wing advice needed

[brdeano]

Before anyone tells me to do a search, I have, and still have a few questions. I am a new diver with 25 dives or so. I dive almost exclusively in michigan. 5mm wetsuit, no drysuit. My question is , I am purchasing a bp and wing from northeast scuba. He sells dive rite ss plate and 1 piece hog harness and either a d.r. venture wing or a trek wing. The total price for the package is $330.I will use this as a dedicated single tank rig. I will get a wing for doubles later on when i need it. I thought the venture wing would suit this purpose. After talking to him on the phone he thinks I should go with the trek wing for the extra lift. He also said if I was unhappy with either I could exchange for the other. I think it is a great deal. I already have an al. bp and harness, but for the price I will get a ss plate also. I do not plan on using an STA. Thanks in advance for any opinions.

 

[The Kraken]

I dive a 6.5 farmer john/jacket with stainless steel B/P and the "Venture" wing.
Works great for me.

 

[Hyper-limits]

I don't own one myself but a couple of friends use the trekWing for single tank and Double tank diving (medium size doubles). They both love the they trekwings and swear by it.
So if you ever move to "tech diving" your trekwing should work pretty good depending on the size of doubles you buy.

 

[cool_hardware52]

Before anyone tells me to do a search, I have, and still have a few questions. I am a new diver with 25 dives or so. I dive almost exclusively in michigan. 5mm wetsuit, no drysuit. My question is , I am purchasing a bp and wing from northeast scuba. He sells dive rite ss plate and 1 piece hog harness and either a d.r. venture wing or a trek wing. The total price for the package is $330.I will use this as a dedicated single tank rig. I will get a wing for doubles later on when i need it. I thought the venture wing would suit this purpose. After talking to him on the phone he thinks I should go with the trek wing for the extra lift. He also said if I was unhappy with either I could exchange for the other. I think it is a great deal. I already have an al. bp and harness, but for the price I will get a ss plate also. I do not plan on using an STA. Thanks in advance for any opinions.

BR,

Wing lift is all about your exposure suit. Your wet suit is pretty much the only thing that will loose buoyancy as you descend.

Assuming that you are properly weighted, i.e. eye level at the surface with no air in your wing, the most you can loose is about 20lbs.

Don't believe me? Take your 5 mil wetsuit and roll it up and throw it in the water, hang lead on it 'till it sinks, my guess is ~20-22lbs unless you are hugh. This is the MAX you can loose, and that requires you go to about 165 feet! That's no where to be with a single tank. Above 165 your suit will be at least somewhat buoyant, reducing the ~20lbs required lift.

I'd ask your seller to explain why he thinks you need more lift.


Regards,


Tobin

 

[redacted]

My 5mm Goldcore XXL jumpsuit has about 15 lb inherent bouyancy. I use a BP with the DR travel wing (same bouyancy as the venture wing) and have have plent of bouyancy for dives to 100 fsw.

 

[SouthernSCUBA]

Before anyone tells me to do a search, I have, and still have a few questions. I am a new diver with 25 dives or so. I dive almost exclusively in michigan. 5mm wetsuit, no drysuit. My question is , I am purchasing a bp and wing from northeast scuba. He sells dive rite ss plate and 1 piece hog harness and either a d.r. venture wing or a trek wing. The total price for the package is $330.I will use this as a dedicated single tank rig. I will get a wing for doubles later on when i need it. I thought the venture wing would suit this purpose. After talking to him on the phone he thinks I should go with the trek wing for the extra lift. He also said if I was unhappy with either I could exchange for the other. I think it is a great deal. I already have an al. bp and harness, but for the price I will get a ss plate also. I do not plan on using an STA. Thanks in advance for any opinions.

I own Venture, Travel and Trek wings all from DR. The Trek wing will do doubles and has more lift which I often appreciate. Sometimes I will dive a little negative when DMing, spearfishing, working under my boat, etc. I also sometimes recover lighter items without my lift bag (shouldn't really do that). The extra buoyancy is nice at the surface in rough water or when supporting another diver.

The down side of the Trek is that it traps air. It is U shaped the other two are O shaped. It only has a bottom dump valve on one side so you have to get vertical or roll all the air to the left side to dump it completley. Not a big deal just something to know and get used to. I also notice when I see pictures and video of myself underwater the air in the treck wings is always on one side or the other. Not really a problem, it never seems to roll me even when diving heavy. Final observation, the little plastic slides that DR put on the bungee on my Treck rusted out... the springs were not good enough, I replaced them with SS springs and have not had any more problems.

I like both the Venture and Travel wings for diving tropical, both are lower profile than the Treck when deflated. I would rather put Venture and Travel wings on new divers, you can overinflate the Trec and it pitches you forward a bit more which new divers sometimes struggle with.

 

[Tanked Monkey]

Before anyone tells me to do a search, I have, and still have a few questions. I am a new diver with 25 dives or so. I dive almost exclusively in michigan. 5mm wetsuit, no drysuit. My question is , I am purchasing a bp and wing from northeast scuba. He sells dive rite ss plate and 1 piece hog harness and either a d.r. venture wing or a trek wing. The total price for the package is $330.I will use this as a dedicated single tank rig. I will get a wing for doubles later on when i need it. I thought the venture wing would suit this purpose. After talking to him on the phone he thinks I should go with the trek wing for the extra lift. He also said if I was unhappy with either I could exchange for the other. I think it is a great deal. I already have an al. bp and harness, but for the price I will get a ss plate also. I do not plan on using an STA. Thanks in advance for any opinions.

I don't think you need the extra bouyancy of a bigger wing. It is bulky and with a single tank will create a taco effect. A wing with 25-35 lbs of bouyancy is perfect for single's wetsuit diving. You're definitely on the right track by wanting separate wings for single and double diving. If you don't need that excess bouyancy, don't take it with you on a dive.
Here in VA, I dive in a full 7mm, hood, and gloves. I use a SS BP (by DR) and an OMS wing (35lbs). That's more than enough for me, and a 7mm is more bouyant than a 5mm.

Mike