bp/w advice - OxyCheq, others..

[buddhasummer]

Have you unzipped the shell to check if the bladder is twisted?

No, I'll check. Thanks for the tip.

 

[fisheater]

My 40 vents just fine. (As does my 18, for my tropical BP/W rig.)

 

[eelnoraa]

The 40, which I have, it vented fine too, but then I tried other wings and realized the 40 vent quite slow compared to others. It is a corner cutting from Oxycheq: using vastly over size bladder instead of proper size bladder like in DSS or Halcyon or maybe others

 

[buddhasummer]

I've checked the bladder although not completely twisted it certainly has twists in it due to obvious oversizing. I'll add a tad more lead to my rig, I'm right on the limit and perhaps with a wee bit more lead I won't actually need the wing to be completely empty to hold safety stop. Cheers all for the input.

 

[ams511]

It is a corner cutting from Oxycheq: using vastly over size bladder instead of proper size bladder like in DSS or Halcyon or maybe others

I wouldn't call it corner cutting exactly. The Oxycheq bladder is the thickest I have seen in a wing. Supposedly the bladder is over-sized so the shell restricts full inflation putting less strain on the seams of the bladder. I am sure they could reduce bladder size without incurring a cost penalty. The slow venting is probably a result of using a thicker less flexible material for the shell and a thick oversize bladder.

 

[tbone1004]

Eelnoraa, the Halcyon bladders are quite a bit larger than they need to be, but it is a design feature not a fault, they do this so the bulk of the pressure is taken by the outer cover which is heavy duty cordura instead of the still heavy duty but nowhere near as strong inner bladder, by having the bladder the exact right size, the bladder would be taking a lot of the pressure instead of just acting as an impermeable membrane which could lower life expectancy.

 

[Divealpha]

I have the 40 , my wife the 30 Oxycheq. It dives much better than the Hollis 38 . That's my wife's words, cause she changed to Oxycheq. ... We have both the Deluxe harness, but seldom use the clips, so that's no deal breaker. We use the STA, because we find it easier to attach the tank.. (easy to mount straight, vertical). Wee both have Hollis Alu BP s. And, if required, we have pockets in the cambands for weights, if needed. We travel with pocket weight belts, much easier , also if you have to give some weights to other buddies in need during a dive. Just make sure the pockets are closed, almost lost a weight on a drift dive!.

 

[eelnoraa]

I wouldn't call it corner cutting exactly. The Oxycheq bladder is the thickest I have seen in a wing. Supposedly the bladder is over-sized so the shell restricts full inflation putting less strain on the seams of the bladder. I am sure they could reduce bladder size without incurring a cost penalty. The slow venting is probably a result of using a thicker less flexible material for the shell and a thick oversize bladder.

By this, I don't mean cost cutting. I kind of think Oxycheq use the same bladder for all size wing. It reduce manufacture complexity. But I can't confirm since I only have the 40.

I agree tho, being urathan bladder, it is the thickest I have used/seen

---------- Post added February 22nd, 2015 at 11:05 AM ----------

Eelnoraa, the Halcyon bladders are quite a bit larger than they need to be, ...

I can assure the wing in Halcyon is a lot more appropriate sized. I have both and studied both when I realized H vents noticeably quicker than Oxy. I can even post some picture to prove it.

 

[eelnoraa]

Here are the pictures from my phone. Sorry for the lousy quality, but they should do the job show the Oxycheq bladder:
1. So unpacking the H and getting out the O. I just came back from South Eash Asia. I brought along H Eclipse 30. It is folded up. The O can't be folded like this due to the stiff shell.


2. H unfolded for side by side visual comparison. This demonstrates how narrow and low profile the O is.


3. H wing bladder. Compare the bladder width to the shell width. It is a bit wider as it needs to be. The bottom is kind of bunch up because the OPV won't allow me to pull the whole bottom out. Bladder is not what restrict the wing size. The shell is.


4. Oxy wing vs its shell. See the vertical crease in the urathan at about the center?? This is where the bladder is folded inside (from years of usage)


5. Look inside the O on the side edge, this is how baldder are being folded.


6. This is the bottom inside the O.


7. Inside H for comparison. Side edge. There is excess material, but nothing like the O


8. H's bottom edge.

 

[tbone1004]

I wasn't saying that the oxycheq wasn't obscene, it is, I think they just use the one bladder for a few different wing sizes to save operating costs and make smaller outer shells, but the Halcyon is definitely not a "perfect fit" inside the outer cover