Jacket BC's don't have 6 lbs of hard edge stainless steel living next to the bladder.
Again as I have always said, always, the leading cause of wing damage is pinch flats, usually caused by the wing getting caught between the plate and some other hard surface during transport or storage. This is exactly why DSS wings are designed to be easily and quickly removed from the plate without tools or loose parts.
Lightweight plates are less of a risk to pinch flat wings, but most plates are stainless, and the ballast that stainless plates provide up over the divers lungs is one of the key benefits of a BP&W in many applications. The wing designer / manufacturer has zero control over what plate may ultimately be used with any given wing.
The simple fact of the matter remains that single layer wings have much higher warranty costs associated with them. Combine a lower price point product with higher warranty costs and it's just no worth it. If I could sell single bladder wings for *more* money than a dual layer wing it might make sense, but that's going to be a tough sell. This reality, realized by most (all?) wing makers remains regardless of whether or not you wish to believe it.
Of course what do I know I only design and sell them and have access to production and sales and warranty numbers for stainless plates vs light weight plates and dual layer wings vs single layer wings.
So it comes down to money and headaches with CS, I totally respect that decision.
Twice now you have attempted to put words in my mouth, Twice. First here where you attempted to portray me as seeing all buyers of donut wings as ignorant and misinformed, which I *never* did. I said many first time BP&W buyers repeated false marketing hype.
And now you are trying to claim that I find donut wings "Inferior" I've never said anything of the sort. Show me where I said donut wings were inferior? In fact I specifically stated that donut wings work fine.
You list all the down sides to donut wings but you still produce build them, If they have no upsides besides marketing hype why bother. With no upsides to the donut wing one would presume they are inferior, no? Which begs the question why do you build them and what benefits do they offer?
If you want to really learn all about how to build wings I'd suggest you invest the ~$200K needed in equipment, dies, materials and R&D, design and prototype 20 or 30 designs and sell a few thousand to real divers and deal with the CS issues for the next 5-10 years.
It's simply not possible to gain a complete understanding of wing design, manufacturing, and warranty service without having your hands and $$ in the project for years. It's naive to think you will become an expert by reading online forums.
I hope you really did not take my business proposal seriously. I was simply asking the pros and cons of different wing builds so I as well as other consumers can make a more educated derision when purchasing a product. The what I presumed to be a snide comment about having to spend around $200k and start my own business kind of threw me for a loop. I have no intent of starting a business, just becoming more educated.
If want you want is respect perhaps you should stop trying to put words in other peoples mouths. I've been more forthcoming than any other wing designer and manufacturer, and yet you seem bent trying to play "gottcha" I have zero respect for people that knowingly distort what I have said.
Have you noticed that very few other gear makers bother with SB, or only answer perfunctory questions specific to models they offer? Trust me, folks like you are a major reason why, makes me re-evaluate if I should bother, or just stay quite and let ignorance reign.
Tobin, no game of "gottcha" here you may have no respect for me and that if fine we live 3000K miles apart I don't think we will cross paths to soon ( except for on the internet). With that said I do own many of your product and respect the engineering that has gone in to them they they are well thought out and well made. It just seams that you talk down to people that do not share you views. One example id the amount of material in the Uwatec BT boot around the holes, many people have had an isue with the bungee tearing out of them and you just keep saying it is na user problem not a product problem. The new Pelagic compass boot has much more material in the problem area, why did you not make it the same as the Uwatec boot if there was nothing wrong with it. I have come to the resolve that Purchasing a $7 boot every year is ok with me for the ease in use the product offers.
Tobin
