Dual Bladder Single Tank Wing

[frogkick]

I need a single tank wing for  Wetsuit diving abroad, so ideally a twin bladder. I haven't come across any manufacturers with a 30lb or so redundant bladder single tank wing. The only one I can find is a DR dual Rec wing, but that's far too big and not quite a single cylinder wing. Advice so far is to use DSMB for emergency lift. In theory I can also swim my single tank rig up fairly easily but I would still like surface buoyancy in the event of a long wait/bad weather.

Views?

[Dominic]

Take a reel and SMB with you, far simpler

I doubt you'll find a double-bladder single wing. People who want double bladders are the ones who're going to be nailed to the sea bed if the wing fails. That's not a worry with a single cylinder & wetsuit.

[frogkick]

I always use a reel/smb, so I am not too worried about getting back to the surface. I just want to make a long surface wait with no buoyancy that much easier, e.g. in a heavy sea. I can always try to use the dsmb for buoyancy at the surface, but that's not very practical and somewhat defeats the signalling purpose of the SMB. maybe I will just buy myself an inflatabe tube (you know the ones with the rubber duck at the front), shove that in my BP and use it as my emergency surface float!

[And]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (frogkick @ Dec. 22 2003,14:41)]Views?

<font color='#000080'>Hi

IMHO you are overthinking a problem which doesn't exist. Releasing your weightbelt at the surface will give you that buoyancy you need.

In single tank range diving it would be easy to swim up a single as long as it is the trusted AL80 usually supplied.

Merry Christmas

Andy

[Kate R]

<font color='#000080'>also, if you're using ali tanks (likely when abroad) you'll be pretty buoyant anyway.

and if you have ditchable weights that'll probably make a surface wait easier?

i personally wouldn't think that the small risk of having complete bladder failure (the wing type i mean!) PLUS heavy seas PLUS a long wait for a boat, and the small advantage you'd get from being able to float well in that situation (assuming you're already pretty buoyant wearing ali tank and having dropped weights etc.), makes it worth spending the extra money.

but it's your call and that's not the question you asked (although you did ask for views!) so sorry  

edit - oh well, andy got there first!

[Dominic]

For surface buoyancy matters, clip your weightbelt to the SMB and you should be plenty floaty if you're in a wetsuit with empty Alu cylinder, without having to loose any kit.

You should have far more buoyancy in your SMB than weight on your belt, so it'll still work for signalling.

[frogkick]

15litre steel, no ditchable weights (SS BP and STA), no weight belt.

?

[Dominic]

Okay, now you're just being difficult

Get an alu backplate &amp; a weightbelt?

Two SMBs.

Buddy Redwing.

Or the above suggestion of ditching the whole rig with the SMB&amp;reel attached and float around waiting for recovery

[Dominic]

Wait, wait, I've got it!

Buy one of these!

[frogkick]

I'm not being difficult - serious. My summer diving - other than UK - is always with 15l steel, wetsuit etc as described above. That adds up to about 40 dives every summer, so worth reducing the risk exposure.

Until recently I used a traditional BC, 3Kgs integrated weights, and as WL suggests, hadn't thought much about BC failure. I now want to use my normal UK rig (SS BP) and an STA which will add up to 3.5Kg, so no extra weight needed that I can ditch.

The diving is usually deeper than in the UK, and a lot more unsafe due to local diving habits, lack of proper deco facilities, and the fact that we're diving wetsuits.

I want to chip away at some of the avoidable risks, hence my question on redundant buoyancy. I agree with most of you that an SMB will probably do the trick, but I would prefer a rig that gives me better flexibility. I may look into the idea of &quot;sandwiching&quot; an extra buddy-type wing between the tank and main wing.