Deep Sea Supply status, May 2019 edition

[ams511]

I really like the the square openings in the center panel of the DSS torus wings...it was an interesting design that made it possible to pop the wing on and off without having to unbuckle/unthread tank cam straps. I don't know how well it worked in reality as I don't own one, but I imagine it worked well.

It works well however you could get the same effect by using a wing with a cross-hair pattern like a Dive Rite or DGX and Scubapro style cam straps. Although you would still need to unscrew the wing from the plate rather than pull it off.

 

[guruboy]

I really like the the square openings in the center panel of the DSS torus wings...it was an interesting design that made it possible to pop the wing on and off without having to unbuckle/unthread tank cam straps. I don't know how well it worked in reality as I don't own one, but I imagine it worked well.

It works well however you could get the same effect by using a wing with a cross-hair pattern like a Dive Rite or DGX and Scubapro style cam straps. Although you would still need to unscrew the wing from the plate rather than pull it off.

As in the tank straps are threaded through the backplate and you just shove the entire buckle through the large openings?

 

[JohnnyC]

I would imagine you would just have to shove the whole thing through one side and just deal with the webbing not laying flat down the center of the plate. I would be worried that if you didn’t bolt it down, the wing would be able to slide up and down quite a bit as the holes in those are rather large.

Of course bolting it down sort of defeats the purpose, which was to make the singles wings easily removable for transportation in order to prevent damage from people leaving them attached to the plate for travel.

 

[Zef]

As in the tank straps are threaded through the backplate and you just shove the entire buckle through the large openings?

Yes, exactly.

It works well however you could get the same effect by using a wing with a cross-hair pattern like a Dive Rite or DGX and Scubapro style cam straps. Although you would still need to unscrew the wing from the plate rather than pull it off.

I use a Dive Rite wing and I also have Scubapro style cam straps...actually I have the QD cam straps similar to Scubarpro that I purchased from Edge-HOG. I put a normal cam strap on the top of my BP/W and QD on the bottom thinking that it would be easier to swap tanks with that configuration. It is easier to remove the BP/W from a tank but I find it much more fidley to latch the QD cam strap, particularly when they are dry....perhaps it is the design as the ScubaPro have the hook cutout in the middle of the buckle whereas the Edge-HOG ones hook onto the end of the buckle.
Scubapro:

Edge-HOG:

The reality is that I don't really need to remove the wing from my plate very often so it is not really an issue....it is recommended to remove the wing from the plate when traveling, and I would if I was flying or doing someplace long distance but for the car ride to the local dive sites I just pack the car with my BP/W on top of the piles of gear in the back of the car.

-Z

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

It’s cheaper not to have a zipper?

Not in the long run it’s not. I’ve read many accounts of people who had to send their wings back for repair. I understand Tobin only charged $50 to replace a bladder. That seems awful cheap to me. It wouldn’t take too many of those to start sliding backwards financially.
He would have been better off building a single walled old school wing like all if them used to be at one time. At least the user could fix it with Aquaseal in the field if they needed to.
I never got into it with Tobin just out of professional courtesy, but I would never treat people like he did. He was his own worst enemy.

 

[Sam Miller III]

@Eric Sedletzky
I do not recall any contact with Tobin -- And didn't need any contract or his advise

FYI The late great Harry Rescigno Company Sea Tec -Inflatable Systems was the original pioneering company in the design and development of so many components relating to as the company name implies Inflatable Systems.

He was the first to develop a rugged fool proof and especially diver proof push button inflator for the US diving market which was followed by so many innovations which are now in common usage . Harry was always one to create very rugged easy to disassemble and repair products. I can't recall ever having inflator problems or needing to dissemble an inflator but I would suspect it would not be difficult with common hand tools while on a tropical trip to a distant island

One item he pioneered was the dual bag system -- a tough outer bag of ballistic nylon with a very flexible inexpensive easy to replace inner shell made of plastic.

His only "failure" was the early double bag which developed a fungal growth creating 1000s of microscopic holes This was not discovered until the units were in production and had been in the diving community for short time. The problem was immediately solved by changing the composition of the inner liner and strongly worded factory recommendation to periodically wash the inside of you inflator bag with a generous amount of "Downey." which apparently it has some ingredient that dissolves salt crystals. (@Marie 13 is that correct?)

Perhaps Tobin was in conflict with Harrys double bag patients and insisted on a single bag ? Who knows and at this juncture in diving who cares ?

Now you know -- The way it was ….

Cheers from CenCal

Sam Miller. 111

FYI
Harrys Obituary from Passing's which I authored

• "Harry Ruscigno-Seatec Founder
  Harry Ruscigno
  (Dec 8,1933 to December 6,2008)
  
  Harry Ruscigno (Ru see e-O) was the founder of Sea Tec/Inflatable systems,
  
  He was a very active diver, a respected engineer who adapted his talents to the diving world over fifty years ago.
  
