Apeks WTX harness/integrated weights/backplate...

[mikeguerrero]

Does that bolt get in the way of the cam band?

Nope,

The cam belt is only occluding the whole for the nut to enter. Once you pull out the cam belt as I showed in the picture the hole is present. With the hole present you attach the nut to the bolt and then slide the cam back through.

The bolt when fully inserted becomes flush with the BC therefore allowing the strap to have no obstruction.

MG

 

[mikeguerrero]

<Shrug, thanks!>
Both my wife and I use the WTX with 30lb lift wings and HP100 steel tanks. We dive both dry and wetsuits with the same wings. And I do not use any bolts, just the tank straps to secure the wings.

I don’t use it for doubles, my wife does not like doubles one bit.

A note of caution, insure the wing you use for doubles is capable of floating your kit. 45lbs may be very close.

Dave,

I only plan on diving my steel 80's as doubles and they are a lot lighter than my steel 100's.

The WTX 4 claims to work with doubles so I can only speculate that steel 80's being smaller should work.

My dive partner dives wet and has dove my steel 100 with 20 lbs of weight on a diverite with 30 lb lift travel wing. He has no problem going up or comming up.

When he uses his steel 72 LP he has a little struggle going down within the first 5 feet but after that barrier is broken he's okay.

MG

 

[Scubakevdm]

Dave,

I only plan on diving my steel 80's as doubles and they are a lot lighter than my steel 100's.

The WTX 4 claims to work with doubles so I can only speculate that steel 80's being smaller should work.

My dive partner dives wet and has dove my steel 100 with 20 lbs of weight on a diverite with 30 lb lift travel wing. He has no problem going up or comming up.

When he uses his steel 72 LP he has a little struggle going down within the first 5 feet but after that barrier is broken he's okay.

MG

You can run into trouble thinking about buoyancy in terms of heavy and light. It can save you some trouble to think in terms of more negative or more positive. An example... an HP 80 is lighter than an HP 100, however, are usually more negative in water because they have identical, thick steel ends, but less thin walled steel center. Capiche?

 

[mikeguerrero]

You can run into trouble thinking about buoyancy in terms of heavy and light. It can save you some trouble to think in terms of more negative or more positive. An example... an HP 80 is lighter than an HP 100, however, are usually more negative in water because they have identical, thick steel ends, but less thin walled steel center. Capiche?

Understood,

Thanks, I don't have the experience yet to understand more negative vs positive. If you don't mind can you elaborate just a tad?

Since inserting my BP which is 5 lbs, my rig is a lot heavier than before. My decision to purchase the WTX 4 was very much based on making dives safer with the new purchase of my DUI drysuit CLX450, (the extra weight to compensate the drysuit).

I only have wetsuit dives and I wear a lot of neoprene. My configuration is:

Pinnacles 7mm on the extremeties, 13mm in torso, 10 in groin, 6mm boots, 4 mm gloves.

20 lbs of hard weight; 8 non-ditchable.

Worthington Steel HP 100.

Seaquest Pro QD i3 BC.

I have no problems with bouyancy whatsoever and have been down 97 feet at Monastery.

After that deep dive I felt it was time to get more high end equipment because I had restrictions at the waist with my current setup.

I don't like the jacket feel at that depth, it feels restrictive. My pockets became difficult next to impossible to open/close.

My i3 has a 36 lb lift and was very good at bouyancy.

Now being that I'm prone to getting cold quickly I went dry which I haven't dove. It's still at DUI getting made.

With all said, when I went down to my LDS to get the Apeks Harness I saw the wing and noticed it was only 32 lbs for lift and they let me know it's not set up for doubles.

I asked to look at the WTX 6 and 8 and was like WOW THAT IS HUGE!!! They told me about the new WTX 4 that Apeks has and told me for my size and my diving it would be a great way to start.

At this point I hope that the lift of 45 lbs will be enough for my single 100 and maybe be okay for my doubles since I have two HP 80's at home just sitting there.

My i3 is designed for doubles with a kit and in the manual it says clearly that with 36 lbs of lift, you should only attempt steel 80's at most.

I hope to see what happens with my setup and I will post my results for others to follow.

Once again thanks for the heads up....

MG

 

[RJP]

I dive the Worthington HP 100 steels and have a set of PST HP steel 80's I can convert to doubles so that is why I went with the bladder that can do both.

For the most part any wing "that can do both" will probably do neither particularly well.

My first wing was a DR "Rec Wing" purchased with the same thought that you have. Sure, on paper it would work perfectly with singles or doubles.

What I found in actuallity was that it was more than what I needed for singles - ST119's dived here at home and certainly AL80s while travelling for sure. The result was the dreaded "taco" effect with all the related flopping material and increased drag.

