Banded v. Unbanded Wings

[EBS]

Good morning. I am in the midst of tech training and have been doing the usual research and conversation about equipment. I would appreciate any opinions and advice on the decision to buy a banded or unbanded wing.

My understanding of the banded feature is that the bands tend to minimize the size of the deflated wings (reduced drag etc) and that the bands also may reduce the rapid shifting of air from one side of the wing to the other, as the diver shifts his position in the water column. Cons include snag danger and I have also heard more than one diver said that the bands make the wings difficult to orally inflate (never tested this though). Am I missing anything?

Many thanks in advance for your time.

 

[^*^BATMAN^*^]

i think i have seen internal banded wings, which would kill the snag hazard, im not a tech diver...yet, so i dont know how that side of the pond would veiw the difference

 

[Dryglove]

This is the DIR version for reasons not to use bungeed wings

http://www.baue.org/faq/wing_size.html#bungied_wings

"Bungied Wings
The use of bungied/bondage wings is strongly discouraged. To start with, one of the primary reasons stated for their use is that they streamline your rig. Ironically, they generally do the exact opposite. Hydrodynamics dictates that rough surfaces create increased turbulence which consequently increases drag. The bungies create a very rough surface and thus are adding to drag. Furthermore the bungies have a tendency to trap air which cause both static and dynamic instability issues. However these issues are not the most important reasons to avoid these wings. There are two large reasons that bungied wings are normally avoided. Probably the largest problem with bungied wings is the increased resistance to oral inflation. The bungies will make it significantly more difficult to orally inflate the wing, which can be a serious safety issue. A related issue is that the bungies create a stronger positive-pressure deflate than normally exists. So deflating the wing tends to dump air much faster than a non-bungied wing. This makes proper buoyancy control more difficult. And finally, due to this positive-pressure deflate, it is nearly impossible to use your BC as a "third regulator". This is somewhat of an advanced topic, however your BC can be used as an alternate regulator in very serious conditions. The deflate and inflate buttons are depressed simultaneously to provide air and then the diver breaths out their nose, or removes the BC inflator from their mouth when exhaling. It is important to note that you are not rebreathing the air in the BC, you are effectively breathing it straight from the BC inflator mechanism. Obviously you will want to practice this skill in a pool before trying it "for real"! "

 

[The Kraken]

EBS,
You will also get some responses that the constrictions and the resulting "humps" or "bulges" in the wing material result in unnecessary drag because of the lack of a smooth surface.

So far on this board I've yet to read of an entanglement issue that has been caused by the bands on banded bladders so the issue of entanglement seems to be a non-issue.

I dare say the issue of resistance with respect to streamlining between the two different styles is much the same type of issue as is the retractor straps. It would be interesting to see some sort of empirical study done on the difference in drag resistance between the bungied and non-bungied bladders. I would imagine that it would make no noticeable difference to any diver.

Just buy what makes ya happy.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

IMHO, bungied wings offer no substantial benefits. OTOH, they offer a number of plausible drawbacks.

One of those which you might find more annoying on a dive to dive basis is the difficulty in completely dumping all the air from the wing without contorting yourself about underwater. It is this random collection of varying amounts of gas in the wing at various points where the bungies constrict the wing that can make trim more challenging on occasion.

Whether this is an issue for you remains to be seen. But why deal with it at all when its unnecessary?

 

[The Kraken]

Good point on the air pockets, Doc.

I stand corrected on that issue.

 

[BigJetDriver]

Good point on the air pockets, Doc.

I stand corrected on that issue.

Your problem, sir, was that you did not use the DIR required phrase "BWOD" or "Bungied Wings Of Death" and therefore did not rise to the necessary level of fear and paranoia! :11:

 

[The Kraken]

My mistakes just seem to keep compounding !!!!

You know, the possibility of little trapped air pockets is really the only drawback that I can REASONABLY detect with the bungied wings.

I dive th Dive Rite Venture wing. I can see where it might take a great amount of contortion to empty a bungied wing completely.

 

[Wendy]

If you buy the proper sized wing for the tanks you are diving then you don't need the bungees. To me, bungees are an attempt to fixing a problem that you shouldn't be having in the first place. Not to mention the other points that have also been brought up about drag and streamlining.

 

[EBS]

Thanks everyone for the great and humorous information! Very helpful.