Transpac what wing?

[clofty]

Just OW certified with only 17 dives but getting nitrox and then hopefully cavern certified (time permitting) by end of 09 summer.

I am 135lbs female and have just had bouyancy issues with a rental transpac with trek wing in freshwater 68F at shallow (30') with 20lbs of weight and single tank and I get cold, so I had a shorty 2mm under a 6mm full wetsuit. Couldn't dump air quickly enough and flow from spring very strong so I started ascending a bit too rapidly lucky for a rock I could grab onto. (Yes inexperience is definitely showing here). On second dive I dumped at 40' before attemping to ascend but my buddy had to pysically make sure all the air was out of my wing!)

We are hoping to dive cavern and saltwater (where there won't be any rocks to hang onto at 30' and with an almost empty tank ascending after a dive, I'll have to make sure my buddy has me by the legs (at St. Martin with a BCD my DM had to give me extra weight!)

We will be diving cold and warm and maybe ????? sidemounting (but will not be getting drysuits) and maybe dual tanks in Northern Florida and Gulf. We are returning to Australia next year where we will dive wetsuits both cold Sydney and warm saltwater (barrier reef).

Do you think there is any one wing that is up to this task and for me?

My DH is looking at transpac with ?wings and dive rite regs for us very soon as we are tired of renting all gear.

 

[RJP]

Transpac what wing?

Asking that question is like asking "How long is a piece of string?"

The answer of course is "It depends!"

The long and short of it is that there's probably not ONE wing you can get that will handle all environments, configurations, and certainly not singles AND doubles well.

 

[Dive Rite]

Hey Clofty,

Congrats on your certification and your gusto. I tried to get Cavern certified after only 16 OW dives and, well, it was an "event." Suffice to say, I had to go back to the pool and get more experience, but then I got both my Cavern and Intro to Cave diving a single alum 80. Later I did my full cave. Your post brings back memories of my own excitement learning to dive!

I recommend a Travel EXP wing and a TransPac for your open water, single tank diving. The Travel wing will handle aluminum 80's up to steel 95's. It offers great trim under water and is easy to dive. You'll want to start thinking about peeling off weight. Because you are a new diver, you are overweighting yourself (as we all do) until you learn to relax more and breathe deeply underwater. Your weight and exposure protection indicate you'll probably come down to about 12lbs. In a 3mm, I would see you in 6-8lbs eventually.

As for twin tank diving, I recommend the new Rec EXP wing. I like its shorter profile, which is good for short to average height women. The donut style makes dumping air on both of these wings (Travel and Rec) easier.

The Trek Wing is a tricky wing to dive for a new diver, typically. It is really designed for doubles so you have to play with the gusset control to get good buoyancy with a single tank and even then, it's hit or miss.

I would go with a wing designed for the style of diving you will be doing and make sure this experience is fund. I would not recommend diving the Rec wing with a single tank, especially at this early stage of your diving career.

Good luck and let me know if I can answer more questions.

Kathleen

 

[vshearer]

You need two wings if you want to dive doubles and a single. I have an older Golem that has the ridges built in for a single, but check out this site.

EXP Wings by Dive Rite - Dive Gear Express

 

[fnfalman]

I like the shape of the Venture wing better and currently Extreme Scuba in Ventura, California has a great deal on the older style Venture wing that has only 30-lbs of lift. I scored me one of these wings and I loved it after just four dives with this new versus the regular 45-lbs Venture wing that I usually dive with.

http://www.xtremescuba.com

And to reiterate what others said, get a double-tank wing for double-tank rig and single-tank wing for single-tank rig.

PS Red is the fastest.

 

[RJP]

PS Red is the fastest.

But everyone knows that BLACK provides better buoyancy and trim.

 

[clofty]

After reading more info today, realised yes, need more equip. Have to make the budget bigger! Since there are two of us to get equip for and I am holding my kids back who are chomping at the bit! Years ago I thought horse riding was expensive, now my DH is getting his fun with diving, so after all the money we put into horses I know we can sink a bit more for diving!

And yes, the Trek was a challenge but I kept smiling. It wasn't as much of a challenge as the stupid rear inflation bcd I hired the day before and not enough weight, so I was a bouy on Panama City Beach for a while until my DH scabbed some more weights!

It must bring back memories to DH when he looks at me when I get in a pickle now. I wish though I had seen him fall off a horse and land on his feet while he was secretly learning to ride for me!

Thanks guys I am still researching and learning a lot and reading a lot.

I'm even tossing up going straight for BP/W with steel plate, so I'm thinking of trying one out if one can do so. Now I know wing for single and wing for double! No choice. Hey no worries, more gear to buy, more reason to dive!

 

[clofty]

PS. My choice would be red, so I can find myself!

 

[fnfalman]

I'm even tossing up going straight for BP/W with steel plate, so I'm thinking of trying one out if one can do so. Now I know wing for single and wing for double! No choice. Hey no worries, more gear to buy, more reason to dive!

I have both the Transpac and Transplate (SS hard plate). I've been using the Transplate a lot more lately because of its weight coupled with the type of tanks that I use and the SMP (Single tank Mounting Plate --aka STA - Single Tank Adaptor) all combined to make it about perfect for my dive weight. So I just grab the tanks & the plate and go. But if I were to go somewhere like, say, freshwater diving where my dive weight is different, I'd take the Transpac with the weight pouches.

PS. My choice would be red, so I can find myself!

You may have to hunt online for leftover stock because the current wings from Dive Rite are all black.

 

[chicken197]

Try Scuba Toys or cave Adventures for the closeout wings. I picked up a Venture 360 and Classic 360 for $160 each shipped. I have been very happy with the wings on my transpac. I do prefer my OMS backplate for the doubles but for a single tank the Transpac is perfect.