Apeks WSX 25 or 45?

[stuartv]

I've been pushed over the tipping point. I am planning to get a SM rig in the near future.

My current plan is to get an Apeks WSX rig.

My main usage will be in cold water, in a dry suit, with PST HP100 tanks plus as many as 2 deco bottles. Deco bottles could be any combination of AL40 and AL80.

I *think* I should get the 45# wing. Any thoughts?

My BM setup is double HP120s (which have the same basic buoyancy characteristics as the HP100s). In my same drysuit and heavy undies, with a single AL40, in fresh water, I use a SS BP plus a 4 pound V-weight and no other ballast.

With my plan to be able to handle the 2 steel 100s plus up to 2 x AL80 deco bottles, I'm thinking the 25# wing not be enough lift. But, for reasons I don't fully understand, it seems like people talk about wing lift requirements for SM and need less lift than if they were talking about BM with the same exposure protection and complement of cylinders. Is it just because you don't assume the same requirement to have the wing be able to float your rig, like you do with BM?

 

[DevonDiver]

I was really disappointed with the WSX-45.

It's just an identical, but bigger, copy of the WSX-25...no innovations, no refinements and, most importantly; no solution to the epic 'beach ball' or 'cobra hood' type effect that occurs when you put heavy tanks on an English/Mexican Cave style rig.

It's also really lengthy... shorter stature divers will struggle to wear it. With very slight divers the bottom of the wing could be down by the knees LOL

The WSX-45 would be the one to go for, if you were determined to buy from Apeks. But, personally, I'd go for an XDeep Stealth Tec for diving in that range... it deals with the wing gas volume much more neatly than the Apeks and isn't any more bulky/heavy in use or to transport.

 

[Doby45]

I would go with the 45lb wing. Having it does not mean you have to use it and the way sidemount BCs are made the wing is normally under a cover to protect it and if you did not tell someone they would not know what wing you have under there anyway. It is different than the ole BP/W too big and tacoing when you are dealing with SM. See, they look the same, with exception to the 45 going higher on the harness at the top.

 

[decompression]

No question, 45#......that'll be quite a load. I've done that before and the combo of 120's and deco bottles are a beast in cold water. The 100's will be more manageable but the 45# is the right wing . Some guys don't factor in the float at the surface as you can sometimes pass off tanks but I don't this this is a very good practice. I treat tanks as neutral and weight myself and ensure I've got sufficient redundant buoyancy.

As Andy mentioned, the WSX does fall short and there are better options. My shop is now only carrying the Apeks so I'm learning to work with it but it pales in comparison to my Stealth Tec.

 

[Got2Go]

Between those 2? The 45.

I own a WSX-25, and have done tec dives with 2x HP100, 1xAL80, 1xAL40 in a drysuit.
Far from ideal, and I certainly do not recommend the 25 for this.

 

[stuartv]

Okay, 45 it is.

But, now y'all have re-opened a can of worms that I thought was settled (in my mind).

Rather than go OT in this thread, can y'all please click over to this thread and give me more specific thoughts on how the WSX falls short against the competition?

Apeks WSX-25/45? Versus xDeep and/or Katana?

 

[stuartv]

I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere, so I figured I'd post it here for posterity.

I got the WSX-45 Dual.

To my surprise, the dual bladder rig does not have a wing that has two bladders in it. What I got was a 45# single bladder wing and then a second 45# bladder that is identical in shape to the primary bladder. But, the redundant bladder does not have the layer of cover material, like the primary does, and the inflator and dumps are setup opposite to the main bladder and with no dump valve in the middle (i.e. no butt dump).

It is, apparently, intended to simply sandwich in between the main wing and the harness, with the bungees and sex bolts that go through the main wing's grommets also going through the redundant wing's grommets.

In its final assembled form, the main wing has the inflator coming out the side away from the diver's body and running around the diver's left side. It also has a dump in the butt area and a dump on the diver's right side. All the main wing's dumps are on the side away from the diver's body.

The redundant wing just has the inflator coming around the diver's right side and a dump on the diver's left side. Both of those come out the side that is towards the diver's body.

So, if you only wanted to dive with the main wing and no redundant wing, you could easily just undo one or two sex bolts and a couple of bungee knots and remove the redundant bladder.

I have done one pool session with it, so far, and had the redundant bladder in place. I was using 2 full steel 100s. At one point, I dumped all my air from the main wing and did an oral inflate to re-establish buoyancy with the redundant wing. After I swam around with it like that for a bit, I dumped the air from the redundant bladder and went back to power inflation with the main wing. It all seemed to work fine and be easy enough. The extra inflator was the only extra "thing" to deal with or clutter up my chest, but it didn't seem to be any big deal.

The difference in price between the single and dual was shockingly small. I still can't believe I got a whole second bladder for that small an extra cost. I got things at dealer cost, so I'm not at liberty to say what the prices were, but I would say that if you were thinking of getting the 45 and you might EVER want to have a redundant wing, you should definitely check into getting the redundant kit up front rather than planning to buy just the redundant wing by itself later as an add-on.