based on what? unsurpassed is probably an accurate statement on longevity, but the majority of the high end bp/w's are going to last just as long and take just as much abuse. Same from a quality side, their quality is good, but it's not better than most of the others. The high end ones all live in the same realm with very little differences in the quality. It was one thing when they first came out and there weren't many games in town, or at the times when their customer service was just far superior than anyone else, but now you really are just paying the blue H tax. It's not that they have gone down, it's that everyone else has risen to the occasion and are doing it for far less money. Halcyon can still charge their premiums and for that I can't fault them. If you can get away with it, then good for you, but they don't have any superior quality on their bp/w's to many others, and they don't last any longer either.
The only really different thing they do is use a coated fabric inner bladder vs a butyl rubber inner bladder. Pros and cons to using it, but in real world use, I haven't seen any improvements and from a materials standpoint, it's not worth the increased cost in my opinion vs using a thicker bladder like DSS does. It's tradeoffs because the fabric is a bit more flexible, but the difference isn't significant in the water.
@red_barbarian the elbow should have been a standard elbow that any of the major bp/w suppliers and many recreational bc's use. obviously water under the bridge now, and at the time they probably weren't available where you are to begin with, but inflators and dump valves are all pretty standardized in the bp/w world in terms of threading, and they swap around with no issue. In fact, putting DSS OPV's on other brands wings is a very common practice.
@CarcharodonCarcharias what parts/maintenance/service do you need on a bp/w? Parts of a standard wing from most manufacturers.
Inflator-these are all universal and if one starts leaking, you can either rebuild it with like 3 o-rings and a bit of patience, or replace it for about $15 with one from DGX. These are only serviced when they start leaking, no service interval on these
Corrugated hose-all universal. non serviceable
elbows-all universal. nonserviceable
bladders-not typically going to break, but if you get a pinch flat, you can repair it with a tire tube repair kit. if it's beyond that, you need a new one. with a DSS Torus it has to get sent back, if you have a DSS LCD or any other wing with a zipper, you just order a new one and put it in. It's not a part that dealers are going to carry, so you have to bring it in anyway. This is a very very very rare occurrence and as long as you take care of your stuff, it's a non-issue. Heavy pool use will wear the wings out quickly, our Halcyon wings last about 4 semesters before the inner bladders completely fall apart. Our HOG wings last about 6 semesters before falling apart, and we have a DSS one that we are trialing and is currently on 7. It's getting very faded in the cover, but the bladder is still holding out.
dump valves-universal. only moving parts are a spring that shouldn't have an issue and is not considered a consumable part, and the string, which is a diy replacement.
there just isn't anything in a bp/w that you really need to worry about local presence. With basically all of the bp/w brands, the dealers have to send them off for repairs anyway, or bring parts in to just replace them. You can do that yourself if you get the parts, so I personally wouldn't worry about it. Do you have any specific concerns that have you wanting a local presence?
