Single setup recommendations for wife & I?

[romad119]

Tobin,

The SS plate and 42 lb wing is working great with the double AL80s. I put a 2 lber in the tail pouch for trim purposes and everything is great.

Well now I am looking for a singles setup for myself and one for the wife. I plan on ordering as a kit (great savings!) so I would go with a medium kydex just to have both in my inventory.

Ideally we would like a setup that can be used in our normal range of diving:

Tropical to low 60s (Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, NM)

--------------------------------

Wife's current setup for Blue Hole:

5'5"
160
5mm full with a 3mm gold core shortie
Rec. BCD w/ 16 lbs
Single AL80
Aqualung Slingshot fins (heavier then normal rec. fins, lighter then turbos, etc)

--------------------------------

My setup for Blue Hole:

6'
210
5mm full with a 3mm gold core shortie
Rec. BCD w/ 14 lbs
Single AL80
Aqualung Slingshot fins (heavier then normal rec. fins, lighter then turbos, etc)

--------------------------------

if it helps: During our Palau honeymoon last year, in just a skinsuit, we were able to drop the additional weight down to half of that stated above. Of course this was salt vs. new mexico's fresh water as well.

We do dive cooler freshwater most often so if this would be the better scenario to focus on. Once she crosses over I expect a few more wings in the future.

Alan

 

[cool_hardware52]

Tobin,

The SS plate and 42 lb wing is working great with the double AL80s. I put a 2 lber in the tail pouch for trim purposes and everything is great.

Well now I am looking for a singles setup for myself and one for the wife. I plan on ordering as a kit (great savings!) so I would go with a medium kydex just to have both in my inventory.

Ideally we would like a setup that can be used in our normal range of diving:

Tropical to low 60s (Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, NM)

--------------------------------

Wife's current setup for Blue Hole:

5'5"
160
5mm full with a 3mm gold core shortie
Rec. BCD w/ 16 lbs
Single AL80
Aqualung Slingshot fins (heavier then normal rec. fins, lighter then turbos, etc)

--------------------------------

My setup for Blue Hole:

6'
210
5mm full with a 3mm gold core shortie
Rec. BCD w/ 14 lbs
Single AL80
Aqualung Slingshot fins (heavier then normal rec. fins, lighter then turbos, etc)

--------------------------------

if it helps: During our Palau honeymoon last year, in just a skinsuit, we were able to drop the additional weight down to half of that stated above. Of course this was salt vs. new mexico's fresh water as well.

We do dive cooler freshwater most often so if this would be the better scenario to focus on. Once she crosses over I expect a few more wings in the future.

Alan

Alan,

Belated congratulations on your wedding. Smartest thing I ever did was marrying my wife 23 years ago and I make a point of telling her that every day

Glad to hear your plate and wing is working out for your 2 x al 80's

If I understand you correctly you are looking for a package including a Kydex plate in order to have option of a light weight plate if you need it. correct?

If your wife is normally proportioned at 5'5" she can use a medium plate. If she is "short waisted" i,e, long legs and shorter torso she may want to consider a small back plate.

If she currently needs 16 lbs with a jacket bc and al 80 she will likely need about 12-14 lbs of total ballast with a BP&W. That makes a SS plate a reasonable choice.

With a medium SS plate and harness she will end up with ~ 6-8 lbs in a belt. With a kydex she would need another ~4-5 lbs on belt or on the cambands

If she continues to use al 80's her rig will be about - 10 lbs with a full cylinder, and her 3mm suit can only loose 4-5 lbs max. That makes our smallest wings a good choice. The Torus 17 can easily float her rig with a full cylinder and it offers more than enough lift to compensate for a compressed 3mm suit.

Recap:

Medium (or small depending on body type) back plate
Hogarthian Harness
Torus 17 wing
(cambands and wedge blocks included)

For you the puzzle is about the same. At 6' ft you are on the border between the medium and large, but you have the advantage of having a plate now that fits. I'd still with the same size.

Wing wise your requirements are about the same as your wifes, your rig will be -10lbs or -11 (depending on the size of the plate, and your 3mm shortie can only loose ~3 lbs max.

If you go with the Kydex plates you will need a bit more on a belt or in pockets on the cambands

Recap:

Medium kydex (or large plate depending on what you currently have)
Hogarthian Harness
Torus 17 wing
(cambands and wedge blocks included)

If the plate you have now is a medium you might want to see how it fits your wife.

It's a great help to have good information on your current configurations, you provided exactly what I need.

Let me know if you have questions.

Tobin

 

[romad119]

Tobin,

When we add on the 5mm and accessories on top of the 3mm for the cooler waters and the added weight to compensate, will the 17 still be good or would the 20 or 26 be better? In other words, should we look at slightly more lift so this one wing could be functional in a several environments, i.e., tropics (no wetsuit) to temperate (5mm and 3mm combo)?

 

[cool_hardware52]

Tobin,

When we add on the 5mm and accessories on top of the 3mm for the cooler waters and the added weight to compensate, will the 17 still be good or would the 20 or 26 be better? In other words, should we look at slightly more lift so this one wing could be functional in a several environments, i.e., tropics (no wetsuit) to temperate (5mm and 3mm combo)?

Very few 5mm suits are more than 17 lbs buoyant for people of normal stature.

Tobin

 

[romad119]

Tobon,

How would things be affected when we expand and the follwoing come into play;

Drysuit and/or single steels?

 

[cool_hardware52]

Tobon,

How would things be affected when we expand and the follwoing come into play;

Drysuit and/or single steels?

Wings have to be sized for the most buoyant exposure suit they will be used with.

With buoyant suits the type of cylinder rarely dictates wing size.

If you have the suit test it for buoyancy. If you need help on how to do that let me know.

If you don't have the drysuit you are asking me to guess.......

Keep in mind that on one selection of wing, and plate material will be ideal across all applications.

Generally speaking if you want one wing and plate for cold water and warm travel I recommend a Stainless plate and wing carefully sized for your most buoyant suit.

Tobin

 

[a22shady]

I would look for a system that will work for all your diving needs. Such as a Bp/w wing system where all you would need is to change out your wings in order to dive in either singles or doubles and you only need 1 BC.

 

[cool_hardware52]

Great system and all you would need to do is simply switch the wing in order to go back and fourth between doubles and singles. 1 BC for everything

Single Tank BC Systems | Halcyon Dive Systems

Shady,

You make a habit of promoting Halcyon at every opportunity. Halcyon makes fine gear, but......


Do you really find it appropriate to do so in a thread in the

*DeepSeaSupply* forum where the OP is specifically asking about DSS gear?

I'd suggest you try to show a little class and dial it back a notch (or three)

Tobin

 

[a22shady]

Tobin,

Never took notice to that or else I would not have mentioned another Manufacturer in here. I have removed it. I can't help that I like to recomend "The Best" to people

 

[romad119]

I would look for a system that will work for all your diving needs. Such as a Bp/w wing system where all you would need is to change out your wings in order to dive in either singles or doubles and you only need 1 BC.

Yep, doing just that. learning the ropes so I'll end up with 2-3 DSS wings and not 6. Well 2-3 per person, I have 2 to buy for.