wing for cold water diver.

[mossym]

Hey, i've decided to switch from my sequest black diamond to a backplate and wings, and i've been looking at the dive rite gear. I've learnt a lot from the threads in here, but i have a question, the venture looks like the best wing that dive rite has for single tanks, which is most of my diving right now, it's lift though is stated as 30#. I dive in Monterey, CA, where i have a full 7mm wetsuit with 7mm vest underneath, so i wear 28lbs of weight to get down. This seems to be cutting it very close. The dive rite wings with more lift however seemed to be combination single tank/doubles, which i read is bad. Is my only option to pair the dive rite plate with a halcyon wing? seems a little strange, or is there some flaw in my logic? i suspect the latter, so can anyone point out my mistake?

Thanks for your help,!!!

 

[bwerb]

The flaw in your logic is that the lift in the wing is to float your rig at the surface...30lbs is more than enough...you are significantly positive with your wetsuit combo. Yes you will have suit compression at depth but your bouyancy swing isn't going to approach the lift available in your wing. You'll be fine.

Also...a plate is more or less a plate...you can pair them with any wing with the same bolt spacing. Halcyon, Oxycheq, Dive-Rite etc.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

So how big are you? What type of cylinder do you use?

As a data point, I'm almost 250 lbs and typically use an LP95 or E8 119. FWIW - I wear 18 lbs on a weightbelt plus my backplate (6#). I owned a Venture wing and although I thought it was an excellent wing, it didn't provide me with adequate lift. So I switched to an Oxycheq 45. It's just the right size for me.

FWIW - I sure wish Dive Rite made a 40# version of that wing ... IMO it's one of their better products.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[sb_diver]

Like Bwerb said.. You might be wearing 28 lbs of lead, but you should be nearly neutral at the surface so in order to float you don't need that much lift, unless you have integrated wieghts, then it'd be nice for your rig to float on the surface...I'm not familiar w/ the dive rite or halcyon wings so I won'st speak specifically about them, but I'd try to stick w/ a wing 30-40 lbs lift.. anything more will be way bulky with a single tank..

Fow what its worth, I use a 30 lbs lift wing and I wear 25-28 lbs(including plate) depending on if I'm using a steel or aluminum tank.

 

[mossym]

thanks guys...i see the error in my logic straight away...now i feel a little stupid...

makes sense now, i should be close to neutrally bouyant anyway, so the lift is not for me or any weights!!

Bob, i'm 185lbs, and use an al80..i have no problem maintaining depth with my bcd, so i don't think i'm overwieghted,

 

[sb_diver]

I forgot to mention that the lift does come in handy when diving deep though, as your suit compresses you lose some buoyancy so you'll want some lift to keep you neutral at depth but ya.. you probably will lose a couple pounds when you move to a BP/W too which will also lower the amount of lift you'll need.

Thomas

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

thanks guys...i see the error in my logic straight away...now i feel a little stupid...

makes sense now, i should be close to neutrally bouyant anyway, so the lift is not for me or any weights!!

Bob, i'm 185lbs, and use an al80..i have no problem maintaining depth with my bcd, so i don't think i'm overwieghted,

Overweighting wasn't what I was getting at ... just that I don't believe the "30 lbs should be enough" concept applies to everybody ... sure doesn't to me. On a surface swim I couldn't keep my head above water with a 30-lb wing, and I know I wasn't overweighted.

If 30 lbs is adequate for you, the Venture is a real nice wing.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[mossym]

Overweighting wasn't what I was getting at ... just that I don't believe the "30 lbs should be enough" concept applies to everybody ... sure doesn't to me. On a surface swim I couldn't keep my head above water with a 30-lb wing, and I know I wasn't overweighted.

If 30 lbs is adequate for you, the Venture is a real nice wing.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

oh okay, i wasn't sure what you meant...my black diamond supposedly has 50# of lift, so it would be a step down. i guess there is no way to tell without trying...

 

[DA Aquamaster]

If you are using a 7mm wetsuit, suit compression can be significant at 100-150 ft. where your suit gets very thin and has very little bouyancy. You will appreciate a larger wing at depth where 28 lbs may be on the edge of being not quite enough.

 

[mossym]

okay, so i'm better off going with the oxycheq like Bob?