I wonder if
@Jim Lapenta knows if the fittings on HOG wings are bonded in place or not.
-Z
All of mine are at the pool. I'll check tomorrow but I'm guessing they are. Which based on my experience doesn't seem to be an issue. I've been selling HOG wings since 2011. I've had to order replacement bladders for exactly two customers who changed them out themselves. Didn't need to send them to me. I've sold well over 150 wings.
One was because a guy let someone borrow his wing and it came back with a puncture. He could not get a straight answer as to how that happened. The other was due to a domestic animal.
They are pretty tough and replacement bladders are in the $50-60 range at the time I ordered them.
The urethane bladders Tobin used were much more prone to pinch flats than the fabric bladders in the HOG and other mfg's that use them.
I sold one of my DSS plates and gave the other to a young lady as a graduation present with the harness, hardware, and cam bands. Her dad added a HOG wing to the package for her.
I got rid of my DSS LCD 30 when I became a HOG dealer.
The DSS 50lb doubles wing when I decided that doubles were not as back and knee friendly as sidemount and I broke down all my sets of doubles.
I have a freedom plate now and a Manta backplate. Both get used with HOG 32lb wings.
Also, have a HOG Comfort and softpack set up with the 32 wing.
These mainly get used for students as I pretty much only dive SM in open water now. If I do dive a single, it's likely with the softpack and generally an LP95 or larger for a specific reason.
I'll sometimes use a jacket to clean the pool or for a pool session or two just because I have one set up.
Tobin and I also often disagreed on wing lift to the point that I just stopped saying anything.
I dive cold water and in an area where there are a lot of instructors who are still overweighting their students. As a result I don't even consider less than 30lbs of lift for my diving. Just in case I need to assist another diver.
I want the extra lift that an 18 or 23 doesn't provide. I also don't try to swim fast enough to worry about drag.
The new HOG 32 wings with the bungee are actually smaller than a 23 without when deflated and the way the bungee is situated it doesn't pose an issue for inflation, trapping air, or deflating too fast.