A combined wing-harness - don't even know what's the proper name of this thing (many pics)

[fatgeorge]

This BCD may be perfectly fine but overall it looks to me like it would be vulnerable for a busy diver. Busy doesn't mean inattentive or careless.

I've seen a few wing bladders, and they all were much closer to the intex swim ring than to a tire tube - the tube won't need any shell at all. In fact once you start sewing your own stuff, you start quickly noticing imperfections, shortcuts and failure points on most mass-produced things. They aren't using some NASA grade material sewn by supermen in those, it's all the same Chinese made polyester. Except maybe Halcyon.

 

[fatgeorge]

My general observation with outdoor apparel and equipment is that one reaches a point of diminishing returns when prioritizing lightweight over durability.

This is true in mass production, where they're trying to keep the profits up (by keeping the costs down). In DIY this is not the case since the cost of material doesn't matter that much. Sewing-wise, my wing is much more reliable than the HOG wing I have - for example HOG uses 600D polyester, not 1680D ballistic nylon, and I double-stitched everything while HOG has only one stitch in several places.

 

[fatgeorge]

Fatgeorge - love your work!

Given this project, it looks like you could zip open any wing and sew in harness points.

(+1 on the need for continuous side to side bottom webbing - the strips going up to the shoulder do nothing to counter the horizontal waist belt tension)

My final version has two horizontal straps - one is used for bottom brackets and is double-wrapped, and one is used under the top of the shoulder straps, keeping the wing extended sidewise.

 

[nitro-bubbles]

You might find this interesting: Cross Over Alpha/Delta System Backmount or Side Mount BCD | UTD Scuba Equipment

Wing with integrated harness.

 

[fatgeorge]

Looks nice, but a 800 USD price tag? My whole material bill is $50 with power inflator setup accounting for $30 of it. Effort-wise making it is indeed a lot of work - takes about 4hrs to make - but then it translates to a 150/hr rate, even my job doesn't pay that much