Wing Choice

[badmrchris]

So instead of waiting for the Sherwood/Harsco monstrosity to return my BC, I’ve decided to buy another one. After researching, I want to try a BP/W setup. I like the Hammerhead SS plate and harness, but not sure about which wing to buy. Any recommendations would be welcome. Here are my considerations…

1.I dive Southern California, which means 7 ml full suit, gloves, booties and occasionally a hood. Perhaps a dry suit in the near future.

2.Only single tank diving now-doubles are down the road and when I cross that bridge I’ll buy another wing.

3.Predominately using AL 80’s, although I do own a LP 108 and a LP 120 for Nitrox.

4.I’m 6’ 250 and dive with ~28 lbs of lead normally. 5 lbs of lead on my tank and ~22 lbs on the BC.

5.The most equipment I’ll have (aside from #1 and basics) is a canister light and a few lobsters or spear gun and a couple fish, and of course weight pouches and pockets as necessary. I assume a 30lb wing will suffice?

6.Price of course. I don’t want to spend an arm and a leg, but I’m not afraid to drop coin it I deem it worthwhile.

…thanks all…

 

[cool_hardware52]

So instead of waiting for the Sherwood/Harsco monstrosity to return my BC, I’ve decided to buy another one. After researching, I want to try a BP/W setup. I like the Hammerhead SS plate and harness, but not sure about which wing to buy. Any recommendations would be welcome. Here are my considerations…

1.I dive Southern California, which means 7 ml full suit, gloves, booties and occasionally a hood. Perhaps a dry suit in the near future.

2.Only single tank diving now-doubles are down the road and when I cross that bridge I’ll buy another wing.

3.Predominately using AL 80’s, although I do own a LP 108 and a LP 120 for Nitrox.

4.I’m 6’ 250 and dive with ~28 lbs of lead normally. 5 lbs of lead on my tank and ~22 lbs on the BC.

5.The most equipment I’ll have (aside from #1 and basics) is a canister light and a few lobsters or spear gun and a couple fish, and of course weight pouches and pockets as necessary. I assume a 30lb wing will suffice?

6.Price of course. I don’t want to spend an arm and a leg, but I’m not afraid to drop coin it I deem it worthwhile.

…thanks all…

Chris,

A wing or BC needs to be able to do two things; float your rig at the surface without you in it, and compensate for the compression of a wetsuit, or flood of a DS.

You can estimate the weight of your rig. Add up the buoyancy of a full cylinder + Plate, harness, regs, can light and any other ballast you might attach. Use the heaviest tank you might mount.

For a wetsuit just roll it up and throw it in the pool, add lead until it's neutral. The weight required to sink your wetsiut is the max buoyancy your suit can loose due to compression.

Which ever is greater, i.e. the in water weight of the rig, or the buoyancy loss of your suit, determines the minimum lift you need.


Tobin

 

[double80s]

Hi Chris,

We are close to the same size, my primary backplate is a Hammerhead and I use an Oxycheq 30# Razor for my wing (80's, 95, 100, etc). The Agir 36# is also a very nice wing. I have one you could look at, but don't have a demo.

If you feel like making the drive up to the Redondo Beach area, I would be happy to let you try the wing out. I dive almost every Wednesday evening at Veterans Park and other local spots on the weekend. Sunday, there will be a large gathering of divers at Old Marineland (Longpoint, Palos Verdes) taking part in the Great American Fish Count (8am). Think about coming up. Everyone will be BBQ'ing in the parking lot after the event.

If you have any questions, get it touch.

