Anyone have any idea why someone can't produce a wing thats tough as hell so we don't have to keep having these same old discussion's? Realistically... look at your wing... whether its a Halcyon or an Oxycheq or whatever... is that thing worth $275? No... It's a glorified inner tube with a deflate valve or two. Material cost is quite low and the manufacturing process is relatively simple. Some will point out that a wing is life support or something of that nature. I would argue that your car tires are as well. There's more to producing a car tire than a wing and you can get an entire set for less than $275. The Oxycheq wing is great, but there's no reason that you shouldn't be able to pick up one for $150 or less.
Why can't someone build a wing with a thick rubber, patcheable bladder with a tough outer shell that can be fully removed. It's not that imaginative of a concept. Take either of the popular single tank wings and put a zipper around the perimeter of the shell. All you would have to do to remove and/or patch the wing is unscrew the dump valve and elbow and pull the bladder out. And guess what... it would be the number one selling wing in the world period. Make a wing like that and anyone would happily pay $275 for it. You could even market underwater, patch on the dive kits and include that as a tech skill. Ok, thats a little far. Can anyone come up with a good reason for not making a wing like this other than that it would last too long? Put a cuff over the zipper to keep it from snagging something somehow (like my diverite recwings) and thats all there is to it. The process of adding a zipper around the perimeter doesn't complicate things much more at all and the addition of an inner bladder doesn't either. It would save you from having to coat (or not) the inside of the shell. It just seems to be the most reasonable step forward in wing design. I haven't researched the new Halcyon wing that much, but I did catch that it wasn't patcheable (can't get to the inner bladder) so it doesn't seem like that much of an innovation. I guess in a couple years, why I'm wanting in a wing will come out and then we can all ebay our 5 other "next best things"... or next best wings rather.
Until then... maybe we should start a DIY wing movement and see what we can come up with collectively. A couple yards of tough Cordura and some high quality rubber, cement, some heavy duty thread, and some TLC. We've started making everything else ourselves... why not the wing?
Why can't someone build a wing with a thick rubber, patcheable bladder with a tough outer shell that can be fully removed. It's not that imaginative of a concept. Take either of the popular single tank wings and put a zipper around the perimeter of the shell. All you would have to do to remove and/or patch the wing is unscrew the dump valve and elbow and pull the bladder out. And guess what... it would be the number one selling wing in the world period. Make a wing like that and anyone would happily pay $275 for it. You could even market underwater, patch on the dive kits and include that as a tech skill. Ok, thats a little far. Can anyone come up with a good reason for not making a wing like this other than that it would last too long? Put a cuff over the zipper to keep it from snagging something somehow (like my diverite recwings) and thats all there is to it. The process of adding a zipper around the perimeter doesn't complicate things much more at all and the addition of an inner bladder doesn't either. It would save you from having to coat (or not) the inside of the shell. It just seems to be the most reasonable step forward in wing design. I haven't researched the new Halcyon wing that much, but I did catch that it wasn't patcheable (can't get to the inner bladder) so it doesn't seem like that much of an innovation. I guess in a couple years, why I'm wanting in a wing will come out and then we can all ebay our 5 other "next best things"... or next best wings rather.
Until then... maybe we should start a DIY wing movement and see what we can come up with collectively. A couple yards of tough Cordura and some high quality rubber, cement, some heavy duty thread, and some TLC. We've started making everything else ourselves... why not the wing?
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