Apeks WSX-25/45? Versus xDeep and/or Katana?

[stuartv]

There were answers such as the beach ball effect. I think with more time diving sidemount you'll see that with experience you'll see why some rigs arent as good as you think they are now. I'd bet in 100 dives you'll have a much different view than you do now.

I presume we both understand what the beach ball effect is. So, my question to you is, have you seen some evidence that a properly setup WSX-45 actually suffers from this problem? Are you just parroting back an answer to me based on the presumption that I didn't understand what was meant by "beachball effect"? Assuming that the person that said Apeks has a problem with beachball effect has actually verified that a well-setup WSX-45 actually has this problem?

Since I can't see my own back in the water and I don't have video of myself, I guess I really don't know whether mine does that or not. It certainly might!

I am going to try and get in the water with mine this weekend and get someone to video me, so I can see what this beachball actually looks like. That should help my understanding quite a bit.

 

[runsongas]

the effect is moderated a little on the wsx45 due to the baffling, but it is still there. if there were no baffling to constrain the maximum height of the bladder it would puff up in the middle more and it would be a rounder shape. the xdeep has a semi rigid top portion and a horizontal strip of cordura that helps to pull the top of the wing closer to the body iirc. if i was doing a lot of deep oc diving or divng wet where the problem would get worse with the wsx45 as i would be maxing the lift, i would consider swapping to the xdeep tec, but my plan is to move to ccr if i ever get to that point and i prefer to dive dry unless if the water is warm enough for a 3mm in which case i would most likely be diving al80s with the wsx25.

 

[Remy B.]

Stuart do you have a picture of your dual blader inflated, is it some how different than the one you posted ?

 

[stuartv]

Stuart do you have a picture of your dual blader inflated, is it some how different than the one you posted ?

The picture is one bladder inflated. Picture another empty bladder laying on top of it.

I'll try to remember to take a picture of the whole rig with alternate bladders inflated.

 

[btrue]

Is there any way to fix the beach ball effect? I assume it's a design flaw and would be faster, cheaper, and easier to just use a different product. I have a IST SMB-42 (got an unbeatable price) and it is more of a blimp than a beach ball. there is actually some space between my back and the bottom of the bladder. I mostly dive in the Columbia River, so minimizing drag in the currents would be nice. I'm also considering upgrading to the Xdeep Stealth by spring time.

 

[runsongas]

If you are diving wet, a drysuit will reduce how much you need to inflate the bladder. Can also look into bungee to pull it down like the apeks does with the two grommets on the side flaps.

 

[BeijaFlor]

If we're still including the Katana, I chose it because its bladder is built with baffles that constrain it from bulging up in that "beach-ball" effect. Here's the way it works out for me -- IIRC, we were about halfway through this dive, so I don't think the actual "bubble" of air in the BCD is as large as it appears in this photo....

One "flaw" in my opinion is that the Katana comes with only one dump valve, at the top of the bladder behind my neck. It works beautifully when you're heads-up vertical, as at the start of a dive; but when I'm flat like this, it's below the air bubble in the wing and I have to angle upwards to "burp" it. There are inflator-hose flanges on both the left and right corners of the bladder, and I've put an additional dump valve on the right-hand flange so I can roll right-side-up and release some air, but it's awkward to reach the toggle ... maybe I can rig up a length of stiff tubing and lead the string to a more convenient position, the way Hollis did to put the dump-valve toggle next to the D-rings on the left shoulder-strap. But I would like a dump valve at the bottom of the wing.