Time for own gear, critique my wish list

[Jeepguy099]

I appreciate that all of you are suggesting buying used gear and gear from other companies. But keep in mind that I am employed by a shop and receive discounts on gear... I'm not too concerned about price in this respect.

I have decided to go with Apeks regs, im gonna look into prices and have some debate at work before finalizin my decision.

When it comes to wings we carry zeagle, oms, dive rite and apeks. The instructors seem to like apeks but im afraid their wings aren't durable enough. I also wasn't a fan of the zeagle wings. I would go with DR but they don't have a 30-40lb wing right now and I don't think the 27lb 360 is enough lift. on the other hand the OMS bladder im considering is only 32 lbs.

What's that? Can you explain more? .. :cool2:

Also a little curious about the new webbing.

 

[djcheburashka]

Sure

Webbing is a balance between competing goals. You want it to be strong, and abrasion resistant, but also resistant to UV and chemistry and not change size in water, and dry quickly. You want it to stick out from the plate so its easy to get into, and for d-rings etc to stay in place. But you don't want it to be so stiff you can't readjust for different exposure suits, and you want it to be comfortable.

And frankly, I at least also want it to look cool.

Polypropylene is has better chemical and UV resistance, its available in (gasp) more colors than black, and it doesn't expand when wet.

Nylon is more abrasion resistant, but it expands in water and is more sensitive to chemical and UV.

Many people seem to believe that nylon is stiffer and stronger, but that isn't really the case. The strength and stiffness both depend on the weave.

The hogarthian community largely prefers nylon, as far as I can tell for the sole reason that its readily available with strong, stiff weaves that are resin-reinforced for even more stiffness, so it sticks out from the plate and is therefore easier to get your arms through.

What I am doing is starting with this very thick, 4000 lb test high-tenacity polypro: High Tenacity Polypropylene 2 Inch It is a soft webbing, so on the parts that I want to grip (d-rings, etc.) I partially soaked it in flexible PVC glue, modifying a method someone posted in this forum a while back.

Then, I wrapped the part of the webbing between the two chest d-rings (through the shoulder slots) inside of this tubular nylon webbing: Tubular Nylon Webbing 2". The tubular is what rock climbers use. its strong stuff. The purpose, though, is really to add abrasion resistance on the load-bearing shoulder slots. Once I did that, I found out that if I soaked the outer portion of the tubular webbing in the PVC it gets nice and stiff and sticks out from the plate so the harness is easy to get into -- but the inside is not soaked, so its still soft and smooth and comfy when I dive in warm water with skin or a thin suit. Also, it gives you a lot more color options

What I've been trying to do for a while, but have not been able to locate for a reasonable price is a strong webbing that has reflective tracers. I've found bungie with that feature but no webbing on the market -- yet. Some folks are willing to do it custom, but only in lots of 250yds or more, which gets pricey.

If you PM me your e-mail address, I'll link you to the facebook album where I put pix up of the webbing experimentation.

As for wings... The zeagle designs are pretty old, and there are much better out now. Of the ones you mention, I'd go with the DR. 27 lbs should be enough for singles, but check the bouyancy discussion in the Deep Sea Supply forum. You'll want at least 45, and probably more, for doubles, I think.

 

[StreetDoctor]

Before you buy used on reg's, do your homework. Apex and Aqualung regs come with lifetime service parts for the original owner (when purchased from an authorized distributor). You only have to pay for the labor. Over several years this cost savings can add up substantially.

If you do your homework you'll also learn that the majority of reg failures occur directly after service. I don't trust any of the monkeys at the dive shop to work on ANY of my gear. If I can't service it myself I enlist the help of trusted dive buddies that can. 2 of the 4 regs I own I've purchased used. Of course I had them looked over by my buddy before diving and both were in great shape. I saved a great deal of money this way. All that "life support" talk is a bunch of hype the dive shop spews to get you to buy new from them. In the not so distant future I'll be learning to service my own regs.

 

[StreetDoctor]

I appreciate that all of you are suggesting buying used gear and gear from other companies. But keep in mind that I am employed by a shop and receive discounts on gear... I'm not too concerned about price in this respect.

