wing lift needed for a NJ Diver? Fresh/saltwater

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twofor2

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Location
New York, NY
I will be primarily diving in NJ east coast waters fresh and ocean water. My diving will mostly be in the summer/warmer 50F-75F months dont expect to do any dry suit diving anytime soon and eventually want to move to a single steel tank instead of an aluminum tank. Will probably be rocking a 7mm suit, hoodie and gloves with a steel back plate. Torn between VDH's #23 #35 currently. Also want to do tropic dives as well but not my main concern. weighing in around 150 lbs 5'7. Mostly basic dives nothing too crazy deep

sidenote- open water courses I used around 19 lbs of weight with those rental BCDs.
 
Diving @ Dutch last season and away in Cozumel I was happy with my HOG 32#.
OMS IQ soft pack
5'10" 185#
AL 80s to steel HP 100s & 120s
3mm - 7mm wetsuits.
8 to 14# of lead.

With heavier steels, and correspondingly less ditchable lead, you should maybe consider some form of deployable redundant buoyancy.

Use the Optimal Buoyancy Calculator to run some scenarios.
 
with a 7mm I would not even consider a wing with less than 30lbs of lift.
salt vs. fresh water does not matter since it is about displacement. You displace the same amount of water in either scenario, so you need the wing to displace the same amount of water. Sure the density changes, but then so does the lift.

7mm is roughly 14lbs, so you need 14+, al80 is 6lbs, so you're at 20 for a bare minimum. That doesn't include anything else that you're holding, any extra lift you may need or want from a hooded vest if you get a little chily, any extra lift to keep your head high and dry at the surface etc.

I bought the 35lb wing and use it for all of my single tank diving. That includes no wetsuit diving with an al80. The profile of the wing was done properly that I have no qualms diving it that way.
 
went with the VDH #35 the dimensions are great compared to similar sizes 30 wings
 
with a 7mm I would not even consider a wing with less than 30lbs of lift.
salt vs. fresh water does not matter since it is about displacement. You displace the same amount of water in either scenario, so you need the wing to displace the same amount of water. Sure the density changes, but then so does the lift.

7mm is roughly 14lbs, so you need 14+, al80 is 6lbs, so you're at 20 for a bare minimum. That doesn't include anything else that you're holding, any extra lift you may need or want from a hooded vest if you get a little chily, any extra lift to keep your head high and dry at the surface etc.

I bought the 35lb wing and use it for all of my single tank diving. That includes no wetsuit diving with an al80. The profile of the wing was done properly that I have no qualms diving it that way.
The 7 mm is never going to lose all it buoyancy due to compression tho, is it? Has anyone ever measure how much buoyancy is lost? I feel like your estimation is the most conservative bound; you’re basically calculating for if you completely lost your wetsuit but kept your weight belt on, aren’t you?

Not that I necessarily disagree; I think a 30 lbs wing for 7 mm diving is a smart choice. But I feel like if you had a 23 lbs wing and even if **** really hit the fan, I can’t prove to myself you’d really have a problem.
 

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