Deep 6 wings: Tropical vs. Stability

[MonkeyBubbles]

I am trying to figure out the differences between the Deep 6 wing options: one labeled as "tropical" and the other labeled as "stability." Both are rated for 30# lift, which is more than I need, definitely more than I need for tropical dives, but if they can fit that in compact form factor, why not?

The website says that the outer shell for both is a reversed and coated 440 Denier Nylon Cloth "quick dry" material, although the stability wings also have a colored Cordura strip down the middle. The tropical wing seems to be more of a standard donut with an orange handle, and the stability wing seems to be somewhat more streamlined (almost like the Apeks WTX wings). How much of a difference does this subtle shape change make?

I got a chance to see someone's Tropical wing last week. Looked pretty nice, but maybe the more streamlined shape of the Stability wing would be better? I can't decide if I think the handle on the tropical wing would be more useful, or just something to get snagged on. The tropical wing seemed to be much less "bulky" than other 30# donut wings I've seen.

 

[RIHappyDiver]

I’ve never used either one, but was reading a thread the other day where one of the owners was describing the new Stability wing. It will give you a decent description.

@bradlw We no longer make the 20lb wing, I need to update the information. We stopped making it because it was less than 1" of difference in width compared to the 30lb wing, which was kind of redundant. You had to put them next to each other to tell which was which they were so close in size.

The 'stability' line of wings we make is nominally 30 lbs, but with tank compression is probably more like 25 lbs. It's definitely narrower than the 30lb wing, because the lift is redistributed.

The cool part of the stability wings though is the low profile elbow and recessed dump valves I put in the latest model, and our traditionally quick dry material, which is awesome for travel. The wing dries in 5 minutes in the sun.

Erik

 

[RyanT]

I can't speak to the differences in the two Deep6 wings. @LandonL can speak more to this. What I will say though, is that 30# isn't too much. At the end of the day, you'll never notice a difference between something like a 23# wing vs a 30# wing in terms of drag. If you need a little more lift though (e.g. keeping your head up if the seas start to get big), the 30# is nice. And yeah, Deep6 makes great gear!