Diverite voyager vs travel wing

[Anthony A.]

I've got both the Travel and Voyager wings, having started with the Voyager wing, and my wife has both, but started with the Travel. The inner bladder of both are the same, the only difference is the outer shell, and the nice thing about DiveRite wings is if you get a puncture you can unzip the shell and replace (or temporarily repair) the inner bladder

If you're working as a DM for rescue classes, or carrying extra weight for OW classes, the additional lift is nice to have. I normally dive locally with a 7mm full suit, hooded vest, HP80 tank and 2 lbs (1 KG) of lead in weight pockets. The travel wing is marginal for floating my rig on the surface. If I'm diving dry with extra lead, I'll use my Voyager wing (which is why my wife got the Voyager wing), and usually for rescue classes. Otherwise for recreational diving, especially in warm water, the Travel wing is fine and ever so slightly less drag. They are both excellent wings and I would buy again with no hesitation compared to most everything else I've seen

You should have a STA with DiveRite wings. You can get away without one, but your tank will flop a little from side to side and whatever you use to fasten the backplate to the wing will press in to your tank.

Its great you have experience with both wings. I am in the dilemma that for my warm water 3mm diving, the travel wing is ideal. But for the odd times I use a 7mm in freshwater, im thinking the voyager is the one. Since I only want to get one.... therein lies my dilemma

Is your voyager with the bungees? From videos i've seen, it looks super streamlined for a wing that large and the bungees make it look quite compact. Is it just as easy to vent as the travel wing, and any issue with air trapping?

 

[halocline]

I suggest that you don't get a wing with bungees. Just figure out what you really need for lift and get an appropriately sized wing. In general the larger the wing, the more cumbersome it is to vent.

It would be great if there were one wing that 'does it all' but regardless of what anyone tries to tell you, it's just not true. You can use a big wing with single tanks in warm water, but it's not as enjoyable as a smaller wing. The choice is yours.

 

[tbone1004]

Its great you have experience with both wings. I am in the dilemma that for my warm water 3mm diving, the travel wing is ideal. But for the odd times I use a 7mm in freshwater, im thinking the voyager is the one. Since I only want to get one.... therein lies my dilemma

Is your voyager with the bungees? From videos i've seen, it looks super streamlined for a wing that large and the bungees make it look quite compact. Is it just as easy to vent as the travel wing, and any issue with air trapping?

how large of a tank do you use when diving with the 7mm in fresh water? and how much lead do you wear? It should be more than enough for that

 

[stuartv]

Y'all realize this thread is 6 months old?

 

[tbone1004]

Y'all realize this thread is 6 months old?

yes, but with an identical subject matter, it's better than starting a new redundant thread

 

[geoff w]

Its great you have experience with both wings. I am in the dilemma that for my warm water 3mm diving, the travel wing is ideal. But for the odd times I use a 7mm in freshwater, im thinking the voyager is the one. Since I only want to get one.... therein lies my dilemma

Is your voyager with the bungees? From videos i've seen, it looks super streamlined for a wing that large and the bungees make it look quite compact. Is it just as easy to vent as the travel wing, and any issue with air trapping?

I started with the Voyager wing. Local dive shop mistakenly ordered a Travel wing instead of a Voyager and wanted to get rid of it cheap, so I picked up a Travel wing. With only one wing, I used the Voyager wing in warm water and it was totally fine

No bungee on my Voyager wing, and frankly I don't see the need. The Voyager is still a pretty compact wing. If you only get one, and do cold water diving so need more lift, the Voyager should be fine. I don't think there is a single all-purpose wing that does everything well

 

[Anthony A.]

Thanks for the responses so far. And yes, I was fully aware the thread was 6 months "old". Should I have started a new thread with the exact same question directed to a user who tried both wings I am looking at simultaneously ? Thought I was being respectful and not wasting paper.... err bandwith

Anyway, I know I should get 2 wings but the convenience of diving from cruiseships in any destination around the world and not worrying which country dives with which type of tanks and how much neoprene is needed is something that I have never worried about with my Zeagle Ranger. Going to a minimalist hog setup, I still want to be covered.

I think drag is a little exaggerated when comparing a 25lb wing to a 30lb. If the voyager was 30lbs, that would be much choice. I also noticed dive rite dropped the lift capacity of both wings and read that was due to EU measurements in freshwater. So if thats the case, the voyager is actually 40lbs, and traveller 27. What is more is that some wings rated at 35lbs are smaller than wings rated at 25. So whats the deal?

 

[tbone1004]

have you ordered yet?

If you haven't, I would highly recommend taking a look at the Deep Sea Supply rigs. They travel a lot better than most since the wings can come off without undoing cam bands, you get the added advantage of the selection of the right length backplate if you need it, and they have wings like the LCD30 where as long as you are diving with tanks at least as long as a HP100 *i.e. not AL63's*, then it's more than enough wing for 7mm wetsuit diving with a HP130 *from experience*, and it is perfectly fine with an AL80 in a bathing suit *also from experience*. I'm not sure about Dive Rite, but DSS actually measures lift with an 8" tank on the rig to make sure than any reductions in lift from the bottle are accounted for. Many other manufacturers just fill them with water and weigh them which doesn't account for the tank and may be a bit overzealous in their lift ratings.

 

[Anthony A.]

I havent ordered yet. I've seen the hog 32, dive rite traveler and lcd 30. I like the dss but after trying it with my regs and tank, the center elbow was a nuisance. If only it was a couple inches to the left. I know many here have no issue with it and that you can twist the tank a bit for more clearance, but im just not sold on it.

The dive rite was really nice quality, still not sure the 25lb will do. I think its right at the limit. 30lb would be ideal.

 

[tbone1004]

which reg were you using and how long was the elbow? A lot of people have the tank mounted too low on the rig which can cause problems with the center inflator. The only time it should be a real issue is with a double hose