OMS wing

[Jules]

I need another BCD (for the hols) and just pondering whether to donate mine to the kids and get a wing now ready to carry my twin 7s when I buy them (i have already had pages of advice from you lot on twin 7s ..).
New basic BCD is £160, cressi aquapro 5, which is what I have now.
OMS wing with aluminium backplate is £290 plus £60 for a single cylinder adapter.
So if I decide to spend more now to save more in future and go for a wing then is the OMS a good one?
Which wings should I look at?. I saw a cheap Buddytec one at divers warehouse but wasnt too impressed.

I expect 10 different opinions on what to buy and things to consider by 10pm tonight. Dont let me down.
jules

[Justin Owen]

/waits with anticipation for replies...  

Julia, you going to use the wing for buoyancy when you get your 7's? Out of interest I used (tried to use) my BCD for buoyancy the other week - was interesting to say the least - like learning to dive again. Manageing two forms of buoyancy on ascent was a pain - but to be fair we were bumbling up and down between 5-10 metres, and I have a weezle undersuit with lots of air in.

Would be interesting to hear how you get on when you get them... And just to let you know, cheapest price found so far is Go Dive for £299 c/w MDE valves, single boots and stainless bands...

All the best...

[Dr Stevil]

I went for the OMS bladder, ali BP plus IQ harness, this comes with two cambands for holding a single in place, as opposed to the metal adaptor, it's about £20-£30 more than the set up you described above but I personally like the harness for easy don/doff and its padded style means its warm on your back so good for warmwater stuff too. No doubt someone will be along in five mins to post that all of the above is a bunch of cajones, but it works for me so yah! boo! to them

Justin, with my 2x10s I find my suit provides sufficient buoyancy for most dives by itself, the wing only gets used beyond 30m

Chee-az
Steve

[Dominic]

Grrrr.
I use a Buddy wing :P
They might be cheap compared to other wings, but that's because they're not total rip-offs. They're every bit as bulletproof as the Buddy jackets. Plus they can be used for single with no adaptor. £150 gets you a wing ready for single cylinder use from Buddy, compared to the £250 OMS would set you back.

And then £40 for a Combro plate and a few pennies for a brass eyelet kit gets you ready for twin 7s, cos that's exactly what I did

Why do you want the alu plate? Steel takes lead off your belt, alu doesn't. I'd only buy an alu plate if I were heading somewhere tropical, steel is better in UK conditions.

Which OMS wing? You don't need their mega-lift ones for a single or twin 7s..

You didn't mention a harness. Would you be putting that together yourself or buying one? Be aware that the OMS harness (in addition to being more expensive than a DIY and having a multitude of things you really don't need on it) only has a narrow crotch strap - I've used narrow webbing before, and it was painful. Soft 2" webbing is much nicer. And it's even more of a consideration if you're planning on buying a 100lb wing, as the pressure will be greater... tho I must confess I don't know how much of a problem that is for a lady

[Digger]

I've been using a TekWing for a while now, and I've found it great. Very similar setup to Dom's, with a combro plate and bolts and bands. Works for me, and I've found it suitable for more advanced stuff (I'd put twin 12s on it, but much more than that it's going to struggle)

Basically, I think the OMS is a rip-off. If you can get one second hand, it might be able to compete with the buddy for value for money, but there's not a lot of second hand OMS wings about as far as I can tell. They are good bits of kit, and fairly indestructible, but overpriced.

I've never really seen the point of the IQ and similar harnesses. I only use an S/S plate and webbing in this country, and when travelling take the ABS plate that came with it. Works for me, and again is a lot cheaper than the price of ready-made options. You can also customise my harness in about 10 seconds to put extra D-rings, take D-rings off, add clips, pockets, all sorts.

[GUV..]

Jules as your looking for lots of opions heres my 2p,

I have a Dive rite transpac II with a Rec wing which i am very happy with and have dived with both twin 7's and 10's and found it to be stable but feel i need to get a backplate to do it justice.Spent the last two weeks diving with it in Sharm and a single tank and found it to be a bit too big and did trap a little air at the end of the dive and had to a little jig to free the air.
So i am now considering getting a back plate for rec/twins and a travel wing for the TP II in arm waters.
If you must have the lastest the new oxycheq wing was releaesd in the USA this week and i must admit they look nice but not sure if you can buy in the UK.Here is some peoples reviews of the oxycheq wing
oxy wing

Regards,

Mal.

[Dominic]

Hey, (before Mdemon gets here) you could always get an ABLJ, attach it to a plastic breadboard, and call it a mini-wing until you've made your mind up

[daz]

And my 5 pence worth (Well that's inflation for you)....

Firstly GUV,  The trekwing is a nice neat unit although only marginally smaller than the recwing I have used mine for singles a lot with no problems.

Jules,

Combro steel backplate,  weight off the waist, cheap(ish) and has slots for cambands so can be used with singles.  Wings,   I have used a trekwing (Note DIVERITE - not Buddy TekWing) and found it a tad small for bigger twins but fine for small singles + maybe a pony or twin 7's.  

I use a Diverite recwing with my twins,  love it to bits.  enough lift for me with twin 10's (heavy 10's 11.8kg each !!)  £160 from divers warehouse.

Knock up your own harness (With or without QR clips £20 or  £30 total price £230 ish ).

Aluminium plates are about £40 ish I think so you could always get one of these later for travelling.  I think the Diverite trekwing is great for singles and small twins.  The recwing is better for slightly larger twins but might wrap a bit more on singles.

Can't remember who I was talking to about bungees on the wings but whoever it was (Adrian ?) I took my bungee off the recwing last week and the difference in lift is quite something.  Don't think I would want to use it on singles unbungeed though.

Daz

[And]

Hi Jules

For twin 7s the OMS wing is too big IMO being 100lbs lift. You could end up with air pockets in the wing which may be hard to dump on your ascent. The bungees aren't a great idea and the elephants trunk thing is too long. The harness has too many d-rings, a chest strap which is pointless and quick release clips which are unneccessary

Have a look at the Halcyon 45lb wing setup. Similarly priced and perfect for twin 7's. More streamlined, the right size for the tanks and with the right length elephants trunk thingy.

Oh, and the backplate is shinier

See it here http://www.halcyon.net/mc/index.shtml If you ever go to Capernwray they have them on display

Hope that helps

Andy

Disclaimer: I'm not responding to flames. This is my opinion. If you want to argue take it somewhere else and don't spoil this thread please

[Lou]

OMS do a standard size wing as well as the 100lb "batwing".  I can't remembe if it's 45lb or 55lb though.....someone will tell you.

We have a CD TDB wing ona portland engineering backplate that seems ok.  Only used it once but it was in shallow water, with a single, and it seemed to dump ok when you got used to it.

I am like you...want a wing to hedge my bets with - suitable for singles and smaller (7's or 10's) twins later - I couldn't lift any more!  There was a thread a little while back where alot of opinions came out...I think it was OMS vs Diverite or something.  Have a look at that for some views!

Lou