All about Halcyon wings

[Charlie99]

gerryw once bubbled...
The two new cuts seem to be impact cuts from the sharp BP

.........the thin wing material touching the rather sharp lower edges of the BP. I

This is compounded by very sharp edges on the BP due to rather poor quality control.

It sounds like you need to take off the harness and deburr the backplate. Halcyon, I assume?

Or you might just ship the BP back to Halcyon for deburring. They are known for great customer service and many people on rec.scuba have posted about how great a job Halcyon does in fixing their original mistakes.

 

[O-ring]

Charlie99 once bubbled...
It sounds like you need to take off the harness and deburr the backplate. Halcyon, I assume?

Or you might just ship the BP back to Halcyon for deburring. They are known for great customer service and many people on rec.scuba have posted about how great a job Halcyon does in fixing their original mistakes.

It may be sharp edges on the bottom of your BP. I have 3 halcyon wings and just went and rechecked them and I don't even have a trace of wear in those areas or any holes anywhere.

 

[bridgediver]

Some of you had said that you would like to know how things went with the 36# wing that I somehow put the holes in so here it is.

I want to explain that I had borrowed the entire BP/wing set up from my LDS to try it out because I had heard how much better they were than a traditional BC - particularly the halcyon brand. So they lent me the system on goodwill free of charge (the wing itself was brand new). After I tried it I was immediately impressed and decided that I had to have it! While cleaning up my gear I noticed the holes in a wing that didn't even belong to me, after my first and only dive with it!

I'm quite discouraged that the wing was damaged so easily. I have no idea how it may have occured. If I could remember a point where it may have been compromised I don't think I'd be so dissapointed because equipment does break and get damaged, thats all part of using stuff. The only way I can even imagine where it may have occured is that it somehow got pinched in transport but its not like a jammed it into my bag or anything like that. The holes are on the underside of the wing opposite of the rear dump valve near the back, nowhere near the BP, bolts or any metal parts.

After a little research I've found that I'm not the only one who has had a problem with holes in these wings (not just this thread). I've heard that many renforce the wing by covering it with something. I compared the halcyon wing with my zeagle tech wing and the zeagle material is thicker and also 2 layers (a bladder inside a cordura liner) where the halcyon is a single peice of lined cordura.

Anyway, back I went to the LDS with my head hung low with the fact that I screwed their wing up. They talked to halcyon and were told that they couldn't warranty it because the warranty doesn't cover punctures. We agreed that since I damaged it I needed to pay for it. She gave me a smoking good deal on the entire system (even though I had a hole to deal with) and set me up with a means to patch it up with some aquaseal. It would have been fair to have charged me cost for the wing but I'm sure I got the whole works for well below cost (BP, harness, D rings, STA, tank straps, wing - oh yes, 1 tube of aquaseal too). I'm happy with my LDS - they came through.

I took UP's advice and thought I'd try to see what halcyon would do if I dealt with them directly. After a short explanation about what happened I got the same type of reply - they won't warranty punctures (also won't advise on how to repair BTW).

So thats my story. I'll patch up the wing and hopefully get many years out of it but won't expect much. I think it will be fine for normal diving to rec limits providing I can keep the holes air tight. I hope to get into doubles one day and if this were the wing I'd be using for deep deco dives I don't think I'd rely on it. Maybe I just had a bit of bad luck but I seriously doubt that I will buy another halcyon wing.

let me know if you'd like more details. I tried to keep this post short (believe it or not!)

 

[docmartin]

i find halcyon's reaction to your problem rather disappointing. i also bought a halcyon bp/wing and am not overly impressed with their customer service. after one dive i had rust on my buckle and after three days of diving all the hardware showed rust with the buckle being pretty severe. when i called halcyon they acted as if they had never heard of such a thing. in the meantime, however, i have heard from others with similar problems. i sent halcyon my hardware. in two weeks i have neither heard back nor received new hardware. disappointing. the reason why i was willing to pay halcyon's premium prices is that i expected their equipment to be extremely reliable and well made with great service to boot.

looks to me that the halcyon crowd should be a little less loud in complaining about OMS bungeed "wings of death" (which to my knowledge have never caused a single death) when their own wings may develop holes and tears for unknown reasons. also makes you wonder about the often heard argument by halcyon owners that you don't need a double bladder. all i can say is "are you sure? you may want to bring some aquaseal though."

 

[wetman]

docmartin,

what kind of rust was it? full on or around the edges? I had a little bit of rust around my bolts that hold the mc storage pack on but it never got worse and i just dismissed it. Fred T somewhere on this board mentioned that kind of thing had to do with small shavings etc that get stuck in small pits when processing the metal in those areas that seemed like a plausible explanation. Just curious.

steve

 

[docmartin]

wetman,
there is light rust on all the triglides, not just around the edges. the d-rings have some minor spots, too. so do the bolts. the worst is the buckle which has major rust, mostly on the inside. it looks like it spent weeks in sea water. no way that it comes from small shavings or minor impurities. a sizeable area is affected and the rust goes deeper than just the surface. i just cannot imagine this buckle is stainless steel at all. unfortunately, i did not think of taking a picture. halcyon will probably take it to the farthest reaches of their deepest caves to make sure no one will ever see this.

 

[wetman]

I'll bet they do take care of it. The one time i've dealt with them needing a return was actually quite ok - i wanted them to take care of the pinhole. I just couldnt be bothered sending the wing in in the height of diving season and still havent. I'll just patch it up myself someday. I've also talked to them regarding a large handle for my helios and they were quite responsive as well. Just email them at their contact info on their page and you should be ok.

steve

 

[fgriffith]

My Halcyon SS buckle started to rust after just one salt water dive - very disappointing - especially considering the less expensive options out there.

 

[Charlie99]

fgriffith once bubbled...
My Halcyon SS buckle started to rust after just one salt water dive - very disappointing - especially considering the less expensive options out there.

To quote the Halcyon website: ". Don't bet your life on hardware that could rust, oxidize, or corrode shut– use Halcyon stainless steel clips and snaps. "

 

[wetman]

Is this rusting a salt water issue or does it seem to matter?