Killer Bungee- Myth or Fact

[Alian1]

Maybe "bungied" needs to be defined a bit better. I dive a DR wing which is "bungied". There is a small elastic cord running on the plate side of the wing that puts some tension on the outside covering of the wing. Nothing to prevent inflation or snag anything as its right against the back but it does reduce the tendency of the wing to "flap in the wind". Now I have seen bungied wings with a bungie every two inches all around keeping the whole wing very tight. Now that did look very difficult to inflate. So maybe there is actually a middle ground on the bungie issue(though I doubt many will agree...)

 

[JeffG]

The myth of the bungee is "true", but you have to take that with a grain of salt. Its true under very specific conditions. These conditions may or may not ever be present during your dive, so there is a very good chance they would never come into play.

For example..if we look at oral inflation and/or "auto-deflate" when a hole is present issues. They will only be true if a) the wing has lots (or needs lots) of gas for the diver to remain neutral and b) the bands are so tight that they are being stretched by the gas requirements of the wing. So the thing is that "Yea..the myths are true", but in truth you might only see them in the lab

Now, the other side of the coin is..."What do the bands bring to the dive". Well, they are there to "contain" the bladder.

Well, my solution was to buy the smallest non-bungee wing (that still meets my buoyancy requirements) because it doesn't have a very large profile and it doesn't have the failure issues that (on paper) exist for the bungee wing. YMMV.

 

[Thalassamania]

Well, my solution was to buy the smallest non-bungee wing (that still meets my buoyancy requirements) because it doesn't have a very large profile and it doesn't have the failure issues that (on paper) exist for the bungee wing. YMMV.

That's the right answer. When you misuse gear that gear has a chance to behave badly, but that's hardly a reason style someone who uses the gear properly as "farm animal stupid" or whatever the disapprobation of the week is.

 

[Nick_W]

Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist here. But I kind of get the feeling that gear companies, when their not busy inventing gimmicks like fins shaped like whale tails or BCs with elevator buttons, invent ideas like you'll die if you have bungees, some shoulder padding creates drag that will most likely kill you, or using a snorkel to drink beer is a bad idea. Ok, I made the snorkel/beer one up, that actually sounds like a pretty good idea. But seriously, does anyone else ever get the feeling these ideas are kind of created by the people making the gear that is supposed to solve these "problems"?

 

[JeffG]

But seriously, does anyone else ever get the feeling these ideas are kind of created by the people making the gear that is supposed to solve these "problems"?

It might be the other way. Add "stuff" to gear and yak about its benefits so that they have an angle in which to sell it.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist here. But I kind of get the feeling that gear companies, when their not busy inventing gimmicks like fins shaped like whale tails or BCs with elevator buttons, invent ideas like you'll die if you have bungees, some shoulder padding creates drag that will most likely kill you, or using a snorkel to drink beer is a bad idea. Ok, I made the snorkel/beer one up, that actually sounds like a pretty good idea. But seriously, does anyone else ever get the feeling these ideas are kind of created by the people making the gear that is supposed to solve these "problems"?

Its true that all people with bungeed wings will die, however that's besides the point. I think that the real question is, "Is the bungeed wing the gimmick, or is the unbungeed wing the gimmick?"

 

[Scubakevdm]

It might be the other way. Add "stuff" to gear and yak about its benefits so that they have an angle in which to sell it.

Crap. You beat me.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

I dove with a bungied OMS wing for a few years. I took the bungies off and have left them off.

 

[S. starfish]

My main argument against bungied wings like the OMS ones is that they don't allow you shift air from one side of the wing to the other and keep it there, which could make life difficult in some situations.
Sure you could buy a 90lb bungied wing, dive it with a single tank and not get taco tank, but why wouldn't you just get a proper size wing in the first place?

 

[Nick_W]

It might be the other way. Add "stuff" to gear and yak about its benefits so that they have an angle in which to sell it.

Its true that all people with bungeed wings will die, however that's besides the point. I think that the real question is, "Is the bungeed wing the gimmick, or is the unbungeed wing the gimmick?"

So both of you must have missed the part where I also bashed them for creating more crap to stick onto gear and/or another oddly shaped piece of gear.

As for the bungees. I'm not sure if they're the gimmick or if the idea that everyone is going to die is the anti-gimmick to sell the wings that don't have the gimmick.

Its true that all people with bungeed wings will die,

That is actually a brilliant, and true, statement that all manufacturere of non-bungee wings should use. Well, as long as it isn't a guy in a bungeed wing that discovers the cure for death.