BP/W with more than normal ways to get rid of air?

[Crass3000]

Really like the BP/W but have noticed that it's sometimes hard to get rid of air and find myself whishing I had more dump valves. I know dump valves are basically considered something of a place to get caught on things. My thing is that I'm more worried about having more dump valves. Given that... is there a W with more dumps than others? Given my wants... what would you recommend. Given all things the same... would you recommend a donut or a horseshoe? Seems like a donut would be better from what I've found but want some good advice. Thanks!!!! I bought a used Apex on here and find I need to roll to the side to get decent air dump. Really wish I could be more balanced and get the same dump.

---------- Post added July 2nd, 2013 at 06:44 AM ----------

Can I go to a good shop and just have them add more dumps?

 

[Tortuga68]

I only usually use the butt dump, don't even take the inflator hose out of it's keeper most dives. If you're in good horizontal trim it's easy, just lift your left cheek up and pull the OPV string UP (not down). It's easier in a donut wing or >insert stroke comment here< bungy wing; you might have to roll a little in a horseshoe to get the air on the left side (particularly when shallow) but it's just practice. Another OPV just adds a failure point

About capture points, that's why most DIR wings just have string with no 'bead' on the end, but if you're diving OW shouldn't be an issue. If you're diving cold water and wearing gloves this can be more of a problem

 

[phoenix31tt]

^^
agreed, i think this is a case where learning to use it may be more beneficial than adding more dumps...

i have a donut wing and dumping is extremely easy.. (using the method tortuga mentioned)

 

[DevonDiver]

The primary 'benefit' to adding more dump valves is to excuse developing the skill-set needed to operate the equipment as it was designed. You must forgive me for thinking that seems like a very short-sighted "solution".

 

[gypsyjim]

Once I discovered the value of the butt dump valve on a donut bladder, BP/W, and even on the back inflate BCD I used just before going to the wing, I thought I was in heaven. Total control for both ascent and descent in the horizontal position, with minimal motion to raise that area of the bladder, made this a major improvement in my buoyancy.

It is possible to use the inflator hose as a dump too, but I very rarely, if ever do so, now that I have gotten used to the value of that rear dump valve, as well as the wisdom of doing descents and ascents in the horizontal orientation, to maintain full control.

 

[Spg01]

If your wing is to big it can also cause problems with venting. Taco's are good to eat, but bad for wings. Having good trim will also help. I have a donut wing and have not had any problems, I could have gone slightly smaller with my doubles wing but it still works fine.

 

[danvolker]

Sandra used to have a dive rite wing...maybe the travel one??? , about a 35 pound lift wing for single tanks, and the BAD thing about it, was that the rear dump was NOT at the tip of the wing, so when air had collected in the wing, and she wanted to dump it, she could dump the air below the PPV, but the wing tips would still hold about 6 pounds of air.....rendering the use of the rear dump almost a waste...you would be forced to go vertical and to use the shoulder dump, if you wanted to get rid of all the air in the wing tips....this was ridiculous, so that wing sits in a closet---I don't know anyone I dislike so much I would sell it to them :-(

Moral of the story...good wings dump all air easily through the rear dump....you might need some time with a GUE or DIR type diver to get you familiar with horizontal trim and dumping with the rear dump ( this dump will work poorly if you are part vertical).....

 

[TSandM]

Wings vary in design, and I'm not familiar with yours. I have a doubles wing where the attachment of the inflator is well to the left of center; to dump gas when the wing is nearly empty, since both the inflator takeoff AND the dump valve are on the left, I do have to roll a bit. I've never found it particularly irritating, but that's probably because I weight myself carefully to have as little air in the wing as possible.

If you have quite a bit of air in a wing, and you are using the butt dump, you will eventually have to do something to move air from one side to the other. You're either going to have to go butt-up enough to allow air to pass through the bottom of a doughnut (which is quite butt-up) or head up enough to allow air to move through the upper arc, which is usually a less significant change. With time, you get entirely used to this and I know I don't even notice doing it any more, where I used to feel off-balance and frustrated after a while. Again, I think part of that is proper weighting.

Wings come with two dumps because that's really all you need. If you keep working with it, it will get better. Having somebody try to add a dump to an existing wing sounds like a recipe for leaks and problems, to me.

One final note -- we were on a dive boat in the Red Sea where they had Frog wings, and one of our companions tried one and didn't like it AT ALL because she said it wouldn't vent. She dove our DSS setups and did not have the same problem. It turned out the bladder wouldn't sit right in the outer covering on the Frog, causing folds you couldn't see from the outside that were trapping air. If that's what's happening with your wing, adding dumps probably won't help much.

 

[eelnoraa]

What wing do you have? And what tank(s)? Is your wing too big?

A few wings I have used, they all dump very easily. The only time I found dumping become a bit difficult is when the wing is too big. In my case, with double LP85, Evolve40 is much easier to dump than Evolve60.

 

[pickens_46929]

While not quite a try BP/W (it's back inflate at least), the DUI Delta BCD I had once had a total of 4 dump valves... DUI - Delta