back plates/wings.... huh?

[Lost Yooper]

A 36lb wing will certainly work for you. Some people like the 27lb wing. I would probably go with the 27lb wing for a single 80, especially with a drysuit in the cards. EE will let you try it out for 30 days, and if you don't like it, send it back for another one.

Good luck.

Mike

 

[Scubadent]

Thanks for the info!

 

[tombiowami]

I am not sure which would work best for you, but I will toss in that the staff at EE has been top notch and one of the friendliest I have ever dealt with. I am pretty new to the sport with a million DIR questions and the like and they have answered them all and made excellent recommendations. They are very good (IMO) on explaining the pros and cons of the stuff they sell.

I have a 27 lb. wing with ss bp. I dive with a 5mm wetsuit and 18 lbs of weight usually on an alum80. One time I tried out a steel 98 that was overfilled a good bit and the wing would just barely keep my head above the surface. I had us my fins to stay up so I could breathe. This in addition to a new pair of xlarge Jet fins which added a pound or so, and I was majorly overweighted.

Once I was down to 70 feet or so, the buoancy was not an issue, just keeping me at the surface. I had looked into getting the bigger wing, and had actually sent mine in exchange it, but then thought I would just become a better diver as I should not have been out there with too much weight.

Also of course, steel and wetsuits are a dir nono for similar reasons. I could have dropped my belt and swam the rig up if I had to, but that's not the relaxing way to dive. Lesson learned.

Tommy

 

[Divesherpa]

Not a personal attack by any means, but playing the devil's advocate, could you have safely carried out a surface rescue with your lack of buoyancy? What if your drysuit floods, would such a small wing get you to the surface? And if so, could you carry out a rescue where someone was unable to self-rescue?

DIR is not just a gear configuration, it's a means to conduct safer dives and provide all members of a team with the know-how to not only self rescue, but rescue others.

 

[tombiowami]

Agreed 100%. Extremely poor preparation on my part was the problem, not the gear. I could not have carried out anything in the way of rescuing others, until I had breathed out a good portion at least of my gas.

I will never do it again.

Tommy

 

[WetDane]

Hey Tommy,

I'm happy to hear that you came out of that alive - sounds like one of those things where you learned something the hard way.
If you are in touch with the halcyon people - get the Fundamantals of diving book from them (may only be available from GUE), it has a lot of the answers to your questions written down - oh - and if you dive that setup and have any of that training, just let me know when you come west - we'll find you some fine diving out here!

Big T

 

[tombiowami]

Dane,

Thanks, I have the DIR Fund. book and am seriously considering taking the class down in High Springs. I have heard excellent things about it, that they basically teach it to your level so it is not just a basic dir/ow class.

I had been used to diving with the Ranger that has 55 lbs of lift, with the small wings one has to be aware of the limits for sure.

But wow, what a difference! Now if I could just figure a way to ditch that wetsuit it would really be like flying...

Tommy

 

[WetDane]

Well, you could bring out hte old dusty speedo's - if nothing else - it would thrill the ladies...

Another good idea is to get a dry suit - naturally - Trilam is the way to go for you...

I highly recommend the class - I was not sure if you were ready for that - a lot of people don't care for the DIR stuff. I woudl say that of all classes I have ever taken - this was by far the one I have learned the most in...

Big T

 

[detroit diver]

Big T,

I'm taking the class in March 2002. Can you give me some idea of what types of things I'll be learning? I'm mostly configured DIR, but I know that's only one small part of it.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[tombiowami]

Detroit Diver,

The GUE website has a pretty extensive outline of the Fund. class as well as the others they teach. This one at first glance seems to be pretty basic, a lot of bouancy, trim, being a better buddy, etc. but I have read several postings from people who highly recommend it as a pre cave or technical dive course. I have read most of what is out on the web but there are still a few blanks I want filled in.

If you read the GUE training philosophy you can see that they are very committed to quality over quantity, and keep a very short leash on instructors to make sure the best ideas and training methods are used.

My view of training on some of these levels is that one should already have read and have book knowledge of what one is going to learn. The actual class is a chance to dive with someone is is very experienced and can critique you.

Where are you taking the class?

Tommy