DGX new doubles wing

[tbone1004]

Oh, and your suggestion?

You have 10lbs of ballast, 13lbs of gas, 7lbs negative tanks, about 10lbs between the valves/bands/regulators, plus another 13lbs of lead says that 60lbs isn't really "too much". It's not minimum buoyancy, but you're also diving in the Great Lakes in a drysuit, so if your suit floods, you have about 55lbs of negative buoyancy at the start of the dive ignoring anything like reels, negative fins, or anything else negatively buoyant attached to your rig. Add in the desire to keep your head above water, and I wouldn't go for 55lbs anyway, 60lbs would be my minimum for that setup.

The Dive Rite Classic wing is 60lbs of buoyancy, has a square profile to lift evenly since your weight is distributed pretty evenly, and is sold by DRiS which is convenient. One of the guys over there may even have one that they use personally and could let you borrow for a dive or two before you pull the trigger.

 

[dewdropsonrosa]

^ Come to the quarry next weekend and dive mine!

 

[Marie13]

^ Come to the quarry next weekend and dive mine!

Your double bladder wonder?

 

[barth]

You have 10lbs of ballast, 13lbs of gas, 7lbs negative tanks, about 10lbs between the valves/bands/regulators, plus another 13lbs of lead says that 60lbs isn't really "too much". It's not minimum buoyancy, but you're also diving in the Great Lakes in a drysuit, so if your suit floods, you have about 55lbs of negative buoyancy at the start of the dive ignoring anything like reels, negative fins, or anything else negatively buoyant attached to your rig. Add in the desire to keep your head above water, and I wouldn't go for 55lbs anyway, 60lbs would be my minimum for that setup.

The Dive Rite Classic wing is 60lbs of buoyancy, has a square profile to lift evenly since your weight is distributed pretty evenly, and is sold by DRiS which is convenient. One of the guys over there may even have one that they use personally and could let you borrow for a dive or two before you pull the trigger.

How do you know that she will be 55 lbs negative when her suit floods? I do understand that if you replace air in your drysuit with water that you will be less positive. But I think it is more complicated then your calculation. Or is there something I’m missing? (Maybe her body is positive, Undersuit has still volume and weight but air is replaced by water)

Last time I was using my 55 lbs wing it was just enough to keep me at the surface at the start of the dive. At that point my 6 tanks were all filled. But a 55 lbs wing should be enough for doubles + stages.

 

[dewdropsonrosa]

@barth, the sum of @Marie13's negatively-buoyant items at the start of a dive (10+7+10+13) = 40 lbs., plus 13 pounds of gas = 53.

 

[tbone1004]

@barth you're right about inherent positive buoyancy, which she says she has, however I have no idea how much that is, and the rig still has to be able to float everything at the surface in the event of a suit flood.
I use a 49lb wing with doubles and while the lift is marginal and I would prefer to have a 60lb wing, it is enough with LP120's, HP120's, and my CCR, all of which are rather negative, and I sink. The 45lb rec wing definitely wouldn't be enough because it isn't wide enough to not be able to use all of its lift with doubles since it can't fully expand.
I wasn't saying that 55lb wouldn't work, it probably will, but the difference between 55 and 60lb wings in terms of dimensions is negligible so buying one that has a very poor design like the DGX one to "save" 5lbs of lift is not a good idea. A diver in doubles with a drysuit has so much inherent drag that the additional drag from the wing is pretty inconsequential. The difference between a 20 and 25lb singles wing could actually be pretty substantial, but that's a 25% increase in volume, 55 to 60 is less than 10% and in the case of the DGX and Dive Rite Classic is just squaring the top of the wing off so the drag profile doesn't really change at all.
All of the discussions on minimizing wing size really tick me off because it is all about this minimizing drag concept when the benefits are not distinguishable to any human and in the case of most well designed wings, not a difference at all. My LCD 20 and LCD 30 wings from Deep Sea Supply by that logic should have a big difference in drag and I should only dive the 30 if I absolutely need that lift. Here's the kicker, the only difference is that the LCD30 is longer, the width is the same. The only time I would ever choose the 20 over the 30 is if I was diving short tanks like the HP80's that @Marie13 is diving where the LCD30 is substantially longer than the tank and would put me at risk of a pinch flat. On my 120's or AL80's where the LCD30 is shorter than the tank? I always take the 30.

 

[Marie13]

Current DR Rec wing (older horseshoe model) is being used without retaining bungees. Didn’t come with them.

 

[tbone1004]

@Marie13 that wouldn't matter for this. The wing physically isn't big enough to fully expand with doubles. If you can feel the wing pressing on you at all it's because the bladder is much narrower than a true doubles wing and is being restricted by the tanks and backplate. I dove a rec wing with double 80's a few times and that was my experience back then

 

[RyanT]

All of the discussions on minimizing wing size really tick me off because it is all about this minimizing drag concept when the benefits are not distinguishable to any human and in the case of most well designed wings, not a difference at all.

I agree with this. I've used both a 45 and 60 lb wings in doubles. In terms of swimming drag, I could not discern any difference at all between the two wings. Wearing no added weight, the lift of the 45lb wing was barely adequate though.

 

[W W Meixner]

Current DR Rec wing (older horseshoe model) is being used without retaining bungees. Didn’t come with them.

Marie...

Golem Gear has a 50 pound lift donut doubles wing for $280...

Contact prior to purchase to ensure standing stock is available...

Sub-Gravity also has a 50 donut for $390...

Best...

W...