Decide between wings

[ams511]

I can get both wings for about 100 dollars under the selling price on Amazon. Really, I'm looking at those wings because those are my options in the local area.
I notice the SP wing has a different inflater hose - I was wondering if anyone had experience with that.
Do you think I will notice a difference between 25 and 30 pounds of lift?

Seems like a shame that the cam band positions are standardized throught the industry.

I don't own either wing, so I cannot compare the two. I did own one of the older Hollis S-25 wings and thought it was well built. Looking at the specs of both wings they seem to be built of the same materials. The Hollis has a smaller capacity and has the internal retraction system which may make it more streamline. If your LDS has both in stock I would compare the two and preferably dive them.

In general, Scubapro has a better reputation for quality than Hollis, so the SP wing would probably have better resale value if you decide you don't like it. If you are getting it for $250 or so I don't think you would lose much flea baying it. Although others disagree a 30 lb wing is fine for tropical diving, either wing would be fine.

 

[decompression]

In the big picture, either are ok. As a newb you won't notice too much of a difference. Although as others have mentioned if it's just for warm water and you're only using 10 lbs a smaller wing would serve you better. The 18 to 20 wings are excellent for that.

Further, shame to a LDS that sells a newb a huge doubles wing for single warm water......tsk......tsk.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[stuartv]

Although others disagree a 30 lb wing is fine for tropical diving, either wing would be fine.

I have a 30 # wing, currently. When I'm diving warm water, and especially relatively shallow warm water, I really think I would notice and enjoy a smaller wing.

I've seen some pics of myself. In those conditions, the wing needs so little air in it, yet is almost double the capacity I really need, that it seems like that small amount of air (relative to the wing size) can make it harder to vent. Looking at pictures, it looks like my wing is just tacoing up around my tank, well away from the butt dump and, if I am head down at all, away from the LPI hose, too. As I said, this is particularly noticeable (I think) in shallower water (say < 40') where small amounts of air make a bigger difference than they would deeper.

Yes, my 30# wing is "fine". I think a 20-ish # wing would be "finer".

 

[redacted]

Don't ya love marketing, I spend enough time where I can't see colors and am wearing thick gloves. I was looking at the non traditional placement of the buttons and think how easy it would be to depress both buttons at the same time, especially with thick gloves. Even if I liked the wing, I'd have to change the inflator.



Bob

I changed all of my inflators to that Scubapro Power Inflator. I like having my buttons right next to each other rather than one on the side and one on the bottom. When I grab the inflator with either hand, both controls are immediately available. I always found the bottom control on a conventional inflator to be a bit awkward to operate. Plus, I believe the design is a bit more reliable with a more positive seat (static captured o-ring) rather than a dynamic o-ring sliding past an opening. This design is not as vulnerable to damage from foreign particles. That said, I have had a couple Scubapro inflator housings crack, probably from some rough handling on a dive boat. And, they are not cheap but you can find some good buys on ebay.

And, I guess if you ever need to breath from your inflator, it would be a bit easier to simultaneously operate and control the side-by-side buttons. A skill I have never seen a need to even practice.

As far as size goes, it is a wing, not a wife. You don't have to have just one. I prefer a 30# wing for temperate waters and an 18 for the tropics (on a practically weightless BP).

 

[Samlazaz]

Great responses so far everyone, thanks!

I do have a couple nice things to say about the C45 Hollis wing that I was sold - the internal bungie really seems to do its job when there's no air in the wing. It squishes right down as I look at it by itself, although I think the heavy 1680 denier cordura makes it pretty thick and inflexible. 1000D would have been more than enough. Also, the Hollis wing looks quite nice, whereas the SP wing is a floating billboard for their brand, which is annoying. Five logos on the wing is excessive and vain.

But yeah, pretty much impossible to use the rear dump valve on the C45 with a single tank.

One nice thing I noticed about the manual inflater on the scubapro wing is that there is an open vent that closes when you depress the manual inflater button. AFAIK, this means that you can initially push water out of the mouthpiece with the beginning of your first breath, and then depress the button and exhale only air inside. Never tried it in the ocean of course.

 

[dmaziuk]

I am seriously considering buying the DGX Gears wing. Exactly same the same as the Dive Rite Travel EXP wing. 25# lift. $199. https://www.divegearexpress.com/dgx-gears-single-tank-wing

I've seen a reviewer complain about the "two straps" design making the EXP wobble around too much. Kinda makes sense so I ended up ordering the trianta instead even though it's bigger than what I need... but you can't beat the price.

 

[halocline]

Great responses so far everyone, thanks!

I do have a couple nice things to say about the C45 Hollis wing that I was sold - the internal bungie really seems to do its job when there's no air in the wing.

