Wing question

[BlueDolphin]

Jonnythan,

I Find the 27lb wing does an adequate job when I boat dive. But it's lift works marginal for me at the surface. In rough water, I notice that marginality more.

I was thinking the 36lb would be on the top end of what I need (as you have found).

Curious what your rig is. Let me know your weight distribution. We look about the same size..... however I am much much better looking

What type of BP are you diving, and do you use an STA, what type of tank do you dive when diving single. How much weight is ditchable, and do you use any trim weights, etc..

Jonnythan you noted:
"I dive the Pioneer 36 with a drysuit and single tanks and it's a fair bit more lift than I need". Jonnythan.... did you use the ""more is better, but too much is bad, so I'll pick some arbitrary point in the middle and go with it" mentality, when you picked your wing?

 

[jonnythan]

Well I bought the 36 because people told me to

I've been mostly with a drysuit and an Al 80, with an 8 lb channel weight, SS plate, STA, and 5 pounds on the belt. Next time out I'll lose the weight because I'm going to be on a steel tank.

Anyway, my personal opinion, and take it for what it's worth, is that there's no reason to go with the next larger size wing. If I were buying one, I'd still get the 36, or if I were buying an Eclipse I'd get the 40.. especially if I did a lot of ocean dives where some extra lift at the surface might be handy. I don't think that there's any advantage to cutting the lift capacity as close as you need to... the compelling argument is to keep the diver streamlined, yadda yadda, but the 40 pound wing isn't going to create more drag than the 30.

 

[JimC]

Your wing needs to have enough lift to float your rig by itself at the surface. If you're diving a single tank with a trilam drysuit, the only air you will have in the wing is to compensate for the weight of the gas in the tank, and the air lost in the event of a total drysuit failure.

It also need to get your head out of the water, at the surface. That said, when I went from a 7mm to a drysuit I dropped weight. I dove a 27# wing dry with an E8-130 and it is a touch under powered. I personally would trade for an Eclipse 30# if I needed to replace my Pioneer.