LG Diver:
Tobin, I seem to recall you saying a while back (in one of the heated donut vs horseshoe threads) that you had no plans to make a donut singles wing because you felt the horseshoe worked just fine (that's my paraphrasing). Were you just being stealthy about your upcoming product or has something changed in your view of donut wings?
I'm not trying to start a donut vs horseshoe war here or to bash you or your products. I recall how well you defended the horseshoe design with a very logical explanation of how wings function, and you seemed committed to your belief that there was no advantage in the donut design. What changed?
LG Diver,
I've never said donut wings were a bad idea. They work fine. What I didn't like was the requirement for a 360 degree zipper in the center panel of a donut wing.
If you are building a "double bladder" donut wing, that is a sewn outer shell and a rf welded inner bladder, you need a 360 degree opening to install the inner bladder. In most cases this means a 360 zipper around the center panel of the wing.
I prefer not to use 360 zippers. I stated my reasons many times. Cost, bulk, they force certain constraints in the pattern, potential to jam, potential to "bite" the bladder, hard to install etc.
I still believe that the advantages offered by a a donut wing compared to a narrow design horseshoe wing are slight, and the extra problems associated with a 360 zipper aren't worth the small difference in performance.
My first "donut" wing, the Torus 45 for doubles has a 360 degree opening, but does not use a zipper, it uses velcro.
Why now have I chossen to build singles donuts? Simple, the new bladder material we had custom produced is so tough that one does not need a zipper. There is not 360 degree opening in the new Torus 26 or Torus 35 wings. They are sewn shut.
This allows a narrow design, retains the "quick mount" features (camstrap windows, wobble stopper etc.) found on our other singles wings, and does not add bulk when rolling up the wing for packing.
No zipper means a simpler wing pattern, this helps control cost. Even with the much heavier bladder material the new Torus is only $20 more than our LCD wings.
In short new materials allow new approaches. The new bladder material means there is no reason not to make donuts.
Regards,
Tobin