When I went to doubles the lift wasn't really enough to float me, my tanks, and all my gear at the surface with my head out of the water as comfortably as I would have liked. Certainly not in choppy water.

You might want to reconsider wing selection and go with the right wing for the set-up you're diving now, and then simply add a doubles wing to your collection later as appropriate. Especially if you'll ever do any dive travel, where the WTX 4 will be complete overkill with an AL80.

Ray's 1st Axiom of Diving: You'll spend far less money in the long run if you buy the right stuff in the first place.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Understood,

Thanks, I don't have the experience yet to understand more negative vs positive. If you don't mind can you elaborate just a tad?

Since inserting my BP which is 5 lbs, my rig is a lot heavier than before. My decision to purchase the WTX 4 was very much based on making dives safer with the new purchase of my DUI drysuit CLX450, (the extra weight to compensate the drysuit).

I only have wetsuit dives and I wear a lot of neoprene. My configuration is:

Pinnacles 7mm on the extremeties, 13mm in torso, 10 in groin, 6mm boots, 4 mm gloves.

20 lbs of hard weight; 8 non-ditchable.

Worthington Steel HP 100.

Seaquest Pro QD i3 BC.

I have no problems with bouyancy whatsoever and have been down 97 feet at Monastery.

After that deep dive I felt it was time to get more high end equipment because I had restrictions at the waist with my current setup.

I don't like the jacket feel at that depth, it feels restrictive. My pockets became difficult next to impossible to open/close.

My i3 has a 36 lb lift and was very good at bouyancy.

Now being that I'm prone to getting cold quickly I went dry which I haven't dove. It's still at DUI getting made.

With all said, when I went down to my LDS to get the Apeks Harness I saw the wing and noticed it was only 32 lbs for lift and they let me know it's not set up for doubles.

I asked to look at the WTX 6 and 8 and was like WOW THAT IS HUGE!!! They told me about the new WTX 4 that Apeks has and told me for my size and my diving it would be a great way to start.

At this point I hope that the lift of 45 lbs will be enough for my single 100 and maybe be okay for my doubles since I have two HP 80's at home just sitting there.

My i3 is designed for doubles with a kit and in the manual it says clearly that with 36 lbs of lift, you should only attempt steel 80's at most.

I hope to see what happens with my setup and I will post my results for others to follow.

Once again thanks for the heads up....

MG

Okay. you seem like a nice guy, and God knows you put up with enough crap on the elevator thread. The first thing that you need to do, is figure out what the buoyancy characteristics are for the steel 80's. What brand are they, and what is the working pressure for the tanks?

 

[stoiclown]

Just out of curiosity how tall are you and how much do you weigh?

My concern is that you may be a over-weighted (as your skill improves you naturally become more comfortable and require less weight), at 97' you should not feel that much squeeze from your BCD, and you should be able to open the pockets. 30+ lbs. of lift is only there to make your rig positively buoyant when your not in it.

I'm 6'-4" and weigh 248lbs, and have dove basically the same setup wetsuit, Pro-QD and Steel 100 (and have huge buoyancy/weight sucking lung capacity), though I now dive dry and BPW. It might be a good idea during the wet-suit to dry-suit interim to take a moment and reexamine your buoyancy and personal weighting?

Unless your stats are similar too mine, I believe you may be diving heavy (though I appreciate that all are different, and you could be the exception to the rule).

 

[mikeguerrero]

Thanks,

All of you gave some great feedback and let me start by saying, after reading what RJP wrote, I called Aqualung and spoke to them about his point, Aqualung said the WTX 3 wing should be able to lift me even with my drysuit in the weeks to come. (He said, that's what the ditchable weights are for if something goes wrong)

I don't want the dreaded taco look and will do some diving in Florida in the months to come. So off I went to my LDS and they had in stock the WTX 3 and I canceled my order for the other wing.

I came home and attached it to my harness and I am really impressed how contoured it is around the tank and doesn't at all touch me, what a difference from my Pro QD i3.

I'll have to take some pictures to post later...

I have never tried taking more weight off since dropping to 20 lbs on my old setup. But I might be overweighted.

I'm 5'5 and weigh 174 lbs...

I'm going to try calling tommorow one dive shop that has a pool and practice bouyancy...

Thanks,

MG

P.S
The set of doubles I have in my garage are PST 80's HP steel...

 

[evil_xander]

Hi Mike,

nice to see you switching to the dark side.

BTW, with a drysuit you'll probably remove the padding as the plate itself is not uncomfortable, and anything that floats and is not needed you can leave behind, and you most probably will.

 

[hobodiver]

I took the padding out of mine recently, and it was perfectly fine. No discomfort at all.