Proper wing storage?

[CuriousRambler]

I rinse mine out thoroughly with a hose adapter, then inflate and drain repeatedly to get as much water out as possible. Last, I inflate it fully, hang it, then unscrew the OPV. The wing is stiff enough to hold its partially-inflated form while hanging. I leave it open for a while (days, weeks...depends if I forget about it) then screw the OPV back on and make sure there are a few puffs of air in it, probably not even half full. I've considered disconnecting the corrugated hose as well, so it's open on both ends and air can flow through to dry it out, but I've never had any issues with this way. Thousand ways to skin a cat.

 

[Caveman]

I rinse mine out thoroughly with a hose adapter, then inflate and drain repeatedly to get as much water out as possible. Last, I inflate it fully, hang it, then unscrew the OPV. The wing is stiff enough to hold its partially-inflated form while hanging. I leave it open for a while (days, weeks...depends if I forget about it) then screw the OPV back on and make sure there are a few puffs of air in it, probably not even half full. I've considered disconnecting the corrugated hose as well, so it's open on both ends and air can flow through to dry it out, but I've never had any issues with this way. Thousand ways to skin a cat.

Can having a little bit of water left over (provided its clean fresh water) inside the bladder be damaging at all or not really? After rinsing it out there always seems to be a little bit left over.

 

[Caveman]

wow. as a 50 year old man, that really hit a personal note with me....

 

[CuriousRambler]

Can having a little bit of water left over (provided its clean fresh water) inside the bladder be damaging at all or not really? After rinsing it out there always seems to be a little bit left over.

Beats me! I can't imagine a bit of water would harm it, but never figured I had any reason to find out the hard way. If you dive regularly and it gets moved around with any frequency, then I can't see any way water would harm it. If water could rapidly destroy it, it'd make some pretty lousy scuba gear.

I tend to go weeks (or years) between dives. Tryin' to fix that...Anyway, I'm not willing to risk a small puddle of water sitting idly in the same exact spot inside my wing for 6+ months. If there were any chance of water doing damage, that's probably exactly the situation it would come from. Could be I'm overly cautious, and there's no need to worry at all. I also do my safety stops, and wear my seatbelt.

 

[Nemrod]

I rinse my fleet out with clean fresh water after a good soak in the bathtub. I may use a drop of Dawn soap. Then Iet them dry completely. Yes, there may still be a little water in the bladder. I have put a cap full of Listerine in the bladders, but not as of late. I then suck them flat and then pull the vent to release the vacuum and into the bottom of the roller bag it goes if it is next up in rotation. The others go into various plastic tubs marked with the gear set to which they belong. I have more than one "rig" and though I do mix and match somewhat, each set has a home. Cars and motorcycles in the garage, SCUBA gear and bicycles in the house. N

 

[Zef]

I have a hotronics snapdry skiboot dryer that I use after days on the slopes and in my wetsuit booties to keep them from getting funky. It gently warms and circulates the air to dry my boots/booties....I never thought of it before but I suppose if I was going to store my wing for a long period of time I could unscrew the opv and stick one of the legs of the dryer into the wing....could do 2 wings at a time I suppose.

Will have to do an experiment to see how well it works.

Here is a pic of the boot dryer I have...the black plastic ends come off and there is another set of multi-directional ends that screw on for with gloves/mittens....those ends would probably work well in the wing:

-Z

 

[Lorenzoid]

weird, i fold mine. maybe i should stop doing that..

If I recall, all my wings were shipped to me folded, so I assumed it wasn't harmful. Maybe okay for shipping (or traveling in airline baggage) but harmful for long-term storage? If so, I wonder how long is too long?

 

[Caveman]

If I recall, all my wings were shipped to me folded, so I assumed it wasn't harmful. Maybe okay for shipping (or traveling in airline baggage) but harmful for long-term storage? If so, I wonder how long is too long?

I think wings arrive folded because they are fresh from the factory and it minimizes space needed for packaging. I don't think it is necessarily harmful but more of a cautionary measure in the event that some people don't wash their wings properly especially after a sea dive. Say you are about to fly somewhere or drive long distance, then folding the wing is fine for a day or two. But for long term storage it is a safer bet to keep the wing partially inflated.

 

[Caveman]

Beats me! I can't imagine a bit of water would harm it, but never figured I had any reason to find out the hard way. If you dive regularly and it gets moved around with any frequency, then I can't see any way water would harm it. If water could rapidly destroy it, it'd make some pretty lousy scuba gear.

I tend to go weeks (or years) between dives. Tryin' to fix that...Anyway, I'm not willing to risk a small puddle of water sitting idly in the same exact spot inside my wing for 6+ months. If there were any chance of water doing damage, that's probably exactly the situation it would come from. Could be I'm overly cautious, and there's no need to worry at all. I also do my safety stops, and wear my seatbelt.

Right on the money. After I started this thread I emailed Dive Rite and they confirmed that having a bit of water left over is not a problem at all assuming it is clean fresh water. Makes sense. Wouldn't make for very practical diving gear if something that is designed to be used in water could get damaged by water.

 

[Zef]

Right on the money. After I started this thread I emailed Dive Rite and they confirmed that having a bit of water left over is not a problem at all assuming it is clean fresh water. Makes sense. Wouldn't make for very practical diving gear if something that is designed to be used in water could get damaged by water.

That is good to know but what has concerned me in the past is if the water in the wing/bcd if stored for a long period of time would cause mold growth...I know it is strongly recommended to not breath any air from inside a wing/bcd but my concern is that if I am going to store my wing for any significant length of time then I want to preserve/protect it and any other gear it is stored with,,,moisture leading to mildew/mold could seriously impact ones equipment, I have seen it with backing/camping gear, and would not want it to happen to my dive gear.

-Z