7 replies to this topic

[WreckWench]

As a dealer for Deep Sea Supply aka DSS and with awesome corporate sponsors such as DiveRite and OMS, the question of 'How large a wing' to buy often arises. The general schools of thought are:

1. Go streamlined and minimalist. Only get the size of wing you need for your style or primary style of diving. For example several people I know (both male and female) use a 18 to 20# wing as they dive warm water using predominately 80cu alum tanks.

2. Go redundant. Get the largest size you can possibly need with all the bells and whistles such as dual bladders, etc so you are ready for any type of diving and/or unexpected issues like finding a porthole in NC you want to bring up or you want to dive doubles one day or you have a big bag of megoladon teeth to bring to the surface!

3. Go future oriented. Consider your future diving needs such as one day doing doubles. Therefore get a doubles wing and a single tank adaptor so you only need one wing.

4. Go versatile. Get one wing for your warm water recreational diving i.e. alum 80cf tanks and one wing for your more technical diving i.e. doubles or larger tanks.

5. Go compromised. Try to figure out which wing is the most likely compromise between what you need now and what you MIGHT need in the future. For example if you normally dive 80cu alum tanks and you don't weigh much or aren't very tall then the 18/20# wing is perfect. If you want to dive a steel tank and add a bag of say heavy artifacts (think megloladon teeth which are petrified rocks) then a 30# is necessary, would you just buy the 30# wing? Or say you are a guy and the 30# is perfect for you. But you are thinking of diving doubles...do you get a 45# or 60# wing when a 30# wing is perfect for you?


Which school of thought are you and why? If you want to talk to the pros and cons of each school of thought that would be excellent! And if you have a different philosoply than those presented PLEASE share it with us! -ww

[Walter]

Getting the concepts will help you make informed decisions. Yes, the BC has to lift the diver and all equipment, but remember the water is also providing lift. Sea water lifts 64 lbs/cu ft and fresh water lifts 62.4 lbs/cu ft. Most of the lift is provided by water. The BC only needs to make up the difference. At the beginning of the dive, with an AL 80 tank, you'll be about 6 lbs negative. Your BC has to be able to lift that 6 lbs. As you descend, your wet suit will compress. I don't know how much buoyancy it will lose, but it will be less than the total amount of lead you've added to compensate for wearing the wetsuit. Assuming you've added 12 lbs and your wetsuit compresses to nothing (which is not going to happen, but that's the most it could do in theory). the BC will have to compensate for that 12 lbs. 12 lbs (actually less) for wet suit compression, plus 6 lbs of air (which you will be using throughout the dive, so that 6 lbs will be decreasing as you use air) gives you a maximum of 18 lbs lift you could theoretically need. As you ascend, your wet suit will expand giving you more lift. So, that 18 lbs of lift would only be needed at the very beginning of the dive if you were at the deepest point of your dive. You can also easily swim up when you are 5 (almost anyone can swim up 10 lbs negative, we'll use 5 as a fudge factor) lbs negative. With that in mind, the most lift you'd need from your wing would be 13 lbs (6+12=18-5=13).

[gcbryan]

Get only what you need and buy a second wing for doubles.

[PerroneFord]

You missed a "School of thought"

6. Buy the correct wing for your needs. Figure out which wing meets your needs and buy it. When your needs or diving changes, purchase another wing to meet that need. In a year and a half, I've accumulated 4 wings. I can see need for 2 more in the next year, and that should cover nearly anything I will likely be doing.

[JimG]

I agree with gcbryan and PerroneFord. Buy the wing that you need for now. If (and as) your needs change, get a second (or even third!) wing that is suited to the type diving that you are moving toward. I guarantee that the first wing won't be wasted money - even those of us who dive doubles and carry multiple stages still like to go rec diving every once in a while.

FYI, this is one of many benefits of the BP/W system - it can change as your requirements change. Buying a new wing is a lot less expensive than buying a whole new BC.

-JimG

[ScubaDadMiami]

Unfortunately, it is hard to find a good wing that will work for so many configurations. So, the best thing to do is to buy the right one for the configuration you are diving. When you change, get other wings.

I have found myself in situations where I am selling some wings while purchasing others at the same time. That's just the way it goes.

[WreckWench]

You missed a "School of thought"

6. Buy the correct wing for your needs. Figure out which wing meets your needs and buy it. When your needs or diving changes, purchase another wing to meet that need. In a year and a half, I've accumulated 4 wings. I can see need for 2 more in the next year, and that should cover nearly anything I will likely be doing.

Technically #1 is that school of thought...it says buy the wing for the diving you are doing. In that sense if you ONLY buy what you need then you will automatically be streamlined and minimalist.

However I thank you Perrone for restaing it in a more obvious fashion!

[seafox]

I am a strong believer in #1.
Being streamlined and properly trimmed means being able to stay horizontal with ease and move through the water with less effort, and more comfort.
Minimal lift to safely keep your upper body out of the water while on the surface, also means a minimum amount of air in the BC baldder which in turn allows for better control as you move up an down through the water colum.
As your needs change, change your BC or wing to adapt to the new requirements.
The right tool for the right job!

Cornel

As a dealer for Deep Sea Supply aka DSS and with awesome corporate sponsors such as DiveRite and OMS, the question of 'How large a wing' to buy often arises. The general schools of thought are:

1. Go streamlined and minimalist. Only get the size of wing you need for your style or primary style of diving. For example several people I know (both male and female) use a 18 to 20# wing as they dive warm water using predominately 80cu alum tanks.

2. Go redundant. Get the largest size you can possibly need with all the bells and whistles such as dual bladders, etc so you are ready for any type of diving and/or unexpected issues like finding a porthole in NC you want to bring up or you want to dive doubles one day or you have a big bag of megoladon teeth to bring to the surface!

3. Go future oriented. Consider your future diving needs such as one day doing doubles. Therefore get a doubles wing and a single tank adaptor so you only need one wing.

4. Go versatile. Get one wing for your warm water recreational diving i.e. alum 80cf tanks and one wing for your more technical diving i.e. doubles or larger tanks.

5. Go compromised. Try to figure out which wing is the most likely compromise between what you need now and what you MIGHT need in the future. For example if you normally dive 80cu alum tanks and you don't weigh much or aren't very tall then the 18/20# wing is perfect. If you want to dive a steel tank and add a bag of say heavy artifacts (think megloladon teeth which are petrified rocks) then a 30# is necessary, would you just buy the 30# wing? Or say you are a guy and the 30# is perfect for you. But you are thinking of diving doubles...do you get a 45# or 60# wing when a 30# wing is perfect for you?


Which school of thought are you and why? If you want to talk to the pros and cons of each school of thought that would be excellent! And if you have a different philosoply than those presented PLEASE share it with us! -ww