Need Wing Recommendation

[jc2]

I don't dive much - maybe about 20-40 cold water dives (primarily shore dives) in the Northwest here in a dry suit, and then another 10-20 dives in warm water locations each year. Right now up diving a single LP 104 tank up here in the northwest and of course usually have to use al AL 80 from the warm water dive shops. I anticipate the near future (probably in a year or so) I'll start start doing some light technical diving more often and will probably start diving the LP 104 with a deco bottle, and then eventually dive doubles, either LP 80 or LP 85's most likely, also with a deco bottle. Not doing any cave diving so I won't have gobs of other equipment hanging from me. I'm diving a BP/W setup with a 6# SS BP with 5.5# STA in cold water and bring a lighter 2# STA in warm water.

I know the whole arguement about two wings for two applications is better than the swiss army knife. Just wondering what people would recommend as the best one wing solution and the best two wing solution?

I'm leaning towards a Dive Rite Trek Wing for the best compromise wing since I'm diving in a dry suit and won't be using very large tanks when I go doubles. Would this be a better choice than the Rec Wing considering I'd be diving LP 80 or LP 85's for doubles?

My optimal solution would be do go for an Oxycheck 30# or something similar, now since it is more suited for singles, a bit smaller to pack for travel, yada yada, and I don't have a doubles setup yet. When I devide to go doubles and spend the money on the tanks I figure I should be able to spend the money on a Dive Rite Classic Wing. Plus I can actually borrow a buddies Classic Wing and Twin Tanks to get my feet wet diving doubles before spending the money.

Any insights are greatly appreciated. I'm about to pull the trigger on a purchase. I explained my situation to one dive shop and they recommended the Trek. However to be honest, when you are dumping between $1.5K-$2K on dive equipment, it seems a little odd that people like myself, would even consider getting a 'compromise' wing as an extra $300 is an extra $300 to buy a wing specifically suited for doubles, but it seems by the time you are serious enough about diving to be diving doubles - $300 is really just a drop in the bucket to have the best setup?

I my main concern is if I'm pushing it with a 30# wing with dry suit, LP 104, and deco bottle - I think that leaves very little safety margin but packing a 45# wing for tropical dives seems like such overkill.

[kidspot]

Sounds like you've already answered your own question

As to which wing, you've most likely heard all the popular choices "DiveRite, Halycyon, Oxycheq, DSS, Golem etc.."

If it helps here's a chart of various wings and their features I'm putting together http://www.kidspot.org/personal/scuba/bpwing.html

Personally I dive a 27# Pioneer for singles and a 40# Explorer for my doubles. If it had been comparable in price I would have gone with a DSS plate and wing I think. But I'm quite pleased with my current setup and have no plans to change it any time soon.

For a "compromise" wing it seems like the DiveRite Rec wing is a frequent candidate.

Aloha, Tim

[cool_hardware52]

I my main concern is if I'm pushing it with a 30# wing with dry suit, LP 104, and deco bottle - I think that leaves very little safety margin but packing a 45# wing for tropical dives seems like such overkill.

Your wing needs to do two things; Float your rig at the surface without you in it, and be able to compensate for the loss or potential loss of buoyancy of your exposure suit.

You can pretty well estimate the weight of your rig, i.e. plate + tank + regs + can light etc. Tank specs are published. Unless you hang all your ballast on your rig, in cold water the "in water" weight of your rig seldom governs.

The second thing your wing needs to do is offset the compression of a wetsuit, or in the case of a DS, offset the loss of DS buoyancy in a total flood.

With a wetsuit you can roll it up, put in the water and add lead until it's neutral, with a DS you can put on just your DS, and undergarment, get in the pool with minimum air in the suit and add lead until you are neutral.

The amount of lead it takes to get neutral represents the initial buoyancy of your suit. In a DS this what you could loose in a total flood. In a wetsuit it represents the max you can loose due to compression. You need to take a wetsuit to about 165 fsw to completely compress it.

In the vast majority of cases a 30 lbs wing is fine for Single tanks. In very cold water, with larger divers, and very large capacity tanks you might need a ~40.

BTW all the above assumes you are properly weighted, i.e. neutral at the surface with no gas in your wing.


Good luck,


Tobin

[MSilvia]

When I first started with a bp, I used a Rec Wing (it came on my old TPII) for both single AL80 and double AL80s, and wasn't very happy with it for either. At 52 lbs of lift, it seemed too big with a single tank. It's shaped like an overgrown singles wing though, and it got sandwiched between the plate and tanks when I used it with doubles, which wasn't ideal either.

Personally, I'd go with the OxyCheq 30# wing, and cross the doubles bridge when you come to it.

[spacemanspiff1974]

While I haven't seen it, I've been told that the oxycheq 45 lb singles wing is approx the same diameter as the 30 lb wing. I believe scubatoys sells the 30 and 45 for the same price (although standard is cheaper than signature).

I have no experience with a drysuit, but from what I have read, the 45 lb might be better for cold water. But I don't think it is going to ruin your occasional warm water dive, especially if the wing is around the same size.

Just wait for the doubles wing.