Which wing?

[JCDdiver]

After months of thought on which BC to go with I have finally decided to go the BP/W route and was wondering what size wing to go with. I am going to go with the DR SS BP and normally dive AL80s in fresh water in a 3/2 but will also be diving in Fla. and the Caribbean. The other thing is at some point in the future I will also probably double two of the 80s up or possibly buy some steel 100s to get longer BTs so I assume I will need another wing for those? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[hunter991]

You will probably need two seperate wings as having a dual purpose wing is a pretty big compromise all the way around. For singles you will probably be really happy with venture wings. Great small wing that will do a single tank very well.

Brent

 

[cool_hardware52]

After months of thought on which BC to go with I have finally decided to go the BP/W route and was wondering what size wing to go with. I am going to go with the DR SS BP and normally dive AL80s in fresh water in a 3/2 but will also be diving in Fla. and the Caribbean. The other thing is at some point in the future I will also probably double two of the 80s up or possibly buy some steel 100s to get longer BTs so I assume I will need another wing for those? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

There has been reams (or the internet equal) written on this very subject, but I'll give you the "Reader's Digest" version.

Any BC needs to do two things; float your rig at the surface without you in it, and compensate for the change in buoyancy of your exposure suit, in this case the compression of your wetsuit. Whichever of these two requirements is larger dictates the minimum wing lift required.

Add up the negative buoyancy of the components of your rig, i.e. full tank, backplate, reg(s) can light, reel etc.

Take your wetsuit, roll it up and throw it in the pool, add lead until it just sinks. Weigh the bag o lead. That represents the max buoyancy your suit can loose, that also just happens to be the max that needs to be Compensated for by a Buoyancy Compensator.

I would recommend a singles wings for single tanks, and doubles wing for doubles.


Tobin

 

[terrasmak]

With support like Tobin said above my only suggestion is read up a bit more , do what Tobin says about finding the lift you need and then order you system thru him. You just can't beat customer support like he has to offer. I wish i knew before i bought my gear, but i did have a very knowledgable LDS help me out for my doubles setup.

 

[wunat]

You will probably need two seperate wings as having a dual purpose wing is a pretty big compromise all the way around.

Can't agree more. Get the right tool for the right job.

As others suggested, take some time and do some research.

 

[JCDdiver]

Add up the negative buoyancy of the components of your rig, i.e. full tank, backplate, reg(s) can light, reel etc.

Tobin

Do you just weight the gear on a scale and add up all the weight?

 

[TSandM]

No, because weight and negative buoyancy are two different things. My tanks, for example, weight over 30 lbs, but they're only about 7 pounds negative when full, and neutral when empty.

You can look up buoyancy figures on tanks. Things like backplates are dense enough that their buoyancy and weight are, within the accuracy we're talking about, the same. Figures are also available for most things like can lights.

Or you can get a fish scale and hang your gear from it and immerse the gear in the water. The reading on the fish scale is your negative buoyancy.

 

[MSilvia]

pm sent

 

[JCDdiver]

Thanks!

 

[JCDdiver]

It seems my mind has been made up for me. Under the tree this morning was a brand new DR RecWing.

Merry Christmas!