VTWarrenG
Guest
Hey guys,
I recently picked up a DiveRite Trek wing, which is a good middle-of-the-road wing suitable for singles and double 80's. The Trek comes with a "gusset cord" which is supposed to keep the left and right air chambers equalized. It doesn't surround the air chamber like the bondage wings, though, and probably has little effect on deflation speed.
Unfortunately, I seem to be wearing a tremendous amount of weight with the Trek wing. Recreationally, I dive a 7mm two-piece wetsuit, a SS backplate, single AL80, and the Trek wings. I used to wear about 21 lbs in saltwater with old rental jacket-style BCs. Well, now I'm wearing as much as 26 lbs with the SS backplate/Trek wings. The SS plate itself is 6 lbs negative, and common logic would suggest I'd only need 21 - 6 = 15 lbs of lead now. Somehow the conversion from crappy rental gear to quality gear made me wear something like 10 lbs of extra weight!
Two questions:
1) Should I use the gusset cord? My first instinct is no. My second instinct is to sell it and get a Halcyon wing.
2) Why on earth is my weighting so messed up? I can only assume that somehow the wing is retaining air, even when I try to dump it completely (using all three dumps!). Is there any way that the gusset cord could be causing the wing to be unable to deflate?
I've only done seven dives on the Trek wings, but they've all been with the gusset cord on, and identical dive profiles. I suppose I need to remove the gusset cord just to see if it changes my buoyancy problems, but I wonder if it's best to leave it off for good?
Thanks in advance,
- Warren
I recently picked up a DiveRite Trek wing, which is a good middle-of-the-road wing suitable for singles and double 80's. The Trek comes with a "gusset cord" which is supposed to keep the left and right air chambers equalized. It doesn't surround the air chamber like the bondage wings, though, and probably has little effect on deflation speed.
Unfortunately, I seem to be wearing a tremendous amount of weight with the Trek wing. Recreationally, I dive a 7mm two-piece wetsuit, a SS backplate, single AL80, and the Trek wings. I used to wear about 21 lbs in saltwater with old rental jacket-style BCs. Well, now I'm wearing as much as 26 lbs with the SS backplate/Trek wings. The SS plate itself is 6 lbs negative, and common logic would suggest I'd only need 21 - 6 = 15 lbs of lead now. Somehow the conversion from crappy rental gear to quality gear made me wear something like 10 lbs of extra weight!
Two questions:
1) Should I use the gusset cord? My first instinct is no. My second instinct is to sell it and get a Halcyon wing.
2) Why on earth is my weighting so messed up? I can only assume that somehow the wing is retaining air, even when I try to dump it completely (using all three dumps!). Is there any way that the gusset cord could be causing the wing to be unable to deflate?
I've only done seven dives on the Trek wings, but they've all been with the gusset cord on, and identical dive profiles. I suppose I need to remove the gusset cord just to see if it changes my buoyancy problems, but I wonder if it's best to leave it off for good?
Thanks in advance,
- Warren
