Fins, weights & hose questions

[sharko108]

Hello everyone,

I recently bought an Xdeep Zen wing with a stainless steel backplate, along with Apeks regulators, and after about ten dives I have a few gear-related questions, please:

Over the dives in a 5mm wetsuit, I gradually dropped weights until I didn’t need any at all. However, I still feel a bit heavy, as I have to start the dive with air in the wing. I tested this with both 12L and 15L tanks. During the safety stop at around 5 meters, if the wing is empty, I start sinking back down…


Since I don’t have any more weight to remove in this configuration, what would you recommend? Switching to an aluminum backplate? I haven’t yet tested with a 7mm suit.

I’ll probably buy a drysuit in a few months, which should give me some extra buoyancy to offset, but in the meantime...

Apart from the suit, the only thing I'm still missing is a pair of fins, but I’m still undecided. At first, I thought I’d need slightly heavy fins, but given the buoyancy issue above and the fact that sometimes my legs drop, I’m wondering if I should in fact go for neutrally buoyant fins — but still fairly stiff and not too long for frog kicking. Ideally, I’m looking for versatile fins that will also work well when I switch to a drysuit.


After some research (and ChatGPT), it seems that most Apeks/Jetfins are not ideal (too heavy or floppy RK?), and the OMS Slipstreams or Tecline Powerjets seem to be recommended. Any thoughts?
Btw i am in Europe so no Deep6 Eddy please lol i know they are great but cannot have them anyway

I imagine that if I wait until I’m diving with a drysuit, the recommended fins might be different as i will need this time for heavy fins..?

And lastly, when I bought my regulator set, I got the hoses separately to set up a long hose configuration. After some research, I went with 60 and 61 cm for the necklace reg and the inflator hose. The first stage is an FSR, so the hoses exit sideways, and I find the setup a bit “messy.”


The Zen’s inflator is fairly short, so the hose ends up being a bit too long, and even the necklace reg has a bit too much slack. For those of you with a similar setup, what hose lengths are you using? I was thinking maybe something around 50 cm might be better.

Thanks in advance!

 

[inquis]

I have to start the dive with air in the wing. I tested this with both 12L and 15L tanks.

This is normal because you should be neutral with nearly empty tank & wing. The gas weight in a 12L tank is 3.1-4.7 kg (200-300 bar), requiring 3.1-4.7 L of air in the wing to compensate.

However, since you're sinking with empty wing at the end -- presumably with a nearly empty tank -- then yes, an AL plate is a good step. Others just live with being a bit over weighted. Yes, the drysuit will likely improve the scenario as well.

 

[rongoodman]

You're going to start the dive heavy with about 5 pounds of gas that you're going to breathe, so you need gas in the wing to compensate for it. How much gas do you have in your wing at your safety stop? A little won't hurt anything, and your tank still isn't empty, so you'll need a little to compensate for it.

 

[KenE]

How much gas was still in the cylinder, you want the minimum and most times we end up at safety stop with significantly more than minimum. The necklaced hose length is very dependent on body shape and regulators. Is perfectly fine to go with a shorter hose.

 

[sharko108]

Depending tank capacity and dives i finish around 70 bars in the tank , had 50 bar sometimes but yes i do think that this is still too much air in the wing for the safety stop..
Thanks guys

Any advices for the fins?

 

[jborg]

For wetsuit diving I like the Tecline LightJets. They're light on land and about neutral in the water. Others will likely recommend the Scubapro Go Sport; I found them too small/floppy/not to my taste. My wife swears by the Scubapro Seawing Nova (and the Supernova for drysuit diving).