Largest lift wing for STA?

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Kevin Floyd

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Location
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so I just starting diving dry. I’m a big guy that runs pretty buoyant. In a pool, with nothing but shorts and a rash guard I still run a 5lb SS plate and 4 lbs of lead. With a dry suit I’m running 40lbs of negative weight. This last weekend we were drift diving in a dammed river so had to shoot a dsmb, we were 1 of 3 pairs on the dive and ended up being the last group picked up. I have to inflate my dry suit to stay buoyant at the surface as my OMS 32lb mono wing could keep me above water.

A) I know that using the dry suit as a flotation device is bad practice.

B) I’m still working on dailing in my dry suit weight but feel like this is probably a max negative weight for me

C) I know that in an emergency I can drop my hip weight and be under my wings lift capacity

D) should I find a larger wing? I know when I start diving doubles that the doughnut wing lift capacity jumps up but I don’t think I’m going to do that anytime soon.

E) I don’t have any buoyancy issues under water
 
if your 32lb wing cannot keep you buoyant at the surface at the end of a dive, you need to check your weighting. at the end of a dive you only should need 10 lbs or so lift from the wing to keep your head above the water.
 
With a dry suit I’m running 40lbs of negative weight.
That sounds like much. I carry some 14-15kg, and my undersuit is really nice, thick warm, cozy - and buoyant. But weighting other people over the internet is impossible. I've heard more than once that I have to be grossly overweighted, but I can assure you I'm not. This winter I added 2kg to my belt to accommodate some extra suit air and was told by an instructor that I probably was 2-3kg overweighted after he had looked at me underwater.

That said, my wing has a 40# lift. Even pretty correctly weighted I prefer that size to float at a comfortable level on the surface. And in spite of that, I always close my suit valve and inflate my suit a little after surfacing.
 
I don't get it...you describe yourself as buoyant and needing extra weight to get down....then at the end of the dive you are having problems staying at the surface? You are more buoyant at the end of the dive due to the fact your tank has less air in it. If you are struggling to stay at the surface with your setup at the end of your dive then you are seriously over-weighted.

-Z
 
Sounds like he has too much air trapped in the drysuit pre dive. Then once the suit has compressed to normal and excess air is vented, he finds himself over weighted.

Have you tried pool or shallow diving your drysuit to check your weighting with the suit vented out?
 
While I appreciate the input I guess I wasn’t really clear. I’m not so much asking whether or not I’m over weighted, let’s assume I’m not. I have enough lift with just the wing to easily control trim and a slow accent or swim the rig up in case of emergency but not enough lift to sit high enough on the surface to be comfortable without relying on the dry suits added lift for an extended Period of time like I did on the last dive waiting for the boat. Generally relying on the dry suit for lift is bad practice.
Does anyone have a good suggestion for a doughnut style wing that has 40lb+ of lift that won’t taco to badly when using an STA?
I’m worried about the taco because most higher lift wings are wider for doubles
 
Does anyone have a good suggestion for a doughnut style wing that has 40lb+ of lift that won’t taco to badly when using an STA?
I’m worried about the taco because most higher lift wings are wider for doubles

Dive Rite Rec wing is a donut with 45lbs of lift. You’ll have to keep the wing bungeed for single tank.

Dive Rite Rec Wing
 
Oxycheq 40
Halcyon 40

I second what @Caveeagle said. I pull the neck seal and do the typical squat. I also will walk into the water and purge all the air again before I do the dive. (in case of boat dive, I open dump valve fully at surface). When I dove dry for the first time it took 42lbs for me to go under. Same setup, many many dives later... 20lbs. I had 22lbs of trapped air. Every little bit counts.

Just food for thought. I use a 40lb wing with double 100 Worthingtons. Single tank I dive a 40 lbs because that is what I have. But could easily get away with an 18 to 20lb wing.
 
Does anyone have a good suggestion for a doughnut style wing that has 40lb+ of lift that won’t taco to badly when using an STA?
Halcyon Eclipse. There are two of them in my household, one on a Traveler polymer plate, one on a standard steel plate with an STA. We have no issues with tacoing, even when using rather narrow 10L 300 bar steels.
 
While I appreciate the input I guess I wasn’t really clear. I’m not so much asking whether or not I’m over weighted, let’s assume I’m not. I have enough lift with just the wing to easily control trim and a slow accent or swim the rig up in case of emergency but not enough lift to sit high enough on the surface to be comfortable without relying on the dry suits added lift for an extended Period of time like I did on the last dive waiting for the boat. Generally relying on the dry suit for lift is bad practice.
Does anyone have a good suggestion for a doughnut style wing that has 40lb+ of lift that won’t taco to badly when using an STA?
I’m worried about the taco because most higher lift wings are wider for doubles
I believe what the other posters are trying to get at is that you are over weighted and possibly grosely. If your having trouble floating at the end of a dive with a 32lb wing something is definitely not right. You either have a bunch or trapped air in your suit or something else happening. There is no reason that you need a larger wing, you need to fix the problem not the result of the problem.
 

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