  Still a teen ager Harry was a founder and driving force in the pioneer diving club the San Jose Barbs in California. One of the oldest clubs in the world
  
  After graduation from college he moved to San Diego area where he became active in competitive spear fishing competing in many local and regional spearfishing meets. He also served a term as president of the San Diego council of divers. During this time in San Diego he entered into the diving manufacturing business by producing small items for Bob Mitchell who had founded the original diving accessory company "Aqua Craft." Harry's first love was spearfishing so he also began producing custom made one of a kind Adict Spear guns.
  
  A few years later he moved Orange California into a small building adjacent to Joe Lamonica (JBL) in where he established his company Sea Tec/Inflatable Systems. His very first product was the first American made large diameter oral inflator which revolutionized the design of primitive BCs. He then began developing a total inflation systems. He introduced the "dual bag inflation system" to the industry which became an industry standard and was adapted by most the major manufactures of that era.
  
  Sea Tec's initial line was horse collars, later the BCs, & BIUs, were introduced. After much testing and experimentation he introduced the very popular rugged "Manta." Sea Tec moved to Corona enlarged their line to became a full line company marketing and producing fins masks, regulators and the very powerful and at that time the standard of the world the Sampson "World Record" spear gun
  
  Harry eventually removed him self from the recreational diving manufacturing a number of years ago -- the recreational diving industry just would not support the type and quality inflation systems he wanted to produce, so he concentrated on the military and the law enforcement sector . Harry sold the SeaTec/Inflatable Systems several years ago but had been on a retainer as a consultant to the new owners of Sea Tec until his untimely death.
  
  He served on the Board of directors of DEMA from 1978 to 1990 and was acclaimed as the first director Emeritus of DEMA.
  
  I first met Harry on the beach in a deserted cove in Baja California, Mexico in the early 1950s. I was shooting a highly modified extended Arablete, Harry was shooting a wood gun of his own design favored by the San Diego tribe. Nether one of us won bragging rights that day but it did cemented a life long friendship.
  
  We didn't come personally come in contact again until he established Sea Tec in Orange,California almost 50 years ago in the early 1970s.
  
  We entered into a very interesting business/diving relationship. I would test dive and evaluate his prototype units and he would supply me with my choice of production units, which eventually was the never equaled Manta.
  
  I recall so clearly one meeting when we were discussing a particular SeaTec model which I had made a number of suggestions for modifications. His response was that "The modifications were needed but it would not be accepted by the general public since there were a lot of people who dive but only about 100 in the US who are divers."
  
  I send my and my families' personal condolences, along with all of those past and present divers who have benefited so much from Harry's many contributions to his family; His wife Paula, his children Stephanie, Jeff, Valerie, Jack, Matt, Becky Toby and numerous grand and great grand children, too numerous to list and his many business associates and diving friends who also share in this great loss.
  
  
  Dr. Samuel Miller,111 "
  

 

[ams511]

As in the tank straps are threaded through the backplate and you just shove the entire buckle through the large openings?

As Zef mentioned yes you just pull the cam straps through the hole in the wing. There are some rubber fasteners attached to the plate that you also pull through to position the wing, There are some YouTube videos showing this.

 

[ams511]

Not in the long run it’s not. I’ve read many accounts of people who had to send their wings back for repair. I understand Tobin only charged $50 to replace a bladder. That seems awful cheap to me. It wouldn’t take too many of those to start sliding backwards financially.
He would have been better off building a single walled old school wing like all if them used to be at one time. At least the user could fix it with Aquaseal in the field if they needed to.
I never got into it with Tobin just out of professional courtesy, but I would never treat people like he did. He was his own worst enemy.

I can see the $50 for changing a bladder on a LCD wing as being somewhat profitable, but when Tobin wrote the steps to replacing the bladder on the Torus line, I could see it was a big time dump and probably unprofitable. You could not just hire someone to do that, you needed someone skilled. I agree with you there is no point for that design.

You may have forgotten, but Tobin did produce a single wall wing at the same time as Oxycheq and Halcyon. It was abandoned pretty quickly. In fairness, Oxycheq and Halcyon also abandoned the design. There was a thread years ago from an instructor from the Far East (I think Japan) that used the single wall wing for his dive school. They fell apart relatively quickly. The instructor posted photos, I don't remember Tobin's response.

I think the only company that still sells single wall wings is UTD, except for the Express Tech wing. I believe Apeks discontinued the WTX-3 model here in the US. Halcyon has a single wall wing but I think you need to purchase the package.

 

[ams511]

@Zef If using Scubapro style buckles you could use a strap like stuartv uses to position the BC on the tank and then snap the buckles. I have some knock-off SP style buckles but could not use them because the slots in my wing were not wide enough to pass the hardware through easily.

Tobin mentioned that the most wing punctures are pinch flats caused by the plate contacting the wing. Making the wing easier to remove from the plate was suppose to reduce the problem.

 

[ams511]

@Sam Miller III I don't think Sea Tec had any patents on double bag construction. I have a Sea Quest horsecollar BC with a double-bag. I assume it is a contemporary with the Sea Tec Sunfish.

BTW, if I ever wanted to go back to a jacket BC, a Sea Tec Manta would be my choice.