Bondage Wings of Death

[rawls]

I was just on Dive Rite Express and read a notation regarding whether or not the bungie cord of their Gusset Control System, found on some of their air cells, such as their Rec and Trek wings was considered a bungie wing and they said it was not. What caught my eye was the notation that was titled "Bondage Wings of Death." Let me say that Dive Rite was not saying bungie wings were "bondage wings of death." They were addressing a point about their product not being considered a bungied wing and some concerns that bungie wings are dangerous. I hope I'm making this sound understandable It's in the air cell section on www.diveriteexpress.com. My question is why do some call bungie wings "bondage wings of death."...

 

[SangP]

Hi rawls,

I wouldn't call them wings of death but they aren't really necessary.

Examples of bungied wings:
http://www.omsdive.com/bc118.html#BC118
http://www.omsdive.com/single.html#BC117

This is a good article on wings, lift bungies and why they aren't encoraged:
http://www.baue.org/faq/wing_size.html#bungied_wings

Then there's George's rather uncompromising views:
http://www.cisatlantic.com/trimix/gmism/gmisms.htm

I wouldn't use them but I haven't seen or heard anyone die from one yet...

SangP

 

[Doc Intrepid]

The origin of the term is somewhat murky, AFAIK, although its genesis occurred during the culture wars in the field some ten to fifteen years ago or so. It's often attributed to George Irvine, an outspoken and controversial yet monumentally influential cave diver and former director of the WKPP.

The bungee cord design is supposed to collapse the wing when empty. Why this is supposedly advantageous or desirable remains somewhat mysterious.

According to many who use them, arguments against the design are specious. These include the bungee forcing air out of the wing in the event of a puncture, resistance making the wing more challenging to orally inflate, and air bubbles in the wing being more difficult to entirely eliminate due to the pockets formed by the bunched up sections of collapsed wing material.

On the other hand, arguments in favor of the design appear to be equally specious. No particular 'streamlining' occurs, and no specific advantage is evident. It's basically a different design, with its detractors and advocates.

It comes down to a matter of what you believe and why, very little empirical evidence exists to support either arguments for or against.

In terms of the "wing of death", urban legend has it that at least one female diver's body was recovered wearing one. I refer to it as 'urban myth' because I've yet to see any reliable anecdotal account or citation supporting this frequently made assertion. (George has written about performing a body recovery of a female diver, however, her death was attributable to a gas switch to the wrong mix at the wrong depth and a poorly-marked tank, not her wing...)

Hope this helps. If anyone else has a valid citation or reference, I'm sure they'll be along shortly to provide it to you.

Best,

Doc

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I have a Rec Wing, which is more or less marketed as a dual purpose singles/doubles wing. If your use it as a singles wing, you need to use the bungee cord to reduce the amount of tacoing that otherwise occurs. It is still not the worlds best singles wing even if the bungee is sued, but it does offer ample lift for a cold water single tank diver unlike other dedicated, but much smaller, singles wings.

It is also not the worlds greatest doubles wing as the profile is pretty narrow and the aircells can get pinched betwene the tanks and backplate preventing them from fully inflating. It works well with smaller diameter tanks (6.75" to 7.0") but is not great with larger tanks unless used with a transpac harness where there is no backplate to get in the way.

On a positive note, with the Dive Rite design, unlike the OMS design most accused of being a "bungee Wing of Death", the bungee cords do not wrap around the air cell, instead one cord is used that zig zags through guides on the inside and outside bottom edges of the wing. The good news is that you would really have to work at it to snag anything in them as they are on the underside and more or less out of the way.

That said, I don't really see a potential snag issue even with the OMS design with multiple bungees that wrap around the aircell.

I have noticed that with some bungee designs, if they are too tight the wing can be hard to orally inflate on the surface. But with the Dive Rite design, you can easily and quickly release the bungee tension on the wing so it is not an issue.

 

[wreckedinri]

The origin of the term is somewhat murky, AFAIK, although its genesis occurred during the culture wars in the field some ten to fifteen years ago or so. It's often attributed to George Irvine, an outspoken and controversial yet monumentally influential cave diver and former director of the WKPP.

The bungee cord design is supposed to collapse the wing when empty. Why this is supposedly advantageous or desirable remains somewhat mysterious.

According to many who use them, arguments against the design are specious. These include the bungee forcing air out of the wing in the event of a puncture, resistance making the wing more challenging to orally inflate, and air bubbles in the wing being more difficult to entirely eliminate due to the pockets formed by the bunched up sections of collapsed wing material.

On the other hand, arguments in favor of the design appear to be equally specious. No particular 'streamlining' occurs, and no specific advantage is evident. It's basically a different design, with its detractors and advocates.

It comes down to a matter of what you believe and why, very little empirical evidence exists to support either arguments for or against.

In terms of the "wing of death", urban legend has it that at least one female diver's body was recovered wearing one. I refer to it as 'urban myth' because I've yet to see any reliable anecdotal account or citation supporting this frequently made assertion. (George has written about performing a body recovery of a female diver, however, her death was attributable to a gas switch to the wrong mix at the wrong depth and a poorly-marked tank, not her wing...)

Hope this helps. If anyone else has a valid citation or reference, I'm sure they'll be along shortly to provide it to you.

Best,

Doc

FWIW, I think that the statement above is the most reasonable, thoughtful, and above all, truthful observation ever made about the whole bungeed vs non-bungeed wing. As one who has many dives on both designs, I will say that I did not find a difference diving with either. I also know many divers far more experienced than me that also dive with either design.

Experience, planning, and technique help us enjoy our sport safely, not an elastic band.

Just my $0.02

 

[Tamas]

OH God! Here we go again......let the 'juice' flow and the bashing begin!!!!

For all of you 'boys-in-black' out there that will pipe up in this thread spreading lies, remember, we/I are still waiting for actual facts against the bungee design, not just myths and not "someone said, someone saw" comments.

For the record, there are far more advantages to the design then flaws and those same flaws are present with the non-bungeed versions.

 

[The Kraken]

OK, before everyone gets torqued out . . . let's keep it civil !!!

Remember, this is what the author of the thread asked:

"My question is why do some call bungie wings "bondage wings of death."...

The discussion is not that they are or are not death traps.

the K

 

[wreckedinri]

OK, before everyone gets torqued out . . . let's keep it civil !!!

Remember, this is what the author of the thread asked:

"My question is why do some call bungie wings "bondage wings of death."...

The discussion is not that they are or are not death traps.

the K

Well then, if we are to simply answer the question without injecting any other information, or personal observations and experiences, the the answer is: Cuz someone said they were.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Because that's just a sexy name for them!

 

[Tamas]

Well then, if we are to simply answer the question without injecting any other information, or personal observations and experiences, the the answer is: Cuz someone said they were.

And we all know, that just because someone said they were it must be true! Right? Isn't there a type of diving that is based solely on some guys believes with people blindly following what ever he says and does??? ...since that is the case, then they must be doing something Right?!