What wing is the best with Worthington HP 100's?

[WWS0311]

Hi. I have picked up a pair of Worthington steel HP 100's I need a wing with 40-60lb of lift. I will be diving wet so dual bladders will be necessary. Does anyone have any good recommendations on a bladder that will trim out well with this set of doubles? The shop I am affiliated with is an apeks dealer and they are trying to convince me to get the apeks 60 lb with the dual bladder. Does anyone have any advice about how this bladder would work with these cylinders? Or another bladder that would be good? I really just want something that would trim out nice. Thanks

 

[mkutyna]

DiveRiteExpress has the Dual Classic 360 wing on sale right now for $259. Dual bladders with 65 lbs of lift.

I can't say how well it works with those exact tanks but the wing is made for heavy doubles.

 

[halocline]

I would find someone very knowledgeable with tech diving, who is not trying to sell you anything. I think you're making assumptions about what you need that many people would contest. IOW, the dual bladder issue is controversial.

HP 100s are not that big. I know for a fact that my rec wing, which is one of the smaller doubles wings you can get, has WAY more lift than I would need for my steel 72s in a 5 mil suit. I'm sure it's enough for HP100s unless you're carrying all sorts of non-ditchable extra weight. I paid $159. Caveadventurers.com has some good deals going on now, as does dr express.

 

[cool_hardware52]

Hi. I have picked up a pair of Worthington steel HP 100's I need a wing with 40-60lb of lift. I will be diving wet so dual bladders will be necessary. Does anyone have any good recommendations on a bladder that will trim out well with this set of doubles? The shop I am affiliated with is an apeks dealer and they are trying to convince me to get the apeks 60 lb with the dual bladder. Does anyone have any advice about how this bladder would work with these cylinders? Or another bladder that would be good? I really just want something that would trim out nice. Thanks

40lbs. or 60lbs., which one and why?

Those are two very different applications.

I see many divers "rush" into doubles, and claim they "have to" dive wet. A very few might have a genuine requirement to dive wet, but most are doing so because they don't yet own a drysuit.

Almost without exception these new doubles divers find that the longer exposures possible with doubles makes their wetsuit inadequate. 90-120 minute dives are very different from 45 minute dives.

Having spent ~$300 more for a redundant (dual) bladder wing just means these divers are even further away from buying a drysuit.

Tobin

 

[skdvr]

40lbs. or 60lbs., which one and why?

Those are two very different applications.

I see many divers "rush" into doubles, and claim they "have to" dive wet. A very few might have a genuine requirement to dive wet, but most are doing so because they don't yet own a drysuit.

Almost without exception these new doubles divers find that the longer exposures possible with doubles makes their wetsuit inadequate. 90-120 minute dives are very different from 45 minute dives.

Having spent ~$300 more for a redundant (dual) bladder wing just means these divers are even further away from buying a drysuit.

Tobin

Good call Tobin...

I would say if you do not really "HAVE" to dive wet and are just doing it to save some money and not buy a drysuit, that you should break the doubles apart and dive them as singles until you save up your money and get a drysuit. Save the extra money from a double wing and buy a regular wing and a DS. You will be much happier in the end...

Phil

 

[Matthew Mandziuk]

If you're not diving dry, the 100's can be a heavy set of tanks. Depending on your body mass, you'll likely find you've got a ton of air in that wing which isn't what you want when venturing into technical diving. You want to be as balanced as possible and with little air in the wing at depth.

Get a good doubles wing, but do a single bladder and get a drysuit. A dual bladder wing is not needed and often a poor decision. If you dive a dual bladder wing, you'll likely have both inflator hoses hooked up. If you have a problem with an inflator malfunctioning or freezing up most people don't recognize it as quickly and you end up taking an elevator ride to the surface very quickly. This happened to a customer of mine once in Tobermory and he sold his off and bought a new wing from me.

If you're in the market for a good drysuit, pm me and we can talk suits and wings if you like.

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

the dual bladder thing is a common controversial issue that I know very little about. I was talked out of a dual bladder wing and am happy I don't have it.

if you look at the math involved it appears those HP100's are about 10lbs negative each so doubled up your looking at 20lbs or so negative if they are full. Plus the weight of the bands, a backplate, regs, light(s), and a reel you might be pushing 30lbs or so of negative ballast depending on what your rigs consists of exactly. if your diving wet chances are you wont need any extra lead which is nice (again a controversial subject) so getting a 40lb-45lb single bladder wing should be plenty to float your complete rig even you you add a stage or 2 deco bottles or something. Then with all that money your saving you can eventually buy a drysuit.

You didn't say what depths you dive or if your in a 3mm or 7mm or something else. these suits will play a big part in your decision.

 

[Jeff Toorish]

What kind of diving are you planning to do --knowing your objective might give us a better idea of what to advise you.

Jeff

 

[cool_hardware52]

If you're not diving dry, the 100's can be a heavy set of tanks.

100's are not particularly heavy, typically -2 lbs empty, and -10 full. 2 x 100 cuft of air or nitrox is 16 lbs regardless of the type of tank it's contained in.

Depending on your body mass, you'll likely find you've got a ton of air in that wing which isn't what you want when venturing into technical diving.

Body mass has no impact on required wing size. Personal buoyancy may impact the total ballast required, but personal buoyancy does not change with depth. Buoyancy Compensators are used to compensate for things that change in buoyancy, "body mass" is not one of them.

You want to be as balanced as possible and with little air in the wing at depth

With full tanks the wing will be inflated to offset the weight of the gas, with full double 100's that will be about 16 lbs.

Tobin

 

[halocline]

With full tanks the wing will be inflated to offset the weight of the gas, with full double 100's that will be about 16 lbs.

Tobin

Actually, I think it's the weight of the gas and any loss in buoyancy of a wetsuit. If you're wearing a suit that's 15 lbs buoyant at the surface and you descend to a point where it compresses and only displaces 5 lbs, you'll need an additional 10 lbs in your wing to stay neutral, assuming you're weighted for neutral buoyancy with an empty tank at the surface.


But, Tobin's point, I believe, was that you typically can be diving with substantial air in your wing at depth even when you're weighted correctly.