The 'Psychology' of Wing Size

[Nettie-NZ]

I'm buying an Oxycheq 18# wing and ultralite backplate. It'll be used for travel for tropical diving.

I've never dived with anything with as little lift as this. Normally use a BC with around 30# lift which has served me well even diving in temperate conditions.

All the calcs tell me 18# is more than adequate. But I just have a nagging nervousness that it won't be enough. The logical part of my brain however knows that'll completely ok for diving in tropical water.

Just curious from my own reaction does anyone else have any stories about people using bcd's/ wings that are bigger than they need to - just because bigger is better?

 

[vinegarbiscuit]

Have faith in your maths. My husband and I both invested in the very same wing for warm-water diving, and absolutely adore it. Slim, low-profile, rugged, and gives us all the lift we need. Enjoy.

 

[KevinNM]

No. I got a 40 pound wing because the person selling it on eBay said it was a 30 and my instructor said it would be fine anyhow. If you can't come up with a way to need more lift than it provides than it's fine.

 

[northernone]

At first I carried a spare lift bag until I learned my experience matched my math.

The only situation I want extra lift is if I'm expecting to need to rescue a fellow driver with a catastrophically failed BCD and happens to be also badly overweighted with non dumpable weight... That is rare to the extreme so I'm happy with the right amount of lift.

Regards,
Cameron

 

[cool_hardware52]

I'm buying an Oxycheq 18# wing and ultralite backplate. It'll be used for travel for tropical diving.

I've never dived with anything with as little lift as this. Normally use a BC with around 30# lift which has served me well even diving in temperate conditions.

All the calcs tell me 18# is more than adequate. But I just have a nagging nervousness that it won't be enough. The logical part of my brain however knows that'll completely ok for diving in tropical water.

Just curious from my own reaction does anyone else have any stories about people using bcd's/ wings that are bigger than they need to - just because bigger is better?

Keep in mind that in the early days of scuba divers routinely used **Gasp** no bc *AT* *ALL*

Some choose to dive that way today. By comparison 18 lbs of lift is infinitely more than "0" lbs of lift.

Maybe that will ease your mind.

Tobin

 

[rhwestfall]

Last Sunday up here in the River (Upper Niagara), water temp was up to 73. Splashed with my first dive on the new Argonaut Dive 18# wing. Used a VDH "Vintage Plate" (small aluminum plate), and an LP 85, and of course my '67 PRAM. For thermal, I wore a 3mm shortie. AND NO WEIGHT!!!! Was a little nervous about the LP85 (the "heavy" XS ones), but turned out to be of no consequence.

It was so liberating!

 

[211ratsbud]

I've used a 18lb wing with little to no exposure suit for a couple years now. Totally sufficient. Also even with a 5mm, and l.p. 80. (No ballast needed I had enough wing to float on surface predive and have enough wing at 110'. I'm not taking a single 80 further than that

 

[george_austin]

I dive any conditions and anywhere in the world with my Oxy18. From California to the Caribbean. Just get your weighting correct and the point is always - your primary lift bag is your lungs, not the BCD if your weighting is correct and not a single pound over.
This is assuming single tank sport diving and not carrying a ton of negatively buoyant, "accessories that I likely will never need on this dive"
The BCD is for emergency surface floatation as most of my diving is in a plastic Trident pack with harness and +8 lb steel tank like a Faber HP80 or the +10 lb HP100 - where the BCD is entirely optional depending on the dive profile.

 

[2airishuman]

All the calcs tell me 18# is more than adequate. But I just have a nagging nervousness that it won't be enough. The logical part of my brain however knows that'll completely ok for diving in tropical water.

I have 17, 30, and 55 pound wings.

The only real advantage of the 17 over the 30 is that it packs a little smaller into a carry on. Yes, 17 pounds is enough lift in most situations if you're properly weighted. It's not the end of the world to be short a few pounds of buoyancy because you can swim it up. How much you can swim up is a good experiment to run but it's pretty easy to swim up when you're 10 pounds negative.

I use my 17 with a 3mm two piece and an HP120 when diving with my oldest daughter (who then uses my 30 pound wing) and it works but I have to get the weighting dialed in perfectly, 9 pound swing on the cylinders for air and maybe 4 on the wet suit. Not much margin, and not how I prefer to dive.

 

[DogDiver]

Keep in mind that in the early days of scuba divers routinely used **Gasp** no bc *AT* *ALL*

Some choose to dive that way today. By comparison 18 lbs of lift is infinitely more than "0" lbs of lift.

Maybe that will ease your mind.

Tobin

My very first tank. Bought it new in 1966 for $99 dollars and that included a regulator.