First trip with my new DSS bpw

[unitink72]

Got the SS plate and 20lb wing for my annual diving trips to warm water. This time it was cozumel.

The quality of this gear really felt good. Rubber grommets in the backplate to hold the webbing, thick wing shell, etc. The only trouble I had putting it together was I got the orientation of the webbing wrong when feeding it thru the bottom of the plate to create the shoulder straps. The instructions weren't clear enough to tell. However once I tried it on it was obvious it was wrong.

underwater it felt great. I really dislike the belt on normal BCDs, it rides on my stomach and kind of gives me a stomach ache from the pressure. With this setup I made the crotch strap a little short which pulls the belt down slightly and works awesome. Now I look at the other divers on the boat and wonder how they deal with all their huge bloated rigs. Seems so unnecessary.

one question. I got some seawater in the wing. It won't be used again for another year or so. I drained it as well as I could, but does it need to be flushed out with fresh water too?

 

[rhwestfall]

if it was saltwater, absolutely!!! Many ways to accomplish this. Keep in mind, there is also a butt dump, and it needs to be flushed out too....

choices:

You can take it apart and rinse it,
you can buy (make) an adapter that connects a garden hose to the LPI,
you can replace the LPI with a Zeagle model that connects to a garden hose,
etc........

but, as your dentist would recommend too, you should rinse!

(some even recommend a mouthwash diluted in there to prevent bacteria growth)

also, make sure to inflate it, and get it good and dry (takes time)

 

[cool_hardware52]

Got the SS plate and 20lb wing for my annual diving trips to warm water. This time it was cozumel.

The quality of this gear really felt good. Rubber grommets in the backplate to hold the webbing, thick wing shell, etc. The only trouble I had putting it together was I got the orientation of the webbing wrong when feeding it thru the bottom of the plate to create the shoulder straps. The instructions weren't clear enough to tell. However once I tried it on it was obvious it was wrong.

underwater it felt great. I really dislike the belt on normal BCDs, it rides on my stomach and kind of gives me a stomach ache from the pressure. With this setup I made the crotch strap a little short which pulls the belt down slightly and works awesome. Now I look at the other divers on the boat and wonder how they deal with all their huge bloated rigs. Seems so unnecessary.

one question. I got some seawater in the wing. It won't be used again for another year or so. I drained it as well as I could, but does it need to be flushed out with fresh water too?

Glad to hear you are enjoying the gear.

We do not recommend dis-assembly of the wing, you can loose parts, etc.

I do recommend introducing fresh water into the wing via the mouth piece on the power inflator, ~ a quart is plenty. Slosh that around and blow it out the OPV, repeat if you feel the need. I usually leave my wings about 1/2 inflated. You will never get them completely dry inside. If you plan to store them long term consider a few ounces of [h=3]Steramine, or other rebreather disinfectants[/h] in the wing, sloshed around to inhibit the growth of mold etc.

Tobin

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Glad to hear you are enjoying the gear.

We do not recommend dis-assembly of the wing, you can loose parts, etc.

I do recommend introducing fresh water into the wing via the mouth piece on the power inflator, ~ a quart is plenty. Slosh that around and blow it out the OPV, repeat if you feel the need. I usually leave my wings about 1/2 inflated. You will never get them completely dry inside. If you plan to store them long term consider a few ounces of in the wing, sloshed around to inhibit the growth of mold etc.

Tobin

I think you forgot something.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[Dr. Lecter]

(some even recommend a mouthwash diluted in there to prevent bacteria growth)

The alcohol in most mouthwashes isn't going to do anything good for the various rubbery bits in the BCD. If you're interested in making your wing bacteria-free, you could look into the various sterilizers used for rebreather counterlungs.

 

[Hatul]

Glad to hear you are enjoying the gear.

We do not recommend dis-assembly of the wing, you can loose parts, etc.

I do recommend introducing fresh water into the wing via the mouth piece on the power inflator, ~ a quart is plenty. Slosh that around and blow it out the OPV, repeat if you feel the need. I usually leave my wings about 1/2 inflated. You will never get them completely dry inside. If you plan to store them long term consider a few ounces of [h=3]Steramine, or other rebreather disinfectants[/h] in the wing, sloshed around to inhibit the growth of mold etc.

Tobin

I just got mine. Tobin won't like this, but I'm replacing the inflator with the Zeagle BX, which connects to the air hose on the opposite side of the mouthpiece and allows garden-hose flushing of the wing.

 

[John_B]

I just got mine. Tobin won't like this, but I'm replacing the inflator with the Zeagle BX, which connects to the air hose on the opposite side of the mouthpiece and allows garden-hose flushing of the wing.

Why not just buy Tobin's valve flusher?

 

[buddhasummer]

I bought a tool from DSS that attaches to garden hose and inflator unit to flush fresh water into the wing.

https://www.deepseasupply.com/index.php?product=1301

---------- Post added May 28th, 2014 at 08:34 AM ----------

Why not just buy Tobin's valve flusher?

Snap, posted at exactly the same time, great minds we must have.

 

[Hatul]

Why not just buy Tobin's valve flusher?

Thanks, I did not see that and will order one of these as well for flushing the drysuit valve and the inflator itself. At the is point I'll finish swapping to the Zeagle BX as I like the straight way it allows the air hose to route to the inflator, so I can put my Wekona knife back on the air hose as well as the Dive Alert signal whistle.