Question Wing Size Regret: 30 or 40 pound?

[Inscrutable]

Hello, I am relatively new to diving so please forgive my ignorance. And apologies if I posted this in the wrong place.

I’m switching from a Scubapro Hydros Pro BCD with a 35 pound lift to a Halcyon backplate and wing. With my Scubapro, I currently dive with a single AL80, a 7mm semi dry wetsuit (yeah, yeah, I know) and about 12 pounds of lead in a cooler tropical climate which leaves me neutrally buoyant at 15 feet with 5-700 PSI left in my cylinder. I’m 5’9-5’10 and 125 lbs. I used both the Optimal Buoyancy Calculator and the Wing Calculator and both suggested roughly a 28 lb lift after I input everything.

I ordered the 40 lb Halcyon wing as I plan to do drysuit diving with steel cylinders in colder water and thought, perhaps, I could use one wing for both as the physical size difference appeared minimal (a few centimeters).

Now, I’m having some regret about purchasing the 40 pound wing. Would the 30 pound wing have been the wiser choice? I like having a bit of lift at the surface as I’ve been caught in some pretty turbulent surface conditions, but not at the expense of battling air pockets while diving if the 30 pound wing would be the better choice. Or, will I likely need both?

Thank you.

 

[JoeTPhilly]

One last thing. I would bet in a couple of weeks Halcyon will run their special. For the holidays, they seem to run a promotion for custom color systems for the same price as their standard. Just a thought if that is something that interests you and you can hold off on the order.

 

[Inscrutable]

One last thing. I would bet in a couple of weeks Halcyon will run their special. For the holidays, they seem to run a promotion for custom color systems for the same price as their standard. Just a thought if that is something that interests you and you can hold off on the order.

Oh good point, thank you! I wasn’t sure if they did holiday sales. I technically customized this wing but all I really did was make the Halcyon logo all black (very creative, I know). I’ll hold off and maybe I’ll do a bit more with this one.

 

[ams511]

Now, I’m having some regret about purchasing the 40 pound wing.

I don't know why you would have any regrets. As you saw at the dive shop there is not much size difference between a 30lb and a 40lb wing. You saw it yourself at the dive shop. Also if you are wearing a 7mil semi-dry I don't consider you a warm water diver.

Your rig needs to float with you in it and out of it. As Eric mentioned, with a more negative steel tank and a pony plus weight on the rig, it may sink fully inflated.

The hard to vent comments come from two sources: The first are from divers using a doubles wing with a single tank. A doubles wing is wider and it will "taco" on a single tank. The second are those that bought an Oxycheq 40lb wing that was rumored to use a doubles bladder inside. Because of the extra width of the bladder it supposedly trapped air. I don't know if the rumor is true.

Halcyon makes excellent gear and I am sure the bladder is properly sized to the outer shell. My advice is keep the 40lb and if you want something smaller check out eBay and Aliexpress. You can pick up a 30lb wing for less than $150.

 

[Inscrutable]

I don't know why you would have any regrets. As you saw at the dive shop there is not much size difference between a 30lb and a 40lb wing. You saw it yourself at the dive shop. Also if you are wearing a 7mil semi-dry I don't consider you a warm water diver.

Your rig needs to float with you in it and out of it. As Eric mentioned, with a more negative steel tank and a pony plus weight on the rig, it may sink fully inflated.

The hard to vent comments come from two sources: The first are from divers using a doubles wing with a single tank. A doubles wing is wider and it will "taco" on a single tank. The second are those that bought an Oxycheq 40lb wing that was rumored to use a doubles bladder inside. Because of the extra width of the bladder it supposedly trapped air. I don't know if the rumor is true.

Halcyon makes excellent gear and I am sure the bladder is properly sized to the outer shell. My advice is keep the 40lb and if you want something smaller check out eBay and Aliexpress. You can pick up a 30lb wing for less than $150.

Thank you for the reassurance. I’m one of those people who is constantly freezing. Most people here dive a 3 mm, some skin dive, and a few of the DMs dive 7 mms like I do. Water temperature here is currently 79 F/26 C but ranges from 77 F-83 F.

 

[happy-diver]

The 40 will put your mind at ease also being safer where you will find zero discernible difference diving it

The rest comes from people that post from their perspective not yours and lack experience of rough seas

 

[steinbil]

I think the comments about the 40lbs wing being too big are confusing it with the Halcyon doubles wing that also comes with 40lbs lift. I would assume a Halcyon singles wing would be appropriately sized for a single tank and not have any of the problems that using a doubles wing with a single tank would bring - like tacoing. That being said, I use a 40lbs doubles halcyon wing for double steel 12L cylinders, 9lbs v-weight mounted to the tanks, steel backplate, more weight on a belt, drysuit with heavy undergarments, so I don't see why you would need more than 30lbs for a single tank. I've never used a pony or done any calculations for weighting with a pony, so can't say how that would affect it. Altough, if you're diving steel tanks with a dry suit, and you want more gas or redundancy, I would just get a set of doubles instead.

 

[lexvil]

You need the lift YOU need, don’t get caught up with group think, a 30 lb is fine for many people but not all.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I ordered a 30# Oxycheq wing once and a 40# showed up, oops!
I didn’t even know it until I looked at the label one day as I was cleaning it.
I was all mad at first but then realized the 40 is not that much bigger than the 30 so I kept my mouth shut and just kept using it. that was 18 or so years ago, IDK whenever the Mach V came out.
It’s not that big a deal.

 

[Inscrutable]

The 40 will put your mind at ease also being safer where you will find zero discernible difference diving it

The rest comes from people that post from their perspective not yours and lack experience of rough seas

Thank you. The seas do tend to get quite rough here, and I’ve been caught at the surface many times when it’s white capping.

 

[Inscrutable]

You need the lift YOU need, don’t get caught up with group think, a 30 lb is fine for many people but not all.

Thank you, you’re right. I appreciate it.