30 or 40 # Mach V wing?

[cvrle1]

Searched forums and read quite a bit but can't decide which wing to get (30 or 40 # Oxcheq Mach V)

Rig will have SS plate and non weighted STA. I will be using AL80 and it will be a singles rig.

Equipment wise, whites catalyst drysuit, 4 WAY ANTARCTICA DRY SUIT UNDERGARMENT (ebay one that was discussed on here before)

I was told that 30# should be fine, but 40# couldn't hurt either.

I also would like to use this rig for tropical diving, so thats why I am thinking 40# might be overkill.

If any more info is needed, please let me know

Thanks

 

[Jorgy]

How much weight do you use with your dry suit?

How much of the weight will be directly connected to the BP/W. For trimming out, and if you use weight pockets attached to waist belt instead of a independent weight belt that would stay on rig if you took the rig off (in my case all of my weight is on the BP/W).

Might you switch to a steel tank one day?

Canister light?

What about the potential to sling a pony bottle?

The wing will need to float your rig at its heaviest (start of dive) with all the gizmos and applicable weight attached..............

My 36 lb Pioneer wing just floats my full SS rig with LP95 tank/weights/pony/light..........

I use a 18 lb wing for AL 80 warm water diving.......

Your mileage may vary..............

Hope this helps...........M

 

[r2t]

I went with the 40 pound but I also use it with hp 130 and a tank mounted pony al 30.

 

[cvrle1]

How much weight do you use with your dry suit?

Currently I use 28-30# That was with the jacket style BCD. I heard that weight usually goes down when you switch over to BP/W

How much of the weight will be directly connected to the BP/W. For trimming out, and if you use weight pockets attached to waist belt instead of a independent weight belt that would stay on rig if you took the rig off (in my case all of my weight is on the BP/W).

I plan on having pockets on the BP/W. I would like to minimize the weight of the weight belt as much as possible, if not remove it completely(currently I use 16# belt) SS BP is about 6# and STA is about 1.2# so that would be 7.2# plus whatever the wing, cambands and other misc items weight.

Might you switch to a steel tank one day?

Probably not. Don't plan on buying my own tank, and LDS uses mostly AL.

Canister light?

Nope

What about the potential to sling a pony bottle?

Definitely not.

The wing will need to float your rig at its heaviest (start of dive) with all the gizmos and applicable weight attached..............

My 36 lb Pioneer wing just floats my full SS rig with LP95 tank/weights/pony/light..........

I use a 18 lb wing for AL 80 warm water diving.......

Your mileage may vary..............

Hope this helps...........M

Thanks for your help

 

[Gombessa]

Are you using 27-30lb of lead, or is that total ballast?

Let's assume you're properly weighted (and that's kind of a big assumption, proper weighting takes some dialing in) in your drysuit and AL80 tank with 30lb total ballast (lead, gear, etc.). Subtract about 3lb for moving away from the jacket BC, which leaves you at 27lb total weighting. If you have a total drysuit failure, a 30# wing looks fine (and should be more than fine if you dump your ditchable weight).

Will it float your gear if you're not wearing it? A bp/w with harness, sta, cambands is about 8lb negative. A full AL80 tank is about 2lb negative, and your regs are probably 2lb negative. If you put 10lb lead on your harness, that means your rig is about 22lb negative with a full tank, which a 30lb wing can easily float.

Note that if you then have more than 8lb on your belt, the wing alone may not keep you up in the event of a drysuit failure; you'd have to either kick constantly, or ditch weight (which you should do anyways to stay on the safe side in such an event).

 

[cvrle1]

That was 28lbs of lead. 16 lbs belt and 6 lbs in each weight integrated pocket of BCD. I hope I can cut at least several pounds in the future. Last time I dove it was 28lbs, but I didn't use the same undergarments (it was just shirts and trackpants) so I am thinking I will possibly need few more because of the undergarments (haven't gotten it yet, but it seems like it will trap more air then clothes) thus harder to sink.

Are you using 27-30lb of lead, or is that total ballast?

 

[ivobj]

Honestly I don't think that more than a 30lbs would be necessary with AL80, I use it with steel singles and it still holds very well, 40 are indicated for small doubles (up to a HP100 in salt water it holds ok), so for sure is too much for AL singles, IMHO, with a 40 lbs diving AL singles (even bigger than AL80s) you will have other kind of trouble, as the wing is too big for single tank you tend to get air trapped in the upper curve, making more dificult to control ascent.

 

[Jorgy]

Since you said no to a light or pony..............

Some numbers................

BP/W with STA at 8 lbs
Reg at 2 lbs
Full AL 80 at 4 lbs

This would allow up to 16 lbs of lead on the BP/W

And the rig would still float at the start of the dive...........

If you need more lead then it would need to be on a belt.............

As long as you are OK with wearing a belt with some lead on it the 30 lb wing would work..............

On a side note, personally I prefer diving my BP/W without a weight belt just for ease on donning on the dive boat and once the weight is firmly attached to the BP/W is does not move around on you........

I think your question really highlights the issue that a cold water BP/W is not the same BP/W you would pick if you were just diving warm water.........

You might want to consider 2 wings............

Hope this helps...........M

 

[RonFrank]

Unless you are large well muscled dude, 30# for a singles rig is plenty. I've used a 45lbs wing for doubles on several occasions, and that is more than I needed with a SS backplate, STA, can light, and all the bells and whistles.

I think many divers out there have too much lift. I don't have to inflate my Wing much at all at the surface to stay buoyant. I also use a drysuit, which may make some difference, but 30lbs of lift is more than I see most divers use. I never see my buddies with lots of air in their wings. Quite the opposite. This is in fresh water as well.

If you are planning on instructing, having more lift may not be a bad idea. Students tend to be overweighted, and if you need to take one to the surface, it's nice to be able to do so without using their BC. Other than that, go with the 30# wing.

 

[cvrle1]

Unless you are large well muscled dude, 30# for a singles rig is plenty.

yeah I am definitely not a muscle dude. 5'10 155 lbs.

I would personally like to get rid of the weight belt, or use the smallest one available. I know it would be hard to do cause it would have to go on the rig, in which case 30lbs will most likely be loo little.

I will have to talk with my LDS and see what he says. I will be buying it from him since he was really good with helping me with info on the oxycheq rig. He is using same one him self with 30# so we'll see what he suggests. He did say that the size difference between 30 and 40lbs is not that big so it shouldn't make too much difference when diving (hopefully)

Thanks again everyone for input.