How common is a wing failure, and how would you handle it?

[kelemvor]

They do make dual bladder wings. I don't think they're very popular, but they exist. I own one but I never dove it. Some diveshop was selling them super cheap so I bought it.

Also, if you end up drysuit diving, you can use that for buoyancy instead of a wing. Actually when I dive dry I usually don't put any air in my wing. The air needed to keep me comfortable in the suit is also sufficient to keep me neutral.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Depends on the failure, but for most cases it's not a big deal. If you puncture a wing you can still manage to trap some gas in it ... at least temporarily. I had some experience with this last year in Fiji when a careless crew member (who INSISTED on setting up my rig even though I really wanted to do it myself) jammed my wing between the backplate and a metal tank rack and gave me a nice pinch flat. I had to dive the rest of the trip with a punctured wing. It was a bit more effort than normal, but I managed. About the only place it really mattered was when I was on the surface, waiting for the boat to come pick us up. Otherwise, there simply wasn't enough gas pressure in the wing to force it out ... and I could keep enough gas in the wing by simply turning my shoulders to make my left side higher than my right and shifting the gas to that side of the wing, away from the puncture.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[CptTightPants21]

I did a shallow dive where the seams of the wing were just streaming bubbles mid way through the dive (even after a wing check on the surface and a bubble check before descent). I had two buddies with me so I wasn't worried and I still had lift. When we got back on shore they said I looked like a Coke can was open on my back. Not only were the seams shot, but the OPV was sheared off and barely hanging on like a picked scab.

If I still had buoyancy with a wing that badly f*cked it would take a lot to truly knock a wing completely out of commission.

Like NWGratefulDiver, its annoying when you have a hole, but can be manageable.

Drysuit and equipment checks on the surface mitigate the risk, but even if everything goes to ****, very rarely are you truly and completely screwed.

 

[kelemvor]

Wing failure is very rare. For a wing to fail you need your OPV to fail, potentially two depending on your wing, your inflator would need to freeze open, and the dump on your inflator would have to not be working either. I had the opportunity to tour a plant that makes wings, and see how the seems are made, and see a strength test be done. It took a lot of pressure to break the bladder, and it wasn't the seem that gave out. So I would not be overly concerned about a wing failure. That being said, all the advice given is good. Balanced rig if possible, ( personally I am overweight all the time as I dive twin 130's, but I dive dry as a back up), back up device if you are really concerned, and of course detachable weight, although this is the absolute last option and you only ditch a bit. If you drop your whole weight belt you are now rocketing to the surface.

Unless you are diving totally open blue water with nothing around you, and in essence no floor, then you likely have something to grab onto to stop your decent and give oyu time to figure out what you need to do.

I've had a diverite bladder leak at the seam. It wasn't a total rupture, though and was only an annoyance. I believe it was caused by salt crystals. Fortunately, the wing had a replaceable bladder and $100 later it was good as new. I caught this during a gear check prior to a dive trip. Which brings me to my point. Do a good check of your gear before a trip and you can minimize your chances of having a problem on a dive.

 

[gcarter]

Depends on the failure, but for most cases it's not a big deal. If you puncture a wing you can still manage to trap some gas in it ... at least temporarily. I had some experience with this last year in Fiji when a careless crew member (who INSISTED on setting up my rig even though I really wanted to do it myself) jammed my wing between the backplate and a metal tank rack and gave me a nice pinch flat. I had to dive the rest of the trip with a punctured wing. It was a bit more effort than normal, but I managed. About the only place it really mattered was when I was on the surface, waiting for the boat to come pick us up. Otherwise, there simply wasn't enough gas pressure in the wing to force it out ... and I could keep enough gas in the wing by simply turning my shoulders to make my left side higher than my right and shifting the gas to that side of the wing, away from the puncture.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Same scenario happened to me. It was pretty much as non-event

 

[NAM001]

I would say that the solution to the ruptured wing issue is multi faceted:
1) have redundant buoyancy either in a dry suit, DSMB, lift bag.
2) have your rig balanced so you can swim it up in the event of a failure.
3) have ditchable weight in the event that your can not make your configuration balanced. Enough weight should only be ditched to allow an ascent to start - ditch too much and it could start a very buoyant ascent.

This is not specifically adressed to the poster but I agree with #2 and 3. Number one I have problems with. the dry suit portion is the ideal answer. the dsb and lift bag is the hard spot. so let me set a scenareo. you are on the oriscany and you, at 70 ft, you head up away from the down line and you blow a wing. you are too heavy because of the rig weight. your gaas is ean32, your bottom (top of the ship) is no longer there and the new bottom is 230 ft'. you blow the wing and you start to decend and rather rapidly, wich increases as the suit compresses. you figure out what has happened and you are now crossing 90 ft and you go for your dsmb or lift bag. Just how long will it take you to get it out, get it inflated and secured to your self and start up again? I don't think it can be done in the time needed to prevent you from going way too deep. I mean yo are trying to swim up or swim to slow decent and clear your ears all the while getting your lift device out and deployed. It seems to me this is a time when only your buddy can help. Now lets ignore the balanced rig aspect and only address the time to deploy.

 

[kelemvor]

This is not specifically adressed to the poster but I agree with #2 and 3. Number one I have problems with. the dry suit portion is the ideal answer. the dsb and lift bag is the hard spot. so let me set a scenareo. you are on the oriscany and you, at 70 ft, you head up away from the down line and you blow a wing. you are too heavy because of the rig weight. your gaas is ean32, your bottom (top of the ship) is no longer there and the new bottom is 230 ft'. you blow the wing and you start to decend and rather rapidly, wich increases as the suit compresses. you figure out what has happened and you are now crossing 90 ft and you go for your dsmb or lift bag. Just how long will it take you to get it out, get it inflated and secured to your self and start up again? I don't think it can be done in the time needed to prevent you from going way too deep. I mean yo are trying to swim up or swim to slow decent and clear your ears all the while getting your lift device out and deployed. It seems to me this is a time when only your buddy can help. Now lets ignore the balanced rig aspect and only address the time to deploy.

Even if you aren't balanced in this situation surely you aren't so negative that you couldn't fin up while trying to get your dsmb or bag out. That's my thoughts on it. I'm negative in my bp/w with no lead and my usual tank (lp108). But I'm not so negative that I can't swim up and stay at the surface for a time in it.. long enough to ditch the gear or inflate a bag or do some other thing. I've practiced swimming it up. Taxing, but doable.

 

[The Chairman]

Wing failure is very rare. For a wing to fail you need your OPV to fail, potentially two depending on your wing, your inflator would need to freeze open, and the dump on your inflator would have to not be working either.

Or, any of the threaded pieces gets knocked off. There was a double fatality (or was it a near double fatality?) in the Keys a few years ago because the hose elbow came off and they couldn't effect a repair in the water. Just when you think you have it all figured out, someone finds a completely different way to screw things up.

 

[kelemvor]

Or, any of the threaded pieces gets knocked off. There was a double fatality (or was it a near double fatality?) in the Keys a few years ago because the hose elbow came off and they couldn't effect a repair in the water. Just when you think you have it all figured out, someone finds a completely different way to screw things up.

A dive buddy of mine had this happen on a spring dive at weeki wachee. Fortunately, it was no big deal for us to surface and fix it. It took a minute, probably would have been difficult underwater unless you were exceptionally skilled. I did see a dm remove his gear and change a yoke o ring undewater in the keys about a month ago. It was impressive. I'm assuming he doesn't have to pay someone to clean out his reg.

 

[CuzzA]

Not to get too far off topic, but I think the original question has been answered pretty well so I have a slightly new but related topic for everyone.

When to ditch your rig?

I've wondered about this after watching the Black Coral documentary where one of the divers "basically" said, "All of your training and certs are great, definitely get them, but don't believe everything you hear. If you're OOG (assuming no other source around) you ditch your rig and swim as hard as you can for the surface."

Thoughts?