Question for those in the know! 85lb wing too big?

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Sam_The_Submersible

Registered
Messages
30
Reaction score
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Location
Thailand
# of dives
100 - 199
Hi all,

Have a question regarding wings.

I will be diving in a 5mm wetsuit with double AL80's and two AL80 stage bottles, (this is for a course i will be taking next month).

I have been told that the 85lb wing is probably too big for an AL setup. However is it WAY TOO big? the wing I'm looking at has bungees, could they be used to make the wing more compact?

It is a bit hard to gauge the actual size of the wing from the PICS on the Net.

I am looking at this particular unit as it is the only one from Hollis that has the dual bladder... and i figure i could use it with steelies in the future
 
yes, it would be WAY too big. diving AL 80s you really don't want to go much bigger than 50lbs. that much wing will trap air (bungees will make it worse) making it difficult to dump, which is both annoying and dangerous. Why are you set on Hollis?


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I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?g443b3
 
Is this 85 total lift between both bladders, or is a single bladder 85 lbs? I am not familiar with the Hollis line of backmount wings. I can do multiple AL80's with my 20lb wing. I use a 55lb wing for dual steel 104's and a couple stages. If this is a total of 170lbs of lift, just hot damn son!!!!! If it's 42lbs of lift for each bladder, then we are talking something a lot more manageable.
 
I saw one of those in a shop on the weekend. Biggest wing I ever saw. Makes my 50# look like a toy. Who the hell needs a wing that big?


Replied using Tapatalk. Please forgive my typing.
 
As the others have said...the 80 pound wing is going to have horrible performance charicteristics....trim will be hard to manage, there will be trapped air throughout it, and if you ever did accidentally get a full inflation underwater, you could ascend so fast you would look like "Air JAWS" flying out of the water. If someone is trying to sell you this, get far away from them for all things scuba.
If you already have it.....bang your head into the wall for an hour....then....realize you just wasted this money, whatever it cost you....and get a 40 pound wing instead..... And plan on double al 80s and al stages, if you are in ocean.... Don't get interested in big steels--too many complications, you don't need to deal with this.
 
wow, pretty strong NO on the 85lb wing, lucky i haven't paid for it yet :wink:

I was going with hollis as my dealer gets good prices on this gear.

I guess I'll look around for a 50-60 pound wing.

Thanks Guys you have just saved me 500 Bucks!
 
wow, pretty strong NO on the 85lb wing, lucky i haven't paid for it yet :wink:

I was going with hollis as my dealer gets good prices on this gear.

I guess I'll look around for a 50-60 pound wing.

Thanks Guys you have just saved me 500 Bucks!

Forget 50 to 60..go with a 40.
Why create all the drag and poor trim from using a huge wing....
A 50 or a 60 is a huge wing....the 80 is a whole different category--it is just plain stupid, with no good reason for 99.9999% of divers to ever imagine a valid use for.
The 50 or 60 will make you a worse diver on the vast majority of dives you would do, than a 40 with intelligently planned out tanks, gas and durations.

Go with a 40, and try to be the berst diver you can be....don't sabatoge yourself with the huge wings.
 
There always used to be a load of OMS stuff on Koh Tao - I think Dive Supply stocked that, and they have branches around Thailand. Whilst OMS isn't necessarily my favorite brand for tech kit, they will have more options for wings than Hollis. Not sure what other brands you'd have available in your location - but let us know and we'll give you feedback.

I had a student last week who used the 'Larry Green Signature' 45lb. It seemed like a nice piece of kit - and perfect for any tech multi-cylinder dives you're likely to do in warm water.

50-60lb is still mucho-overkill for AL cylinders IMHO. It'll taco like buggery... and then you'll get tempted to start ffcompromising with bungees....

40lb is waaaaaay sufficient. I currently dive 4-5x Al80s on a 28lb wing.... and, even then, it's barely inflated...
 
wow, pretty strong NO on the 85lb wing, lucky i haven't paid for it yet :wink:

I was going with hollis as my dealer gets good prices on this gear.

I guess I'll look around for a 50-60 pound wing.

Thanks Guys you have just saved me 500 Bucks!

$500 for a hollis wing?? really?? you can get new Halcyon Evolve 40lb for less, whch I think it is a better wing by far. Also consider when it comes to time to sell, you will get most of money back with a Halcyon.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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