wing bladder material?

[Doc Harry]

I notice that most wings contain a bladder that is make of urethane or vinyl (DSS, OMS, etc.)

Does anyone make a wing with a bladder made of a more robust material?

 

[cool_hardware52]

I notice that most wings contain a bladder that is make of urethane or vinyl (DSS, OMS, etc.)

Does anyone make a wing with a bladder made of a more robust material?

I know of no wings that use vinyl. The plasticizers in vinyl dry out and the material becomes brittle, think old beach ball.

AFAIK, all wing use polyurethane film in some form. Urethanes are very good in retaining their properties over time, and can be joined by RF welding.

Most common is a 12 mil straight urethane film. Less common are heavier gauge straight urethane films, 22-25 mil are the two I'm aware of.

Some wings also use a fabric laminated to a urethane film. Cordura nylons with varying weights of urethane are used.

We make bladders fusing all three materials, 12 mil and 22 mil straight polyurethane films and 1000 denier cordura with a laminated polyurethane film.

Each approach has pros and cons.

The lighter polyurethane films are very supple, light weight and in most applications sufficiently durable if the wing is used with appropriate care.

The heavier urethane films are more expensive, and significantly heavier. They do offer a measure of additional resistance to impact damage.

The laminated materials are a bit more expensive, a bit heavier still than the 22 mil films, and do not stretch. This can lead to a "noisy" because the inner bladder has "puckers". The laminates are again a bit more resistant to impact damage.

It is important to understand what causes wings to fail. Almost never does a wing fail because the outer shell is cut or penetrated by a sharp object. Ballistic Nylons are quite good at preventing this.

What causes most bladder damage is "Pinch flatting" This is the same mechanism that will cause a bike inner tube to fail from impact, like hitting a curb. No sharp object cut or penetrated the tire casing, but the tube has a pair of holes in it. The inner tube was caught between the inside of the tire casing and the rim of the wheel. This type of damage often leaves no visible marks on the tire casing. The same holds true for wings, pinch flatted bladders usually occur with no visible mark on the outer shell.

Best results will be obtained by being careful with your wing. DSS wings are designed to be easily separable from the back plate. Keeping the wing away from the backplate for transport or storage or cleanup reduces the chances that a heavy SS backplate will be dropped edgewise on the lower corner of the wing.

My wings travel with my gauges and mask, my plate travels with my fins and weight belt.

Tobin