DIR-F Kit advice

[jimbob]

Thanks for the advice. At the time of the hypothetical purchase (nuts to that) forget the hypothetical cobblers....
When I bought it I was advised to go for the 40lbs but after reading about the 55lbs and after the guy with whom I tested it in a pool recommended the 55lbs, I went for the small zodiac that is now bulging out the door of my spare room.
So no blame on anyone involved other than myself.
What I would like to know is whether the other kids will point and laugh when I wear it and will it be more of a hinderence than an asset? I have a great deal of faith in the people I bought it from and expect I could do an exchange, but do I really need to?
sorry for the garbled reply but I hit post by accident and am racing to fill the empty post I have made.

[rooster]

I used a 55 (I think the very one that Keiron is referring to!)with twin 12's for maybe 200 dives and even without stages it never felt too large. I am 5ft 9 and 11 stone so it wasn't a size issue either.

It held me nicely out of the water on the surface and wrapped neatly around my tanks when diving. My regular buddy uses a 40 and swears by it. He used to call my wing the liferaft, but if you are happy with the 55lb why worry?

I am sure you wont get thrown off any DIR trips with a 55

[Bob Cooper]

Lots of people are using 55's and don't have any issues with them. Plenty more are using 40's and are happy with them too.

Personally, I prefer my 40 for my UK diving with 12's and 15's. I have even used my 40 on 18's in fresh water with no real issues.

Both are fine in my opinion. If you are starting from scratch, I'd recommend the 40 though.

Bob

[Rick Huggins]

Originally Posted by Bardo

Just to clear things up, here's the 1st stages we were talking about...

DS4 (ideal for backgas) *without* turret...
http://www.apeks.co.uk/images/products/ds4_zoom.jpg

DST (ideal for stages) *with* turret...
http://www.apeks.co.uk/images/produc...e_dst_zoom.jpg

Hope this makes things a bit clearer!

I would only recommend using the DST on a stage, as the swivel allows the 40" hose to route better. There is the argument of the additional failure point, but then you gotta look over the other side of the fence with regards to the S'pro's

Currently, I use a DS4 though, purely based on a spares & servicing stand point!

[nickb]

If it helps, I have a 55lb Explorer and my wife has a 40lb one.

I've been trying both wings for some time now and can't honestly notice any difference underwater. The 55lb does offer some extra lift when there's a big swell going and it's more comfortable to use in those sort of conditions if you've got a bit of a wait for the boat, but it's only marginal.

FWIW, I'm using twin 12 Fabers with an ali 7 litre side-mount.