 

[badmrchris]

cool thanks

narrowed it down between to the LCD 40 and the Halcyon Pioneer. Both are about the same $$$ and seem similar, but looking for other options out there...

how big a tank will these wings fit? I typically use an aluminum 80, but from time to time I dive with a LP Steel 108 and 120 and I want to be sure they work. I know dive rite says their venture wing won't hold more than 95CF cylinder...

also, what is the lift on the halcyon? web site says 30, but i've heard 36 about everywhere else

 

[cool_hardware52]

cool thanks

narrowed it down between to the LCD 40 and the Halcyon Pioneer. Both are about the same $$$ and seem similar, but looking for other options out there...

how big a tank will these wings fit? I typically use an aluminum 80, but from time to time I dive with a LP Steel 108 and 120 and I want to be sure they work. I know dive rite says their venture wing won't hold more than 95CF cylinder...

also, what is the lift on the halcyon? web site says 30, but i've heard 36 about everywhere else

Chris,

I be a bit surprised that you really need a 40lbs lift wing for SoCal, maybe, but usually the LCD 30 or Torus 35 is sufficent.

I've alway found it odd that certain wings were recommended for "up to XX tank"
Wing lift is much more a function of your exposure suit than tank size, weight or capacity.

If the lift is appropriate for the conditions any of our single tank wings can be used with pretty much any single tank commonly encountered.

Regards,



Tobin

 

[ChrisA]

So instead of waiting for the Sherwood/Harsco monstrosity to return my BC, I’ve decided to buy another one. After researching, I want to try a BP/W setup. I like the Hammerhead SS plate and harness, but not sure about which wing to buy. Any recommendations would be welcome. Here are my considerations…

How much lift did your Sherwood BC have? To much, not enough, just right. If just right by a wing with the same lift. I know you will use less lead with a BP&W but the total weight will be close enough to the same. The minimum lift calculation given above will make you nuetral at the surface with a full wing. That is VERY minimal and you would be floating at eye level with a full BC. if you want your shoulders to be dry add about 15 more pounds. But then a smaller wing has less drag under water.

I'm no expert as about as far along this as you are, also wanting to buy a wing but not until fall for me.

 

[badmrchris]

Chris,

I be a bit surprised that you really need a 40lbs lift wing for SoCal, maybe, but usually the LCD 30 or Torus 35 is sufficent.

I've alway found it odd that certain wings were recommended for "up to XX tank"
Wing lift is much more a function of your exposure suit than tank size, weight or capacity.

If the lift is appropriate for the conditions any of our single tank wings can be used with pretty much any single tank commonly encountered.

Regards,


Tobin

Dive Rite's website was the only one saw w/ the tank size stipulation, but I wanted to be sure.

I was thinking 40 to be on the safe side, as my Tortuga had 46, but it seems a majority of SoCal divers are ~30 lbs anyways...

 

[*Floater*]

Dive Rite's website was the only one saw w/ the tank size stipulation, but I wanted to be sure.

I was thinking 40 to be on the safe side, as my Tortuga had 46, but it seems a majority of SoCal divers are ~30 lbs anyways...

I personally would not want any more lift than I needed because the extra, unnecessary lift means a bigger wing, which will therefore increase drag and be harder to vent. I prefer donut wings and I prefer to vent them using the rear dump exclusively, which is a lot easier if you have a correctly sized wing.

Now I don't have any real cold water experience, so I cannot say how much lift you would need, but I can say that in salt water, a 40 lbs (doubles) wing has been enough for me to comfortably dive with 3 AL80's and 1 AL40 all fillled with air or nitrox, a 3,5mm wetsuit with 6mm hood and booties - all compressed considerably at depth, a moderately heavy canister light, steel backplate with hog harness, couple of extra (unnecessary) pounds of lead, plus all the regs, backup lights and other negatively buoyant gear.

And as others have said, forget about the "tank size stipulation" - it doesn't work that way.

Good luck making a good wing decision.

 

[BSea]

Look at ScubaToys and the Oxycheq Signature Wing. It comes in a 45# lift. You get a 10% discount for being a Scuboard member. If you think something smaller will work, they also carry the Mach 5 wing, but it's not on their web site.

 

[Halthron]

I use the 30# Signature (mounted on a Hammerhead) and it is a good wing. If you're looking for something around the 40# range, the larger version would be a good choice.