Bungeed OMS

We are planning moving from BCD to BP/W. We're looking at the OMS bungeed 100 or 60 lb version. Someone told me to avoid the OMS due to the difficulty in oral inflation of a wing with bungees, but I don't know if his opinion was anecdotal or just theoretical. What experience has anyone had with oral inflation of these wings? Is it difficult if you happen to have an out-of-air emergency?

Also, do you recommend the 60 or the 100 lb. version? I'm not planning on doing tech diving with stage bottles or anything like that, so the 60 would be more than enough, but I didn't know if we would be better off with the 100 anyway. I'm not a very big person, so I'm very concerned about profile. Hence, the decision to go with the bungeed OMS.

Please give me any opinions you might have. Thank you...

Since you asked this in the DIR forum, prepare to be pummeled.
Bungeed wings present a danger in the event of wing puncture. Without the bungees you could alway turn your body so that the leak is at the lowest point and still maintain some buoyancy. The bungees will squeeze the air out of the wing.
Unless you plan to use double tanks, 60 pounds of lift is twice what you will need. The only thing a 60 pound wing will do is create more drag. A 100 pound wing is suitable for recovering a steel barge off the bottom, not for a diver.

PM me...i have some suggestions for you.

resqsqurt:

I'm not a very big person, so I'm very concerned about profile. Hence, the decision to go with the bungeed OMS.

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Why do you think a bungeed wing is more streamlined than a non-bungeed one?
Just think about how it looks underwater with a little air in it... Does it look streamlined and even or is the air trapped in a few bungeed places?

I’m assuming that you dive doubles but as a very new diver perhaps not. If you do, especially with a light wet suite a 40 lbs wing is enough. If you dive a single then a 27lbs wing should be enough.

The other problem with the bungeed OMS that has not been mentioned so far is the tendency for it to effect buoyancy by trapping air pockets.

Think again about the OMS… think about the Oxycheck (sp) or Halcyon wings.

resqsqurt:

We are planning moving from BCD to BP/W. We're looking at the OMS bungeed 100 or 60 lb version. Someone told me to avoid the OMS due to the difficulty in oral inflation of a wing with bungees, but I don't know if his opinion was anecdotal or just theoretical. What experience has anyone had with oral inflation of these wings? Is it difficult if you happen to have an out-of-air emergency?

Also, do you recommend the 60 or the 100 lb. version? I'm not planning on doing tech diving with stage bottles or anything like that, so the 60 would be more than enough, but I didn't know if we would be better off with the 100 anyway. I'm not a very big person, so I'm very concerned about profile. Hence, the decision to go with the bungeed OMS.

Please give me any opinions you might have. Thank you...

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You've asked for opinions, but people are supplying them based on assumptions as to whether you're diving doubles or not. As the others have noted, if doubles, 60lb wing is sufficient. If diving single tank, be advised that a double wing will not work - you'll need a single wing, which is or should be considerably less than 60lb.

You need not be overly concerned about profile underwater. To instantly see why, you might try to observe a friend with bp/wing u/w, or have a friend with a videocamera shoot video of you. You'll note the wing will fold up neatly on each side against your doubles. It shouldn't have enough gas in it anyway to be problematic.

Bungeed wings are not DIR. That may not matter to you, fine, but you posted your question in the DIR section. There are several reasons for a bias against bungeed wings, whether you consider them valid or not speaks to the issue of whether you have rational arguments against those reasons.

In terms of sheer opinion, which you requested, mine is much like Tollie's and the rest (go figure! ) Stay away from OMS. There are a number of other fine options, to include Oxycheq, Dive Rite, Tobin's gear (on this board) Deep Sea Supplies, and Halcyon. Stay away from any bungeed wing. Since you're diving dry, stay away from a wing with double bladders inside it.

Dunno who "we" are, but another assumption is that it might be your team. If so, you might also want to stay away from harnesses that involve quick releases, and go with standard one-continuous-piece of webbing - which are infinitely adjustable and interchangable, as each may be adjusted to fit any member of the team.

Most of us on the board are full of lots of things, including opinions. Just ask.

As you appear to be new, welcome to Scuba Board and I hope you enjoy the ride.

Regards,

Doc

Oh My God! Not the dreaded Taco again

Doc Intrepid:

You need not be overly concerned about profile underwater.

You'll note the wing will fold up neatly on each side against your doubles.

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Doc Intrepid:

Since you're diving dry, stay away from a wing with double bladders inside it.

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Educate me please, what is a wing with double bladders? Does it also have two inflators? Is it a fully redundant system?

I understand there is redundancy with a dry suit and a wing, but why stay away from a double bladder when diving a dry suit?

Thanks,
Bill.

OK, first, thanks for your replies. The reason I posted in the DIR forum is because I figured that if I wanted it done right with the highest regard to safety, you guys would be the ones to go to.

Second, Rich, I don't know how to PM. My email is jhinshaw1@triad.rr.com if you could contact me there that would be great.

As as general rule, we dive dry with singles but would like the option of diving with doubles. Diving with a single and a pony becomes an option as well if we're doing black water with a tender. I don't think that falls under DIR but I'm not sure. I'm not trying to put in a troll here, and please don't pummel me too bad for not doing something DIR right now. I'm trying to learn to do it right. But we aren't always able to follow the DIR rules (the ones I think I understand anyway) because we do some PSD work in black water for searches and evidence recovery. I definitely would like some more education on DIR, but I just haven't gotten that far yet.

Being a firefighter and being accustomed to wearing SCBA has helped tremendously in diving and has made it much easier, but diving is still a different animal...any additional information you can provide will be helpful...Just so you know, about half of my dives have been in black water for searches, training, and evidence recovery. That's what I'll be faced with for a least a percentage of my diving. I wanted you to know where my concern about profile and such comes from. There's no telling what we'll run into down there! The bars off a bike with no front wheel almost got my head in
January!

Since it appears that the bungeed OMS is a bad idea, the other option I/we were looking at is the Dive Rite Rec Wing with a Hammerhead backplate or Tranpac. What is your opinion on that? Someone mentioned the appearance of the OMS underwater, but, unfortunately, I've not gotten to see it. Do you guys have any recommendations for smaller divers?

Thanks again for all of your responses. Just please don't bash me too much, I'm trying to learn and get new information, not start a battle...

Thanks!

Redundancy is good. Too much redundancy can be bad. Confusion over which inflator to dump could be a huge problem.

edit: yes, a wing with two bladders has 2 inflators. I reread the post afterwards!

Lightning Fish:

Educate me please, what is a wing with double bladders? Does it also have two inflators? Is it a fully redundant system?

I understand there is redundancy with a dry suit and a wing, but why stay away from a double bladder when diving a dry suit?

Thanks,
Bill.

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