Salt water warm water wing lift?

All,
I have been diving for about 6 years now and ive actually progressed into the intro to tech diving world so I am not a complete novice BUT I admit calculating what wing lift would be suitable for warm water diving has me scratching my head. I am 99% a cold fresh water diver. I dive steel back mounted singles, steel side mount, and steel backmounted doubles in a drysuit depending on what we are diving. I have dove very warm salt water on vacation but used my fresh water singles rig which was a bit overkill I believe. I dive strictly backplate and harness style setups so I would like to stick to that. My singles wing is 40lb lift capacity because of all the weight I carry depending on what/how I dive that day (I have used 30lb wings in the past which worked but I just wanted the extra lift). I am a chunky guy weighing in at 225lbs with a height of 5'9 so you can imagine I do need a little extra lead to get me down haha. In warm water dives in just swim trunks I typically need about 12-16 pounds negative to sink me depending on if I use a single aluminum 80 or a single aluminum 100. I use a 4lb backplate with a 5lb weighted STA and then typically carry 4-6lbs lead. So what lift capacity wings should I be looking into? Thanks!

 

For me, when i dive in a 2mm wet and AL80 i use a 4kg BP/STA and no other weight. I am i tad owerweightred with that setup but i have no problem goung both up and down without air in my wing.

I recently changed to a VDH 18lbs wing instead of my cold water 36lbs wing.

I find that eounough to float both me and also float my rig if i take it of and it is realy nice to dive the smaller wing.

For me, i think that when i dive a 2mm wet i only need to have a wing that can carry my rig.


So if you have a 4lbs plate, 5lbs STA, and 6lba weights and the AL80 is a few lbs negative when full, a wing at about 18-24 lbs will be eonough.

I mean, if you get out of the rig and weights you float. and if you only dive in shorts and rashguard you not need to count the suite compression at depth.

 

The lift of your wing should corespond to the maximum negative buoyancy you’ll experience. So, all your static neg weight (lead, steel etc) and dynamic (wetsuit). As it’s warm water this isn’t much of a concern so focus on neg static weight. According to your numbers a 20# wing should be fine. This is typical for most warm water divers. You’ll see many wings from 18#-25# for warm water.

 

I use a 32 for everything. While the smaller wings MAY have a slightly smaller profile, what they don't have is the extra lift I might need to assist another diver who may need support at the surface. The HOG wings I use have a bungee on the underside next to the plate that compresses the wing when there is minimal air in it. Yet in my experience with them, does not in any way restrict the full inflation of the wing via the power inflator or orally.
I've seen the 18's and had a 23. I want a wing I can use with al80's, 63's, or my LP95's and still have the lift I need to do anything I may have to.
I have heard some tout the drag of an 18 vs a 32. That to me is kinda silly since this is not a race. I'm one of the slowest swimmers on scuba I know usually. I also tend to see a lot more stuff. Drag on a wing is a non issue. I'd be more concerned about a too large wing trapping air and not being able to vent efficiently. I've never had that issue with the wings I use.

 

As Jim says, drag is a very minor issue.....the more important factor is the dynamic instability when you have a large wing compounded by over weighting. The results are poor trim, excessive gas use, uncontrolled ascents etc.

 

To add to what @Jim Lapenta said, I really like my 30lb wing. It is overkill when diving an AL 80, but indeed would be great for assistance on the surface. Also, on a recent trip in Panama, we decided to do a deep dive one day so the operator switched us to a heavy steel tank and a stage. As it turned out, the 30 lb wing was just adequate. From a weighting standpoint, the tanks we got were not ideal. The 30lb wing allowed us to make the dive, however, and we got to see a rarely visited site. I also don't notice any significant drag when diving an AL 80 with it. For that reason, I'm going to stick with 30 lbs for my warm water, single tank dives.

 

Here’s a great tool that should help:
Optimal Buoyancy Computer

 

I use a 30# Halcyon Eclipse. I added a 20# version for a while, but sold it as I didn't get enough use out of it to justify having two. It would have been too small in the Red Sea, for example, with a 5mm suit and LP95. The 30# version works for everything and by the end of the dive it's pretty much wrapped around the tank anyways.

 

A wing with around 30 lbs lift is perfect for you with a single tank. I love my AL BP for traveling (and cold fresh/salt water with a steel tank), but you could go either way - steel or AL BP depending on your typical travel weight restrictions.

If you want to travel light(er) with AL, you can always slide weight pockets on your wing (tank) cam bands so you can use the destination's weights.

 

thanks for the info which makes a lot of sense. Which model Hog is the one which comes with a bungee?