Dive Rite Classic VS DSS

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Scubaboard, I have seen these two wings on boats and have also chatter with the owners. Both these companies produce satisfied customers and very reliable gear. I would like to know scubaboards opinion on these before I make the purchase.

Classic XT Wing | Dive Rite

Dive rite wing appears to be more robust to punctures because it is made of "super-fabric." I do not know if that is really any good because I have never met anyone whose wing shell punctured. Most wing failure that I have seen are inflator hose related rather than a hole in the shell. I do not use bungee on my wings so if that is one "advantage" of going with this wing then this does not apply to me. Lastly, I am a bit skeptical about their hollow center panel. They removed the middle area and introduced a "cross section" which appears to be flimsy and wobbly but I have spoken to the owners and they don't seem to care.

https://www.deepseasupply.com/image_store/30258/30258_IMAGE_LARGE.jpg

DSS wing has 6lbs less lift but they measure their lift with tanks attached so they should be equal. The shape of the wing appears more streamlined. Nothing fancy here, no super fabric, cross hair center etc just a nice well made wing.

Id love to her from the owners of both and if you happen to be the one who has used both then Id definitely want to hear your views.

Cheers -

Sinbad

 

[tbone1004]

Textile engineer here, so sorry for the long report.

Dive Rite's center panel crosshair is a requirement because of the Transpac. It is actually a stronger design than the full center panel, and costs more to produce because of the sewing involved. Tensile strength of the fabric is still far more than your rig weighs, so that's not really a factor. Remember that all fabrics suck in compression and are designed for tension. This means that they are going to flop around when they are on land regardless of the center panel design.

Superfabric is in there for abrasion and puncture resistance. 1050d ballistic nylon is more than enough, and to actually get a puncture or tear requires some pretty intense wreck penetration in some nasty wrecks. I wouldn't pay more for Superfabric since there have been thousands of crazy intense dives with minimal damage reported. Sidemount would likely get me to pay a little bit more for the Superfabric, but not enough to sway me one rig for another *i.e. I would choose a Nomad LTZ XT over a normal Nomad LTZ, but not enough to get me to buy a Nomad LTZ XT over say a Hollis Katana*, but my 3 sidemount rigs don't have it *one is a DR*, and it isn't missed. It is nice, but in this case, not $70 nice.

Dive Rite has gone to a laminated nylon instead of butyl rubber *following Halcyon's lead* and there are pros and cons to using a laminated fabric vs a rubber bladder. The fabric is theoretically more durable to damage, but the rubber should age better. Splitting hairs here so not something that would cause me to choose one brand over another. The fabric will be inherently more flexible than butyl rubber, especially the thick rubber that is used in the DSS wings which can give the impression that the DR wings are flimsy and wobbly, but once bolted in front of a set of doubles there isn't a lot of room for them to move anyway. The Superfabric does stiffen the outer shell of the wing more than normal wings.

Both are made in the USA, DSS in LA area California, and Dive Rite in Albany area NY, so that's a draw.

DSS has a sewn wing design which has some pros since I have seen quite a few zipper failures on wings, but at the same time you do have to send it back to fix any holes in the bladder. This is mitigated by using a wicked thick bladder that has very very few instances of holes.

Dive Rite uses a 1680D cordura which is a larger yarn diameter than the 1050D that DSS uses so will be more prone to pilling from abrasion, is stiffer, and is also heavier. Likely not a huge concern, but still a factor.

So. DSS wing is $334, DR Classic XT is $400. I went through this same decision last year and went with the DSS. I chose the DSS 49 wing at Tobin's recommendation because I couldn't justify spending the extra money on the DR wing and couldn't be happier. The Torus 49 actually replaced an older Classic wing that I sold to a new diver a few years ago. That wing was almost 10 years old when I bought it in 2009 with over 1000 dives on it, I put about 300 on it, and it's still going strong so that speaks to the longevity of their products. There are things that I like about both wings and enough to the point that there isn't a clear winner, but I think the scale leans a bit over to DSS for the overall wing shape, the better dump valve, and lighter weight.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Thanks so much T-bone. I felt the super fabric and it seemed more stiff/ card boardish than regular wing. I could tell that it would be hard to puncture it but I was wondering if this thing would vent as easily as the softer material? Any thoughts?

 

[tbone1004]

I don't think you'll notice any difference between the two in terms of venting. Water is a pretty powerful medium and as long as you are positioned correctly any air will come out

 

[stuartv]

Hey Sinbad,

I am using the DR Rec EXP wing for doubles and I have a DSS LCD 30 wing. So, neither are exactly what you're looking at, but sorta close.

I agree with Tbone on the DR fabric. The EXP fabric seems plenty sturdy. Mine has come out of the water dirty from brushing against stuff in wrecks, but shows no signs of actual wear. I don't think I'd spend the extra for the XT material - if you can still find the Classic EXP. Or maybe reconsider whether you really need a 60# wing. I'm diving double HP120s with my 45# wing and it seems to be just fine. That said, if I were going to use 8" tanks, I would probably go with a different wing. I think wider tanks might prevent the Rec wing from fully inflating, because it's pretty narrow. That does mean it's very streamlined, though!

The Rec wing does have the same open panel in the imddle, like the Classic. I don't have any issues with that, at all. And that is compared to my OMS 60# and Halcyon 55# wings that both have solid center panels. Once I mount the wing on the 2 mounting bolts, they hold it reasonably taut and the open center panel just doesn't make any difference.

Regardless, Tobin from DSS sells wings with zippers and wing without zippers. And he has said that 95% of his repairs are pinch flats. Pinch flats are pretty rare, but I think that means zipper failures are ridiculously rare. So, between the two, I would take the wing with zipper access to the bladder over one without. You probably had Fred along on some of your recent dives? I know he dives a Classic XT and likes it a lot. If I were buying a new 60# wing, that (or the EXP version) is what I'd be looking for first.

 

[geoff w]

I'll chime in, since through extreme stupidity and carelessness managed to put a hole in my DiveRite Voyager wing (with the regular ballistic nylon shell, not the super fabric). I got home from diving, threw my rig into a rinse bucket, and because of all the other stuff it was floating. In my rush to get back out the door, I threw something heavy on top to submerge my rig, not realizing it had sharp corners. The next dive I kept wondering why I wasn't floating as high on the surface and chalked it up to eating too much for breakfast, did my dive, and then once out realized my wing wasn't holding air

I unzipped the wing, pulled out the inner bladder, called DiveRite, and a few days later had a replacement bladder. In the meantime I patched my old bladder with Tear-Aid to keep as a spare. If I hadn't been so stupid I would never have had a problem. The upside is if I'm ever on a dive vacation in the middle of nowhere and get a puncture in a DiveRite wing, I know what to do to patch up my wing and continue diving. The DiveRite wings are high quality, really well thought out, and DiveRite customer service is top notch. I do spend a little more time rinsing out the zipper in the DiveRite wings than I used to and make sure sand doesn't get crudded up in there in case I ever have to unzip it again

 

[The Chairman]

I've gone to the Dive Rite wings. Well built and no 'tude from Dive Rite. I bought one for my rebreather as I love the super open design. Easy to route hoses where I need to.