DIY wings.

[Finless]

To continue the much discussed (recently) wing subject.

Has anyone actually gone the "buy the bits seperately and assemble yourself" route. If so, would you mind letting me (us) know when you did it and how much it cost you for your finished article.

[Dominic]

Right:

Buddy Tekwing (£150)
Combro backplate: Free Xmas present £35 plus £10 p&p
3-4m webbing - £5ish
D-rings & 3-bar sliders - had already
Brass eyelet kit - a quid or two. I dunno.

Take wing. Lay backplate over it in appropriate place. Use a soldering iron to melt through the right holes.

Remove backplate, enlarge holes. Fit brass eyelets (I use 10 or 11mm eyelets for my 8mm bolts, nice & easy)

Wing is now set up & ready for use.

Harness:
Find the middle of the webbing. Thread it through the angled slots of the backplate so the middle of the webbing is in the center of the backplate. At the back of the backplate, of course.

Thread the webbing ends through the horizontal slots above the angled ones, over the top of the backplate, and down to the bottom, where there are two slots.

Thread the webbing through the inner slots, thenback through the outer slots.

Thread things through appropriately to fit you perfectly.

Scream as you realise you didn't put any of the D-rings or triglides on, unthread harness, thread on paraphanalia, adjust everything to fit again

[Digger]

<font color='#000080'>I did a very similar thing, except my eyelets were done by a man in a very useful shop up the road for 50p. He used a cutting tool which made a circle the exact size necessary to put the eyelets in. Easy job if you've got the tools...

Used a TekWing juist the same as Dom really, and Combro plate. Can't fault either bit of kit. I can fault the Buddy harness they supplied on the ABS plate, it leaves bit dnagling all over tha place unneccesarily, and really you might as well go out and buy some webbing to do it again if you want to keep the ABS.

Woz found a really cheap supplier for D-rings and stuff, I'm not at home so don't have it on my favourites handy, but I'm sure someone will be along with everything you need. LDS will do them obviously, but they'll charge through the nose as it's &quot;technical&quot; dive gear!!!

[Spike Jackson]

I have recently assembled a harness for my OMS double bladder wing - I was previously using the IQ pack.
I actually got almost all the bits and bob from YD-ers second hand, including the combro plate, webbing, sliders and d-rings. All I needed extra was some crotch strap webbing and a weight belt buckle. Total cost - about £40!

[kramynot2000]

I've done a few:

1. &nbsp;Aluminum BP from GUTS on ebay ($40), webbing and d-rings from online sources ($20) and used a wing off my old Zeagle Ranger that I've had since 1997. &nbsp;This was to test how I would like the BP/Wing setup. &nbsp;I still use this for singles and my small doubles (2x HP80).

2. &nbsp;Old Plastic Backpack from ebay ($20?), single wing of unknown make off ebay ($80), webbing from local outdoor hiking/climbing store ($15). &nbsp;I use this for classes that I Divemaster. &nbsp;With a small HP80 single tank, it feels like I have nothing on.

3. &nbsp;AL BP with webbing from ebay ($40), DiveRite Superwings ($350). &nbsp;I use this for diving larger doubles with stages.

Other than the superwings, I go the cheapest route for everything else.

[lawrence]

Mine comprises:
Dive Rite Classic or Trek (without bungee) (£150 each from an place in cheshire, forget the name but he gives a % of each sale to charity)

Enjay marine SS bp, £40

Webbing £1.50/m from DeepBlue, Tynemouth

D-rings £2.50 each (I think) from Underwater explorers (have used Beaver but they rusted badly, very quickly)

SS weight retainers about £1.50 each

Sous Marine SS buckle, free.

[Mary]

<font color='#F52887'>Mine is Combro Backplate plus webbing and bits (£30 - secondhand but as new), and the wing off a sherwood outback (80lb lift) £100 also second hand but good as new from Daz.

[MartinS]

Bryan
I started off with the Tekwing, but as I was using twins, didn't feel the harness was man enough for the job, so bought a s/s backplate (second hand, £21) and an x-tec harness (again, second hand, £35). &nbsp;Used brass eyelets for the Tekwing (as Dom/Digger) (£2-3 for a kit). &nbsp;Have used that for just over a year and am now about to rig a one piece harness with one shoulder clip and get rid of the x-tec. &nbsp;The x-tec harness is good, but there's a lot of it and I really want to streamline the chest area more.
Anyway, hope that helps
Martin

[arty93]

<font color='#000080'>My Rig is:

Oxycheq wing (from USA) £150
Oxycheq STA (not necessary but makes tank feel more secure) £20
Combro BP (bought from digger who ordered a few) £40
Webbing from errr can't remember &nbsp;£13
D-Rings and bits from Portland Oceaneering?? £10
Stainless Steel Buckle from Lumb bros £3.50

All prices are approx as my memory aint that good.

It really is worth having a go, i put mine together through recommendations and diagrams on various websites as most people in my club don't even know what a wing is (got plenty of strange looks trying it out in the pool ) And don't even get me started on rigging your pony like a stage....'a what?' y'know like a stage cylinder for deco ....'deco?'

I kid you not!



Paul

[Noel Johnson]

Certainly did.

Second hand Portland plate and harness (never wet though) courtesy of Andy Winterburn (RIP ) for £90
Diverite recwing from divers warhouse £150
Clips and D rings from Stoney (I know they were expensive but I was there and thought it was a good idea at the time - sorry) £15
Stainless steel nuts and bolts from a hardware place in Coventry £3

Total price £258 which was a damn sight cheaper than buying a Custom Divers TDB

Could do it an awful lot cheaper now though