Ladies, help me with a wing for my daughter

SandyRobinson · Mar 19, 2008

Hey ladies,

My daughter has outgrown her jacket BC so I am putting her in a wing and aluminum BP. She dives wet (3/2 or 5 mil in 72 degree+) with a single Al 50 or 80. She is 5'7' and weighs 125. Can you give me suggestions on what wings have worked for you. I will try to let her test dive some but wanted to see if any of your experiences may help us decide.

Thanks for your help.

Scubakevdm · Mar 19, 2008

I'm not a lady, but I'm sure when one comes along that can offer you advice on this it would be helpful to her if she knew specifics regarding the tanks she uses as well as the thickness of the wetsuit. High pressure steel 80's, for example, are considerably more negative than AL 80's. I'm gonna guess that folks are going to recommend a 30lb wing, although if she's diving in very warm water, there are even slimmer wings. Oxycheq, for example has (or at least had) an 18# wing that is pretty slick. I cannot comment on, or even imagine gender specific wing issues though, I'll leave that to the girls.

SandyRobinson · Mar 19, 2008

Scubakevdm:
I'm not a lady, but I'm sure when one comes along that can offer you advice on this it would be helpful to her if she knew specifics regarding the tanks she uses as well as the thickness of the wetsuit. High pressure steel 80's, for example, are considerably more negative than AL 80's. I'm gonna guess that folks are going to recommend a 30lb wing, although if she's diving in very warm water, there are even slimmer wings. Oxycheq, for example has (or at least had) an 18# wing that is pretty slick. I cannot comment on, or even imagine gender specific wing issues though, I'll leave that to the girls.

Thanks for the feedback - I made a few edits.

wreckchick · Mar 19, 2008

I'd go with a 30# wing and be fine with that. There really isn't anything gender specific about them.

Good luck with the shopping!

Rachel

annasea · Mar 19, 2008

Scubakevdm:
<snip>I cannot comment on, or even imagine gender specific wing issues though, I'll leave that to the girls.

Well, it's not necessarily 'gender specific' but it sure is pink! There I was, poking around the tech pages over at ScubaToys, and then I saw it.... a pink Mach V! I damn near died! (Red and camo, too.)

Back on topic... I'm similar in size to your daughter and I have a 30# Mach V. Last time I was in FL, Scubakevdm was gracious enough to let me try his GF's 18# wing. It worked fine, but the size of it (surprisingly) wasn't much smaller or lighter than the 30# wing.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

TSandM · Mar 19, 2008

If she's diving the 50 most of the time, she might really like Deep Sea Supply's TTW17 wing. It's a lovely, tiny thing, very streamlined. I found it marginal lift for my taste with an Al80, because I really like to get my head out of the water completely. I use a Deep Sea Supply 30 lb wing for my cold water single tank diving and for my tropical single tank diving. I love it. I particularly like DSS's STA-less construction.

wjknobles · Mar 19, 2008

Other than the Oxycheq wings you might want to look at the Deep Sea Supply wings ... Tobin makes a great product and has quite a few sizes.

vel525 · Mar 20, 2008

annasea:
Well, it's not necessarily 'gender specific' but it sure is pink! There I was, poking around the tech pages over at ScubaToys, and then I saw it.... a pink Mach V! I damn near died! (Red and camo, too.)

Back on topic... I'm similar in size to your daughter and I have a 30# Mach V. Last time I was in FL, Scubakevdm was gracious enough to let me try his GF's 18# wing. It worked fine, but the size of it (surprisingly) wasn't much smaller or lighter than the 30# wing.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

My wife and I received one the earlier pink and red Mach Vs

Actually, I probably have the first red one :14: Pretty cool they offer it as an option now! I had to pay extra because it was a custom order then :11doh:

Anyways, my wife is a little smaller than your daughter and dives a 30# Mach V. The majority of the dives are with 5mm full and AL80. Good luck.

sharky001 · Mar 20, 2008

I not a lady either, but ... I've been using a Halcyon Eclipse [mounted on a Dive Rite s/s backplate] and it's fantastic. Having used both traditional jacket-type BCs and backplate mounted wings, I cannot fathom why people still use the jacket-style BCs ... each to his/her own. So, I commend you for making the switch. She'll never outgrow a backplate/wing system and as her diving demands evolve so can her wing system. The Halcyon Eclipse is beautifully made and minimalist. I can achieve perfect trim/control with this wing. It's difficult to critique in any way. The Eclipse comes in both 30 + 40 lbs of lift [in her case you would opt for 30]. May I suggest that you go for the s/s backplate, which would take at least 5 lbs of weight off her waist, which is always a good thing! If she changed to a steel cylinder, she may not even need a weight-belt!

halocline · Mar 20, 2008

Any of the small wings that have been recommended will work great. Why the aluminum BP? Does she use less than 8lbs with a normal BC? If not, I'd go with a steel plate. The combination of a steel plate and AL tank is pretty nice.

Ladies, help me with a wing for my daughter

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