Buddy Tek Wing VS Dive Rite Transpac II/Rec or Trek Wing

[Max_Power]

Plan on doing single tank diving for a while before moving on to twin / deco diving. Narrowed my choice to these two and would like to know your opinion.

Cheers

[DA Aquamaster]

I am not really a TP II fan but it works well for a single tank and there are a lot of people who like it with both singles and doubles. But I prefer the stability of a real live backplate rather than those little stabilizing plates used on the TP II when using doubles so my suggestion would be to go with an OMS IQ pack or an Abyss Rec 2 Tec pac where you can install a backlate later on. (With the big sale at Abyss, the Rec 2 Tec is also about $98.00 for Deco Stop members - a super deal.)

I have a Rec wing on an OMS backplate. The Dive Rite Rec wing uses a bungee control system that is fairly low profile as the bungees are on the under side of the wing. This makes tham a little more snag proof than systems that wrap all the way around the air cell.

In my opinion,a bungee of some type is pretty much a necesary evil for a largish wing with a single tank to keep the taco effect to a minimum. The bungee needs to be kept tight for it to work as advertised under water but doing so makes it harder to orally inflate the wing under water in the event of an LPI or reg failure. The saving grace with the Rec wing is that the bungee tension is adjustable under water so what is normally a major saftey concern can be minimized if an emergenacy develops. It is also easy to remove the bugee when you go to double tanks where it is not really needed.

I have not had any serious problems with air trapping even with a single tank although some slight tacoing is still evident. You will probably find you need to roll a few degrees one way or the other to equalize the air and re-establish trim now and then.

For a single tank wing, a smaller donut style works better if you can live with a smaller wing and do not need as much lift. But if you are diving a 7mm wet suit in cold water, where a fair amount of weight is required, a 45-50 pound wing can come in handy to provide sufficient lift in rough surface conditions. In that case, in my non-politically correct opinion, the advantages of a big wing offset the disadvantages even with a single tank.

[NWGratefulDiver]

For a single tank wing, a smaller donut style works better if you can live with a smaller wing and do not need as much lift. But if you are diving a 7mm wet suit in cold water, where a fair amount of weight is required, a 45-50 pound wing can come in handy to provide sufficient lift in rough surface conditions. In that case, in my non-politically correct opinion, the advantages of a big wing offset the disadvantages even with a single tank.

I recently switched from a DR Rec Wing to an Oxycheq 45 lb wing for singles ... and I absolutely agree that it's a more stable platform, and easier to vent completely.

I dive a DR TransPlate and a DR TransPac II ... the latter is mostly my pool rig now. I purchased the Oxycheq wing for the TP II, but after trying it on my backplate, decided that it was going to stay there. The longer, narrower footprint and the donut shape make it a superior product for a single-cylinder application (IMO).

FWIW - the DR Venture wing is an awesome wing for single tanks of you don't need more than 30-lb lift. Sure wish they made one of those with a little more lift (like around 40-lb).

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[PonyBottle]

When I dive singles its a 120 tank with halcyon pioneer 36lb wing or the eclipse 40lb wing. I like the durability of the eclipse but I like the way the pioneer FEELS better. I havent dove with any other wings so I am unable to give any relevant advice, but I do think if you decide on a Halcyon wing you wont be disappointed.