balls to make it easier to find!!).
Just ove 1 hour dive time.
Second Dive - 9m's double steel cylinders banded together using DiveRites twin tank adaptor (independants). RecWings left un-bungied from the previous dive.
Much better diving with doubles. The trim was a bit off with a slight surge almost pushing me head over heels - probably just have to move the cylinders down a notch.
Had none of the problems dumping the air and felt alot more stable.
Just under 1 hour dive time.
General Points - Liked the free feeling around the front (also noticed this with my BackPlate and harness). Have real issues using the TransPac II with the RecWing on single cylinder configuration - suppose I should really use the right wing for the job!!
Not too sure if the chest strap is really necessary as every time I tightened it it still felt loose. Also not too impressed with the position of the quick release clips - they sit right underneath the arm against the waist and I found getting my hand in the right position to undo them a real struggle (the clips are also not as good as on my Mares Vector 1000).
Using the rig with a weight belt was a PITA, the waist strap is too wide with the extra padding and just gets in the way of the belt.
Overall I think I prefered the BackPlate and Harness than the Transpac II because it was a simpler system to set up - didn't have to mess around with the extra padding over the bolts or around the waist strap, also no shoulder strap adjustment is simpler but maybe a bit more difficult to get used to!
Haven't used my BackPlate and Harness to dive singles yet so still haven't made a final decision. I'll try and borrow a smaller wing and try it on both systems.
Any suggestions on an initial setting for singles on the BP & harness, I seem to remember someone saying they mount their cylinder as low as possible - is this generally the norm??
I'll keep you posted - Dave.
PS// What are peoples views on the use of the pull dump valves instead of the inflator dump button? I was under the impression that the shoulder pull dump wasn't fitted to Halcyon wings - is this true?