Frog Midnight vs Halcyon Evolve?? Is it almost the same thing??

[144000]

hi folks..

was looking hard at getting myself a 40lb wing for diving in doubles... and was recommended the frog midnight, which looks almost identical to evolve except the corrugated hose part..

has anyone used that? any reviews?

 

[rjack321]

I don't know about the frog but the 40lb evolve has worked well from my wife and I over the past 4 yrs, we have 2 of them. If I weren't diving large steel singles in a drysuit and all that it's a little big. But works fine for warmwater too.

 

[dsteding]

I don't know about the frog but the 40lb evolve has worked well from my wife and I over the past 4 yrs, we have 2 of them. If I weren't diving large steel singles in a drysuit and all that it's a little big. But works fine for warmwater too.

You have Explorers, not Evolves-the Evolve hasn't been out for 4 years.

Evolve=donut

Explorer=horseshoe.

Crap, now I want a donut.

 

[RTodd]

You have Explorers, not Evolves-the Evolve hasn't been out for 4 years.

Evolve=donut

Explorer=horseshoe.

Crap, now I want a donut.

No you don't. Once you get used to being able to "place" the air on the appropriate side to offset weight with traditional wing, having the air swing back and forth on you due to the donut is a bit weird. Not a big deal, but definately not worth trading up to if you have good wings already.

I have never heard of the frog so can't speak to it specifically. The best rule of thumb is that, if you aren't sure a halcyon competitor's gear is made properly, just buy the Halcyon. I realize Halcyon tends to be slightly pricier and there is other gear out there that fits the requiirements for DIR diving, but a lot of the other stuff requires modifications that the H gear doesn't or simply isn't the right gear for a DIR rig. H gear isn't perfect either in terms of quality, but the designs all meet the right requirements.

 

[Vie]

was recommended the frog midnight, which looks almost identical to evolve except the corrugated hose part..

has anyone used that? any reviews?

I've used a borrowed Frog Midnight on occasions.

The Midnight feels identical to the Evolve 40 but the shape is slightly different (Frog claims a 50lb lift capacity) - see pics below. From a diving point of view, I can't tell the difference between the two.

The Frog seems well made, apart from the rather flimsy looking OEM corrugated hose. The inflator mechanism is identical to the current model used by Halcyon. The Midnight also has a (useless) little plastic knob on the dump valve.

I've heard a claim that "the distance between the holes on a Halcyon wing is 11 3/4 inches to take account of material shrinkage with age, so that a wing will always fit a standard twinset. The Frog's was 11 inches when new, with no allowance being made for shrinkage." I have not checked whether this is indeed the case.

 

[RTodd]

The Midnight also has a (useless) little plastic knob on the dump valve.

Great example. You will need to cut this knob off with this wing. Otherwise, there is a risk of clipping stages or other gear off in a manner that dumps the wing. Sounds silly, but it happens.

 

[rjack321]

You have Explorers, not Evolves-the Evolve hasn't been out for 4 years.

Evolve=donut

Explorer=horseshoe.

Crap, now I want a donut.

I thought this was a single tank wings we were discussing? oops nevermind. I should have said eclipse anyway. Too many damned Es. Those are our single tank, 40lb, donuts. Mmmm a 40lb donut

 

[dsteding]

No you don't.

No, I meant "I want a donut" in a Homer Simpson "mmmmm donut" sorta way, not in terms of wing preference (I have horseshoe and donut wings, and they work about the same).

 

[RTodd]

No, I meant "I want a donut" in a Homer Simpson "mmmmm donut" sorta way, not in terms of wing preference (I have horseshoe and donut wings, and they work about the same).

It takes a lot of guts to post your desire to be a HFS on a forum like this. Okay, so I completely missed the obvious joke.

They do basically work the same. I have just used horseshoe for so long it feels a bit off. Sort of like the slight adjustment it took to get used to going from a nice stage counterbalance with a lead acid pack on your right belt to having no weight on your right with a NiMH pack.

 

[dsteding]

It takes a lot of guts to post your desire to be a HFS on a forum like this. Okay, so I completely missed the obvious joke.

They do basically work the same. I have just used horseshoe for so long it feels a bit off. Sort of like the slight adjustment it took to get used to going from a nice stage counterbalance with a lead acid pack on your right belt to having no weight on your right with a NiMH pack.

Hey, I haven't had a donut in like 2 years. In pretty good shape, thank you very much. Just wanted one.

Agreed, I just went from a horseshoe single wing to a donut single wing, mostly because I needed a bit more lift. Works the same, just a subtle difference that you can work out with body positioning early in the dive.

Doubles I've always been in a donut wing, just a reflection on when I started diving doubles.

People make too much of this stuff, if it has enough lift and isn't strokaphilic, it will probably work.