Dive Rite suggestions please

[black1]

Hello i will egt to the point, I live in South Florida and dive in warm water only, I Wreck, Deep and Drift all the time in 60 to 120ft of water and i dive steel HP 120's with a 3mm all year round, I use 4 to 6 pounds right now for weights and i want to get rid of my weight all together, I carry very little with me while hunting (sheers, flashlight,fish stringer,reel/sausage) thats all. I want to switch to a BP/W setup and would like to know what is best for my type of diving, I was thinking of the Transplate(6lb steel plate i can use as my weight) with a travel wing or travel 360 wing for streamlining and travel, I also use when deep diving a 19 and 30 pony tank when needed, will the travel or travel exp be enough lift for my setup? I have heard the Venture wing can be a problem behind the neck so im not interested, but, like the small compact look of the travel, will this be enough lift or is there a very streamlined wing you can recommend, thanks alot for your help.

p.s. I dont dive doubles or tech, at least not now anyways.

 

[Dive Rite]

Hi,

Thanks for the inquiry. Given the combination of exposure protection and weight of steel tank and steel backplate, the Travel Wing isn't enough lift. It's only 27 lbs which is maybe ok with a steel 95, yet TransPac not metal plate.

If you don't want to go Venture, I suggest the Rec EXP Wing. You can tie it down with the new side clips and its a small wing. The old Rec Wing was long...which is GOOD if you are a tall guy because that's great for buoyancy. The Rec EXP is a great wing and if you ever do decide to dive doubles (or double 45s...they make great spearfishing tanks and give you redundancy on the regs) you'll have a nice wing for that set up, too.

My thought. BTW, I dive a Venture wing with my O2ptima and I'm only 5'4"...never had it bother me behind the head. Plus you have three grommets to play with the position in relation to tank/harness. I think you should not give up totally on the Venture...go take a look at one or come to a Tech Tour. I think we have one coming up in N. Florida in May.

Hope this helps,
Kathleen

 

[black1]

Hi Kathleen thanks for your time, i went buy a very reputable dive store in my area today after i wrote the above post, very professional rec and heavy duty tech guys and they said all the same as you did, but, also said with my tanks i have and my weight, height and everything else that i can easily use a Transpac with only around 4lbs and maybe even none after a trial run with it and a Travel wing, i tried everything on, extra large Transpac, Travel wing and diverite octo and it was fantastic, very comfortable and very streamlined, i asked about the lift in the travel wing (26lbs i believe it was) and they said it would do just fine with my tanks and my setup becasue it places the air evenly around the Travel wing for great bouyancy, i never had any problems with getting to the surface or holding my safety stop at 15ft so im sure what they said was correct and they were very nice and helpful and had great things to say about Diverite. What aere your thoughts on what they said and what i mentioned, im thinking of going back and purchasing this great setup, if i find i need more wing/lify i can always buy a different one, but, the Travel one was streamlined and nice, great for my spearfishing needs, opinions? thanks alot for your time and have a great day/night.

Forgot to mention it is the "
Travel EXP" Wing

 

[Dive Rite]

Hey,

With a TransPac, I think it sounds good. It is a very nice system, the Travel EXP is super streamlined and if you feel good about it, go with it. I just asked Lamar his POV and he feels the same as I do...it's a tough call because this depends on your body mass, style of diving, etc. But, if you feel that you can swim the rig to the surface without difficulty then we say do it!

Lamar is a big guy (which puts buoyancy in his favor) and he dives a steel 95 with the Travel no problems.

BTW...how big is the fish your hauling up to the surface??

Sounds like a great rig for you,
Kathleen

 

[black1]

The fish will be as big as i can get them...lol, thanks and have a great day.

 

[ramaroodle]

Kathleen,
Just bought a TPac with a rec wing after diving it and a Trans Plate for a week each in Bonaire. For a number of reasons I like the pac better and since I have to wear 14-16 lbs to get down in a 3mm full suit anyway i realized that wearing 6 lbs less isn't worth the tradeoff in comfort. My skinny friends can dive the plate with no weight.

You answered my first question since like Lamar I too have become a large guy and also think buoyancy is in my favor so I think the Travel wing will work fine even when I use a steel hp tank. I have an XXL TP and am 5'10" and 250 lbs.

I am going on a liveaboard in May and want a travel wing. What i've noticed is that there seem to be 2 or 3 travel wings. The 360 seems to have grommets in the middle like the rec wing and the EXP does not. How does the EXP stay attached to the pac?. Is the 360 larger? There is an 8 year old trav wing on ebay. I should be able to swap the corrugated hose that has the shoulder valve from my rec wing?

Thanks in advance.
Andy