dive rite travel wings vs. halcyon 18#

[CCDeep]

I'm considering getting halcyon 18# wings for warm water, and I have never seen them in person. The smallest wing I am familiar with is the dive rite travel wing. I'm thinking that (sizewise, if nothing else) it's a close comparison. The travel wings are smaller than the halcyon 27 wing. (it is, after all, a 30# bladder with compression material on it). I am not sure how it compares to the 18, though.

Can anybody out there help me compare the 18 to the 27 or the dive rite travel wings? maybe with measurements or pix, if you have more than one set of wings around?

to me, being streamlined in warm water is a lot of fun, but I'm having a hard time justifying the 18# wing vs. the travel wing, if they are about the same size, considering that the travel wing will lift 30# in addition to being small. It's also a full circle bladder, I don't think the 18# halcyon is.

any advice?

thanks.

 

[miztflip]

I own and use the Travel wing everyday. I love it and cannot imagine anything made that is smaller or more packable. Also seems to hold up very well and works great with single AL80's.

Good Luck

 

[chrisnycdive]

I havn't seen the Dive Rite wing in person, so I cannot give you a comparison. I do however own and dive w/ the Pioneer 18lb wing, and love it. It's soooo tiny, and has all the top notch design sense as their popular explorer wings.

I'm sure you've already checked out the website, but....
http://www.halcyon.net/mc/pioneer.shtml

The 18lb is a horseshoe shape, the 27lb is slightly bigger with a donut shape. I'd be willing to take a few measurements of the 18lb for you if that would help.

Chris

 

[Wendy]

Do they still make the 18# wing, I heard that they stopped making them. Anybody know?

 

[trymixdiver]

The halcyon wing is made from high quality materials and its construction is tops. The Diverite is just not made to the standards that halcyon wing is. Based on quality alone i would get the halcyon over diverite.

Andy

 

[chrisnycdive]

I bought my 18lb wing late last year, early November I think. They still show it on their website, so I'd assume it's still available. (But ya never know...haha)

Halcyon changed the design of the Pioneer wings in '01, to eliminate the need to a single tank adapter. This maybe what you've heard in terms on them not making them anymore. Personally, I perfer using the adapter, b/c I have the flexibility of using the standard or weighted version. If you can find one of the older models, it's well worth the search.

Good Luck

Chris

 

[Wendy]

I just bought the new style 27# pioneer wing. It can still be used with a STA. The only difference i think is that it has slots for the bands to go thru to secure the tank if you don't use a STA with it.

 

[CCDeep]

To ask the question again, how small is the 18 compared to the 27 or the travel wing?

I am aware of the build differences between halcyon and dive rite, and I know the dive rite is something of a bondage wing, and it's not meant to attach to a BP without modification. Neither will replace my big wing for local diving. However, for travel, the dive rite would do the job of the 27, in a size which I think is close to the 18, with a full-circle bladder, for less money. I am not sure how close the size is to the 18, though. If memory serves, it might be much wider than the 18, and therefore a lot sloppier, which makes the 18 win the trade.

 

[chrisnycdive]

...to order my drysuit (yay!), and can take the measurements of the 27lb and compare it to my 18lb. Hacyon sites the 27lb'er as being only "slightly" bigger, but as you've suggested, what exactly does that mean in terms of room in your suitcase?

B/c the 27lb wing is a donut shape (vs the horseshoe shape of the 18lb wing), I'd guess a good 4-5 pounds of lift is created with the donut alone.

If a 27lb is in stock, I'll check out the measurements.

Chris

 

[CCDeep]

thanks a lot, chris, I really appreciate that.

it annoys me a bit how it's hard to find pictures of these things. The halcyon web page has only a few pictures, looks like 2 of the 45, and then a side view of a guy wearing the 18 or 27. It'd be nice if they had a picture of all 4 together, or all 4 on a backplate for scale, or maybe some measurements.

a gallon of air has, ballpark, 8# of lift (in fresh water) so *very* roughly speaking, the 18# will be a 2 gallon bladder and the 27# will be a 3 gallon bladder. One extra gallon doesn't sound like much, spread out over a big donut, but 1/3 larger is significant.

The travel wing is very squared off (I'll measure it in the next day or so) and might really float high on the tank, not that streamlined, might wrap funny.