I have decided to go with Apeks regs, im gonna look into prices and have some debate at work before finalizin my decision.

When it comes to wings we carry zeagle, oms, dive rite and apeks. The instructors seem to like apeks but im afraid their wings aren't durable enough. I also wasn't a fan of the zeagle wings. I would go with DR but they don't have a 30-40lb wing right now and I don't think the 27lb 360 is enough lift. on the other hand the OMS bladder im considering is only 32 lbs.

Also a little curious about the new webbing.

Why do you feel the 27 isnt enough lift? My single tank setup is a deep sea supply 26lb donut wing and it works perfectly. Do you dive in a wetsuit or drysuit?

Also to the above poster giving advice about wing size, if you aren't sure please don't speculate. My doubles wings are 38, and 57 depending on which tanks I'm diving.

As for webbing, nylon works fine. If it gets worn out and old replace it for $5. Dipping it in glue, bla bla bla sounds awful time consuming and I bet more expensive than just buying a new 6' piece of webbing. FWIW I have 150 dives on my webbing and it still looks brand new... salt, sun, and all.

 

[Jeepguy099]

Why do you feel the 27 isnt enough lift? My single tank setup is a deep sea supply 26lb donut wing and it works perfectly. Do you dive in a wetsuit or drysuit?

Also to the above poster giving advice about wing size, if you aren't sure please don't speculate. My doubles wings are 38, and 57 depending on which tanks I'm diving.

As for webbing, nylon works fine. If it gets worn out and old replace it for $5. Dipping it in glue, bla bla bla sounds awful time consuming and I bet more expensive than just buying a new 6' piece of webbing. FWIW I have 150 dives on my webbing and it still looks brand new... salt, sun, and all.

The reason i thought the 27 wouldn't be enough is I had 26 lbs. on me in my OW class... I guess if you consider inherent bouyancy of a jacket bc and the fact that I am most likely overweighted... 27 lbs. is probably plenty.

I do know that in freshwater I am very slightly overweight at 16 lbs. with 500 psi on a steel 95 at safety stop if it means anything.

I plan to switch to drysuit by the end of this year.

Good point about the webbing. However, if price isn't an issue I would buy the longer lasting webbing.

 

[halocline]

The 27 lb dive rite travel EXP wing is plenty of lift for practically all single tank divers, maybe except very large divers diving thick wetsuits in very cold water with a big, heavy tank.

All you need lift for (theoretically, if you are weighted perfectly) is the weight of the gas in your tank plus the total buoyancy of your exposure suit. A huge tank might have 8 lbs of air, and an extremely thick buoyant wetsuit might have 20lbs+ of buoyancy. The wing also needs to be able to float the rig without you in it, so a very heavy tank plus steel plate and lots of extra gear might sink a small wing.

 

[StreetDoctor]

a steel tank and 27lbs of lead :shocked2:

Edit:
I forget people aren't all diving backplates.. let me do some math

 

[StreetDoctor]

Assuming you're diving a PST 95 and a 7mm wetsuit...

Negatives:
full PST95 -10 / empty PST95 -3
Reg -2

Positives:
7mm wetsuit +15
jacket BCD +3
salt water +4

So you'll need to wear 17lbs (22-5) of lead in order to maintain a safety stop with minimum gas. At the beginning of the dive with a full tank you'll be 24lbs negative with the weight of your lead and gas. I think a 27lb wing would work perfectly in this instance. You really need to find out how buoyant your BCD is and exposure suit. Switch to a SS backplate and you'll be able to take 6lbs of lead off that belt too.

A lot of people will tell you that they like "a little extra lift" which is ridiculous and unnecessary.

 

[Jeepguy099]

Be nice to lose 3 extra bouyant pounds as well by switching to backplate... I'd like to get down to 18-20 pounds of lead in salt water.

 

[djcheburashka]

As for webbing, nylon works fine. If it gets worn out and old replace it for $5. Dipping it in glue, bla bla bla sounds awful time consuming and I bet more expensive than just buying a new 6' piece of webbing. FWIW I have 150 dives on my webbing and it still looks brand new... salt, sun, and all.

That's no fun. I agree with you re: dive shop regulator service by the way. If there were an easier way to get spare parts...