186 posts (not including mine)... now how did I miss all of the fun???
I have dove both types of wings.
I never had an issue orally inflating either.
I never had a bungee snag, though I did puncture my BWOD on a wreck. However, I did not die and had no problem with maintaining neutral bouyancy (I did have to add air as I would have to do with a conventional wing).
When I went to the flappy version of wings, I had to learn how to AVOID massive air shifts. Something that I did not have to worry about with the BWOD. Now I avoid diving with one side up (Like along the hull of a boat) lest an errant shift throw me off balance. Maybe it's time to buy another BWOD, but I like
Tobin's wings and will continue with them.
I also enjoyed the lack of water in my BWOD after a dive. The deflation was consistent and was not contingent on my attitude in the water. No shifting to get the air by whatever dump I was planning on using... just hit the deflator and the air came gently out with no delay. The slight positive pressure kept out the water.
To date, I have never heard of ANYONE who has been injured by a BWOD. Of course, there are those who refuse to maintain their gear and they imperil everyone when their gear fails in service. You can come up with a slew of "what-ifs" for just about ANY piece of equipment if you get creative enough. However, when these "what-ifs" fail to materialize, it's time to stop presenting them as fact.
A few have asked for benefits of the BWOD. One of these has already been proferred in this thread but apparently on deaf ears. I contend that preference is indeed the mitigating factor here. There is no factual support for many of the contentions no matter how strongly they are believed and I certainly have not seen a "host" of problems that the BWOD presents to the uninitiated diver. But conjecture makes for an interesting message board.
