Back Plate and wing..$28 dollars invested!

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

James79

Reinventor of Wheels
ScubaBoard Supporter
Messages
1,837
Reaction score
3,303
Location
Lower Alabama
# of dives
100 - 199
Introducing the DeathWish Engineering backplate/wing Mk 0.1!
FrontView.jpg SideView.jpg20190831_153920.jpg 20190831_153856.jpg 20190831_153914.jpg
Miss-matched cam-bands were stolen from Pony brackets I had laying around, webbing and cobra buckle were in my miscellaneous sewing salvage. Red nylon and long zipper started life as the bag that a queen size air-mattress/sleeping bag combo came in. Bladder courtesy of Intex (kids swim ring... cost me $3). All flanges and elbow were 3d printed in ABS and acetone polished assure an air tight seal. All harness hardware (including STA/spacer to keep it from pinching the wing) other than the cobra buckle are 3d printed. Power inflater was salvage off an Ebay BCD. Backplate began life as a $5 cutting board from big lots. For those keeping track, the other $20 was spent in the Scuba section of Lowes (garden pond equipment) on 20 feet of 1 in. I.D. corrugated hose... works a treat, but is less flexible than "scuba" corrugated hose and does not stretch.
Modeled with a 19 c.f. pony rocking a Conshelf VI, and my primary is an Aquarius (old type) first stage with an SP109 using 3d printed faceplate, purge cover, and duro poppet.
Tested this morning for 40 minutes in a benign dive site (springs) and worked wonderfully. Wing is approximately 20 lb lift in fresh water as installed (with tank).
Questions, comments and constructive criticism welcomed,

v/r

James
 
Interesting. I was considering using an Intex swim ring for a bladder but they had terrible reviews--many leaked right out of the box. I have several old, plastic, molded backpacks so I chose the thinnest one (Dacor). The LP air hose I was using for a couple of years I found in a gas station trash can, but I finally broke down and bought a nice, new one on eBay. Currently I'm using a $10 snorkel vest (Blue Reef on a special sale) from Leisure Pro (all-on-one, no separate bladder) which I've used on dozens of dives. So far nobody has told me I can't dive from their boat with it :wink: As I was leaving one resort I saw the dive shop guys gathering the parts to make their own snorkel-vest back wings :) I have two backpacks to chose from--one is standard and the other I filled with 8 lbs of buckshot. I get excellent weight distribution with it. I also made some weight pockets using 2" nylon webbing to accommodate the additional, dump-able lead.

Nice job!
 
Interesting...after all every new invention has to start somewhere.
 
Nice job!
The way the tank is positioned on your back in the side view looks perfect for using a double hose regulator. I've been having problems keeping the can on my dbl hose in that spot when mounted on my BP/wing. Maybe I need to custom make a BP/wing. Thanks for the post!
 
Nice job!
The way the tank is positioned on your back in the side view looks perfect for using a double hose regulator. I've been having problems keeping the can on my dbl hose in that spot when mounted on my BP/wing. Maybe I need to custom make a BP/wing. Thanks for the post!
If you'd like, I can find my paper templates and post pics with a ruler for scale, or do up drawings with measurements. It was fun, but I'm mostly entertained by, as wife puts it, "diving a cutting board and a kids swim ring"! Due to the infinite adjustability, now that I have proof of concept I'll be making a couple more for my kids.
P.S. you should send me that double hose to test with it... For your safety, of course! Lol
 
If you'd like, I can find my paper templates and post pics with a ruler for scale, or do up drawings with measurements. It was fun, but I'm mostly entertained by, as wife puts it, "diving a cutting board and a kids swim ring"! Due to the infinite adjustability, now that I have proof of concept I'll be making a couple more for my kids.
P.S. you should send me that double hose to test with it... For your safety, of course! Lol

I'd be pleased to have a look at templates and such. Please do post them.

I have a US diver Aqua Lung Jet Air double hose that I serviced and dove with a half dozen times to sell, interested? I just bought and serviced a USD Royal Aqua Master, so who needs a Jet Air when you have the KING? :)
JET AIR.JPG
JET AIR.JPG
JET AIR a.JPG
JET AIR b.JPG
JET AIR c.JPG
 
@James79
who is
"PADI Certified Open Water with 25-49 dives who lives in USA"

I applaud you as a beginning diver for your injunity. Harkens back to the genesis of recreational diving and all the "interesting" innovations and modifications along the way to present day.

I would caution you about possible modem contaminates contained in the breathing cycle of your unit- In the genesis it was only lipoids which would lead to lipoid pneumonia. Who knows what type of out gassing the modern plastics will create in both short term and long term breathing and the effects on the respiratory system..

SDM
 
here are the templates... The wing has an outer band that is just an approx. 4 inch wide strip. Bladder flange placement was calculated with the Mk1 eyeball!
Handle on the backplate was an existing handle in the cutting board.
Also included is an image of the bladder still in the package.
20190901_080658.jpg 20190901_080733.jpg 20190901_081011.jpg
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom