Selecting a wing, where to start?

[elan]

I'm starting to look for a wing for a single tank to replace my Mares Icon BC. what points should I be looking for selecting the wing. There are few makes, some different types , doughnut, horseshoe, with cords, w/o cords etc. What are the general considerations that you could recommend while selecting the wing. This is mostly for rec. diving. Appearance wise I like OMs's wings , but I'm mostly interested in good functionality and simplicity rather than pretty looks. Thanks a lot.

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

Do you know what buoyancy requirements you have? I would suggest you call DSS cause I'm sure Tobin can help you pick something out.

 

[Jorgy]

There are lots of choices and opinions on this topic......

These links might help get you started..........

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/hogarthian-diving/282446-bp-wings.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/buoyancy-compensators-bcs-weight-systems/282669-wing.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bu...-weight-systems/282069-30-40-mach-v-wing.html

I put all my ballast on the BP/W so I need more lift capacity than someone who puts some weight on a belt and some on the BP/W.........

Hope this helps..............M

 

[RJP]

What kind of diving? Water temp? Exposure protection? Tank size and material? What about the rest of your rig?

 

[TSandM]

The first thing to do is to decide what size wing you need. Do a search on cool hardware-52's posts -- Tobin has written many times about how to determine the needed lift. It's mostly dependent on your exposure protection, so people diving in warm water need smaller wings than people diving in very cold water. You might think that bigger is better, but it isn't so -- A wing which is too big will wrap, or "taco" around the tank, and with the air at the top of the arcs of the taco, it's hard to vent. OMS tries to solve that problem with the bungies, but it's a problem that doesn't need to be solved at all if the wing is the proper size.

I think the next decision to make is whether you are going to use an STA or not. If you aren't familiar with the term, an STA is a "single tank adapter", and is a device through which you thread cambands, that then bolts to your plate the way double tanks do. There are advantages and disadvantages to using an STA. They put the tank further away from your back, making reaching the valve more difficult and adding a little bit to your potential side-to-side instability. They are another piece of gear to buy or build, and to remember (and if there is one thing I've learned in four years of constant diving, it's that anything you CAN forget, you eventually will . . . ) BUT they also make switching between singles and doubles easier, because you don't have to pull the cambands off the plate, and then rethread them when you go back to a single tank. If you aren't diving doubles, the only advantage to an STA is the ability to add weight with one, and Tobin solves that problem in a more elegant way with his weight plates.

If you don't have a need for an STA and don't want to use one, you need to buy a wing that is built to stabilize the tank. I know DSS has such wings, and I believe Oxycheq does; Halcyon at least used to -- I don't know the Halcyon line very well, because they tend to be significantly more expensive than other, equally good options.

Wing shape (doughnut versus horseshoe) I think is mostly a personal preference. It's a little more critical with doubles, where the ability to park some air where you want it can be an important part of being able to trim out a given set of tanks. Although the idea of equalizing gas from one side of the wing to the other through either the top arc or a bottom connection is an attractive one in theory, in practice, I don't think it really makes a difference.

There are other, minor differences in wings, like the nature of the covering material, whether the bladder is user-accessible or not, the length of the inflator hose, the pull string on the rear dump, etc. It helps to be able to see products from a variety of manufacturers, but if you don't live where a lot of people dive backplates, that can be hard to do.

For me, DSS is the company to recommend, because of its customer service. I had a friend call Tobin to order a wing, and he wouldn't sell her one. That is, he wouldn't sell it to her until she came back with the information he needed to make sure she was buying the wing that would suit HER and work best for HER. THAT's customer service. (I've also been very happy with the DSS wings my husband and I own, in terms of quality and durability, but it's the customer service that won me.)

 

[elan]

Thanks a lot guys those are all good points to start with.

Some additional info. with this I'm planning to do mostly 0-130 ft depth, single tank, doubles are possible later (a good point with STA). I dive mostly Ontario now but surrounding states and provinces are possible. I dive dry, HP100 tank and 30cuf bottle.
I was doing my calculations and just for the diving (to compensate the air lose) 10lb is max I need
For the case of emergency if I need the lift to compensate the the rig on the surface 20-25 lb if the dry suit fails another 8-10 lb before dumping the weights. So I think 30-40 I believe is the way to go. My current wing on the back of my mares icon has I think 35lb capacity.

 

[elan]

Lynne, did I get it right that with an STA one will use the holes in the STA for the single tank belts instead of the holes in the plate itself and the wing goes in between the STA and the plate ? , If I got that right yes it looks like that makes switching the tanks easier.

 

[elan]

Read the links suggested, Looks like 30-35 at most would be what people use for single tank. Looks good to me.

 

[cool_hardware52]

Lynne, did I get it right that with an STA one will use the holes in the STA for the single tank belts instead of the holes in the plate itself and the wing goes in between the STA and the plate ? , If I got that right yes it looks like that makes switching the tanks easier.

The first BP&W's were intended for mounting doubles only, and both the wings and plates lacked camband slots. Doubles mount via a pair of bolts 11 apart. These early plates and wings had grommet holes at 11 centers.

A "STA" is just that, an adapter. It is strapped to a single cylinder with two cambands and it has bolts sticking out at 11" centers.

This allowed a single tank to be adapted to a BP&W designed for use only with doubles.

Changing cylinders still requires removing two cambands when using either a STA, or when using a "Direct Mount" system that has camband slots in both plate and wing.

The difference is when switching from single tanks to doubles. A STA unbolts from the plate and the doubles bolt right up.

If you are "Direct Mounting" a single cylinder it will be necessary to remove the cambands from the Backplate.

This fact is often cited as the reason to use a STA. As a practical matter very few divers routinely switch their plate from singles to doubles.

Diving doubles of course requires a set of double tanks, but it also require your regs to be configured differently, and a different wing, and maybe a different exposure suit (longer runtimes) and maybe different weighting etc.

The idea that one will routinely dive singles in the morning and doubles in the afternoon just doesn't happen very often, as hauling all the extra gear along is usually impractical.

The transition to doubles is not inexpensive; a couple sets of tanks @ $600-800 each, and a "few" more regs, and a drysuit, and deco bottles and training etc. can easily add up to $5-$10K. Most divers that make the transistion either dive doubles exclusively, or they keep another plate and harness and wing around for singles.

It is certainly possible to use the same plate for singles and doubles, even when direct mounting, it's just a bit more work to swap.

Tobin

 

[elan]

Tobin thanks for your comments, I checked the wings on the DSS website and it looks attractive, as simple as it gets and a good, wide range, precise selection of lifting capacity. I will be playing more with my setup to feel what capacity would be the best and later this year will definitely give you a call.