how big is to big for recreational wing

[boerique]

guys..

I'm considering bp/w for my first own BC with a good amount of hope it will the last spending for BC. The setup will be for recreational (and traveling) single tank rig with occasional side mounting tank for additional bottom time for photography.

A friend offer me a Deepoutdoor package with sweet deal. The thing is it come with 85lbs double Covalent Air Cell wing (Double Covalent AirCell 85lb - $500.00 : Deepoutdoors, dedicated to developing products for exploration and to inspire a passion for adventure.). Is it OK to use 85lbs wing for single tank dive ?? I will not going to full utilized it for sure but for near future I also can't afford to buy single tank wing.

How big is to big ??
regarding safety, comfort, trimming and any other aspect that you can thing of.
Can you give any suggestion how to dive this big wing comfortably ??

oiya...please don't suggest to contact Tobin DSS or any other good guys, I'm not familiar with import procedure (the original price can be triple when arrived), so I would like to keep it to what available locally. There's a LDS that can provide Hollis package, I'm still waiting for their price quotation.


Thanks for your opinions suggestions, guys & gals...

[CompuDude]

GACK!

85 lbs is WAY TOO BIG for single tank recreational diving. In answer to your question. It's WAY TOO BIG for a majority of technical diving, for that matter. There's no way that wing can reasonably be used for singles tanks.

In the warm waters of Indonesia, I doubt you'd need anything more than a 40# wing... for double Al80 tanks. Maybe a 55# wing at MOST if you're really laying the stage bottles, and steel tanks, etc., but more likely the 40# wing would suffice.

For single tank diving, a 30# wing is all you need. Hollis and Deep Outdoors both carry a variety of wings in the right size range, if you're stuck on those brands.

[comet24]

That thing is huge. That's more then I use for double steels and Al stages. My single tank rig has a 25 lb wing which has been fine with a single steel and an Al40.

I not sure where I would cut the line as to big. For a dive or two I give most setups a try. For a regular rig with single tanks that thing is just to big IMHO. If you can get Hollis gear over there take a look at their single tank wings. They make a 25 and 38 lbs wings for single tanks. The 25 might not be enough depending on setup but the 38 lb one should work for almost any single tank dive.

[it_mike]

It's a wing, NOT a lift bag!

That thing is HUGE! Flopping, drag inducing, and will be difficult to manage horizontally. For tropical, single tank, recreational diving, 18s are good, 30s very common.

[Splitlip]

Originally Posted by it_mike

It's a wing, NOT a lift bag!

That thing is HUGE! Flopping, drag inducing, and will be difficult to manage horizontally. For tropical, single tank, recreational diving, 18s are good, 30s very common.

+1. I am in Florida. Summer time, I use an 18#. 30# in the winter.

[boerique]

yea...that's what I thought

I'm not stuck with the brand, I'm stuck with the budget and BP/W materials (brand & type) that available locally.
When full DO rig (Matrix Freedom + double bladder wing + other nics-nacs) cost less than OMC single bladder 94lb wing (wing only in local market), it sounds sweet. It almost the same with rough calculation for Hollis package with Solo harness & S38 (price from internet, excl. delivery & tax).

If I want to Googling the condition "too big wing", anyone know the keyword ??
I want to see what it looks like underwater if a person dive single tank with double tank wing. Anyone got photo/pic ??

Thank you for your opinions, looking at your dive logged you must know what your talking about.


Know any tech/comm diver in Asia/Australia want to buy a DO Double Covalent Aircell ??

[it_mike]

The other questions to ask yourself is:
How sweet is the deal, and will I ever dive doubles? Is the deal sweet enough to justify the extra cost of an added singles wing, and would you ever use this wing for doubles/heavy tec work?

[fire diver]

This wing is too large for single-tank diving, and it's too large for doubles diving. It's too large diving double steels with stage tanks.

In short, don't buy it. You will regret it. The reason it's such a sweat deal? Nobody wants to buy such a beast of wing!

[tk trekers]

I couldn't find a picture of a single tank wing wrapped around a tank but here are a couple of pictures of a hot dog and a bun. Think of the hot dog as the tank and the bun as the wing:


Single tank on the wing


Wing now wrapped around the tank because it is too big.

Does that help?

As others have said, you will have horrible trim and maneuverability and there will be a lot of drag as you move through the water.

[cummings66]

I saw a different brand wing of similar lift on a single cylinder, he looked really unhappy about it.