Jacket to wing transition

[Liam79]

Hi all. What advice/considerations do you have for migrating from a jacket BCD to a wing style BCD.
For context, been Advanced Cert. for several years and recently moved to dry suit. Looking to improve comfort and trim. Thanks.

 

[MB NZ]

Don't stress it. It's all about harness fit (which admittedly can be a bit fiddly). After that, you're good to go. It's really not that different. I think the inability to stay upright at the surface with a BP&W is somewhat overplayed, but if you're really struggling, just flip on to your back. Storage of bits and bobs is something else to think about, but again, it's not a huge challenge.

 

[rongoodman]

The harness should be fairly loose. The crotch strap and waist band will lock things down.

 

[lexvil]

Buy it, set it up at home and adjust it with a coat on, dive it, fine tune the adjustments, dive more.

 

[lizardland]

Don't set the harness up either too tight or too loose. Plenty of YT videos showing how to do it.

Keep aware of how much you're using your drysuit. Make an effort to use the wing for buoyancy and air in the suit just to offset squeeze. When I wore a jacket style BCD I tended to use my suit a lot more than necessary for buoyancy. Partially that was common practice in the UK in the 90's (suit for buoyancy underwater, jacket for buoyancy at the surface) and partly because I just wasn't as aware of it as I was with a wing.

Don't fight the feeling of falling forwards in the water. It can feel weird if you aren't used to flat trim.

On the surface, a full wing isn't necessarily optimal. If you've got a wait for a boat to pick you up then let a little bit of air out and you might have a more comfortable float. Same goes if you need to remove your kit in the water, letting a little air out can make it easier to get in and out of the harness.

Put some thought into how you want to route your hoses.

 

[inquis]

One of the more illustrative vids on the harness:

 

[Vitesse2l]

Have a think about how you arrange your weights. With a crotch strap a weight belt is awkward if worn under a one piece harness. If using pouches not so much. Removing a weight belt prior to pulling yourself back into a rib requires a bit of care.

Make sure buddies know how to get you out of the harness if needed. Carry a line cutter that'll work on webbing and show them where it is.

Enjoy diving a wing - underwater trim is so easy and you don't have all that BCD bulk in front.

 

[NothingClever]

What advice/considerations do you have for migrating from a jacket BCD to a wing style BCD.

To just get on with it. You'll love the improved control.

 

[Nemrod]

Just do it.

My wife transitioned in one dive.

There are differences, on the surface you probably cannot fully inflate to get your head up high and dry like you can with a jacket. If I have a long wait on the surface and there are seas, I just lay on my back.

Just do a simple, basic Hogarthian harness.

If I need to get out of the rig on the surface, I am weight integrated, I release the crotch strap (I do have a Fastex buckle on my crotch strap) and inflate my wing and then release the waist buckle and I just drop out of the rig. I may even keep my camera, double clipped to different D-rings, attached to the rig until my turn to board.

To the surprise of some DMs and boat crews, I do not need to remove my (singles) rig to get into a RIB. I hand them my camera, I put my palms down on the tube, give a strong scissor kick and press down with my palms and then slither on in, easy peezy. Push ups are key .

 

[inquis]

on the surface you probably cannot fully inflate to get your head up high and dry like you can with a jacket

I was never able to do that in a jacket either. It always slipped up (jacket shoulders around my ears, my armpits against the pockets) no matter how tight the waist strap/cummerbund was fastened. (This was with a weight belt, rather than integrated weights.)