I don't undersand this...you do realize that elastics have nothing to do with a wing collapsing as it's vented, don't you? It's water pressure that does that. If you're saying that a deflated wing flops around and the bungies prevent that, I don't know, it sounds like a solution in search of a problem.

Hollis seems to be a company that is oriented towards marketing techie sort of gear to recreational divers through features like a completely useless-but-sounds-good-in-the-shop internal bungie arrangement on a wing. OMS is another one.

I'd shop around some more. The oxycheq, wings are well designed and reasonably priced. Dive rite, Halcyon, and DSS are also excellent quality, so there are lots of good choices. It doesn't make any sense to buy a badly designed wing.

 

[stuartv]

I've seen a reviewer complain about the "two straps" design making the EXP wobble around too much. Kinda makes sense so I ended up ordering the trianta instead even though it's bigger than what I need... but you can't beat the price.

Comparing the Travel EXP and the Trianta:

- same price - $199

- 25# vs 28#. Not a big deal, though I'd slightly prefer the smaller.

- they're both donuts (which is good, to ME).

- they both have zipper access to the inner bladder, allowing for field repairs. Also good (to me, anyway).

- I think the Trianta comes with a LPI hose and the DGX version of the Travel EXP does not, so, in theory that makes the DGX wing actually a little more expensive (assuming you need a LPI hose, anyway).

- I have also read that, since the Travel doesn't have any kind of "built-in" STA (like, for example, the DSS and some other wings have), it CAN let the tank get cock-eyed on the BP, if you don't use an STA. It looks to me like the Trianta would be the same. The DRiS comments mention it.

- I think the comment about "wobbling" is more about what it does when you don't actually have a tank secured into your cam bands? I think it (supposedly) doesn't move around or wobble once your unit is assembled and you're in the water?

- The Trianta wing as a 1600 denier Cordura cover with a 15 mil urethane bladder. The Travel has a 1680 denier ballistic nylon cover with a 210 denier laminated nylon bladder. I know some other wings with urethane bladders have 20 or even 30 mil urethane, so 15 mil doesn't sound super heavy duty. But, I have no idea how 210 denier laminated nylon compares. The Marketese makes me think the DR wing would be more durable. BUT, that's just Marketese. I would definitely like to hear a knowledgeable opinion on this part.

 

[Samlazaz]

I don't undersand this...you do realize that elastics have nothing to do with a wing collapsing as it's vented, don't you? It's water pressure that does that. If you're saying that a deflated wing flops around and the bungies prevent that, I don't know, it sounds like a solution in search of a problem.

I'm pretty new to the sport, but yes, I'm aware that the pressure of the water pushes the air out of the bladder in the first place. My impression was that the purpose of the bungie was to keep the deflated or partially deflated wing closer to the plate rather than bent around the tank or otherwise loose. I guess it doesn't make too big of a difference with regard to turbulence since scuba is pretty slow paced as it is, but it seems like a good thing.

 

[stuartv]

I'm pretty new to the sport, but yes, I'm aware that the pressure of the water pushes the air out of the bladder

Not exactly. Otherwise, you could be in a head-up position and empty your wing by opening the butt dump.

My impression was that the purpose of the bungie was to keep the deflated or partially deflated wing closer to the plate rather than bent around the tank or otherwise loose.

Right. Just be aware that there is more than one school of thought on this.

Some people think the bungees are bad. They say that bungees on the exterior are a hazard for getting snagged if you're swimming in close quarters. They also say bungees will cause you to lose more gas from your wing if it gets a cut or puncture - they often imply that bungees will cause you to lose ALL your gas if you get a cut or puncture. And they say that bungees will make it hard/harder/impossible to orally inflate the wing.

Other people will say that the bungees keep the wing closer into your body, so they make the wing less likely to touch anything you're swimming near. And the wing is more streamlined, making swimming easier and thus the diver consumes less air. They also say the bungees will force the air inside the wing to be evenly distributed (at least, somewhat) thus helping to preserve balance in trim (versus a situation where most of the air shifts over to one side and the diver has to roll way in the other direction to get it to equalize to both sides). They also say that the issues with extra gas loss and oral inflation are so minor as to be irrelevant - none of the bungees on any wings available actually compress the wing down to zero size when unopposed, and you should have redundant buoyancy anyway, so the gas loss "issue" is extra irrelevant.

I have no opinion on this subject myself. I don't have enough experience to argue it one way or the other. I have just read arguments from both sides and thought it should be made clear that any person that says "the correct answer is X" will have someone equally experienced that is prepared to make a reasonable-sounding (to my inexperience, anyway) case for the opposite.

My philosophy is to try and understand all points of view, then do what my instructor tells me to do (as long as I don't feel unsafe) until I feel competent to weigh the pros and cons and make my own decision.