[Jules]

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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]

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/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]

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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]

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Grrrr.
I use a Buddy wing
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]

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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..]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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

 

[Andy Hayhurst]

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Jules,
      if you would like to try different wings harness systems before you make your mind up, I have a few different set ups here. Apeks (Zeagle), Diverite (Recwing & Transpac,) my wife dived it with twin 7's & 10's without any probs for over 6 years, I use it as well. Also OMS with IQ pack, have been using it on the 7's of late for 60m Trimix dives, The inflator on an OMS is long because it goes under your arm, and wings are available from 45lb lift to 100 bungied & un bungied. Also an ally plate which can be run with the dive rite or the oms.

Hope this helps

 

[722]

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Quote[/b] (daz @ July 29 2003,15:28)]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.

Yep Daz, it was me.

Had mine (unbungeed) in the water for first time a week or so ago. Lousy trim. Hopefully having another go this week with someone who can help. Also borrowed the Cressisub version of Jetfins to reduce the ankleweight requirement.

Bloddy neoprene drysuits....

I would put the bungee back in for singles, although this probably won't occur often.


Julia

How long to your hols? Will you have time to play with and test/retest your setup before your holiday? Apart from the decisions regarding what to buy, you may spoil the holiday if you aren't set up comfortably. And I second the comments re other backplate/wings rather than OMS. As far as I am concerned there is too much paying for labels and complication in this lark.

Adrian

 

[Mdemon]

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Dammit Dom!  You've been peeking in my shed again!!!

Kid's lilo and duct tape - works a treat....

Me?  I dive a Buddy wing as well - pretty much out of the box with ABS backplate.  Takes twins and singles with no adapter and comes with all the cam bands you need.  Bullet-proof.

I bought the Trident, which is like a wing with BCD features added on.  VERY expensive, twice the price of your OMS idea, but bomb-proof.

OMS + 100lb looks great, but is HUGE!

 

[Tibbs]

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Quote[/b] (Lou @ July 29 2003,16:39)]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.

It's a 55lb wing. A 55lb wing is too big for a pair of 12s, let alone a 7s!

I'm moving down to a 40lb wing for my twin 12s, because I'm increasingly finding a 55lb wing a PITA. The tank wrap on 7s would be unbearable. The Halcyon 55lb wing is designed for LP104s, which are 16.5l, and obviously a bit wider than 7s! The other 55lb wings I have seen are of similar dimensions to the Halcyon, and would be the same.

The ideal wing for 7s is the old Dive Rite Junior wing (35lb lift if memory serves) if you can find one. They don't make them any more, but if you can find one second hand buy it. On second thoughts if you find one for sale tell me and I'll buy it! It's a slightly different shape than the Trek Wing that replaced it, and it doesn't have any of those evil bungees!

There was a dive shop who were selling them about 18 months ago, had 5 left and they went for £350 each... Makes the Halcyon ones look like a bargain!

Chris

 

[Mark Chase]

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I have a CD winmg as well and the CD back plate and harness. I paid 250 second hand (it had done about 10 dives) and I think it's V good.

The back plate has a center pair of slots so any standard cam band will allow fitting of a single tank. The back plate has a reversed grouve running up it to hold a single tank streight. There are also a second set of double slots for fitting independant twins using errrr two cam bands.

A very flexable package.

Dived it with twin 15's Twin 12's Single 12's and errrr single 7'

 and it worked fine. Just remember to fix the wing at the four corners with cable ties to stop it lifting off the back plate when using singles.

If I hadent got a CD wing i would have got an OMS because I think they look bulit proof and are of a similar design. That said I dont know of any back plate as flexable as the CD unit.


ATB

Mark Chase

 

[parahandy]

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The OMS stuff is certainly the business, but as usual horses for courses I believe.

If youre doin the deep wreck stuff over here fine. If you've got in your mind to dive warmer climes and taking kit then I would go for the Dive Rite kit Rec Wing or Transpac type stuff, appreciate there's various options here.  The dive rite harness with wing set up seems a lot smaller I would imagine its easier in the luggage also.

The OMS stuff is great but the size is humongous

 

[gaz]

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Hi Julia,

sorry to be so late .

If you have time before your hols, why don't you hassle your local twinset divers and try out their rigs? A bit of hands on experience would be heaps better than having a load of divers waxing lyrical on here about how great their bits are.

Having said that, when i decided i wanted to 'experiment' with a twinset, i went off and got a buddy tekwing and a 7l manifold set and until i started visiting the pot, it was great. lighter than the 15 and a pony and a lot more comfy than a bcd. i did get to go rib diving with it the other week and it was really nice, not to have the skipper cussing my heavy tanks or sinking into the sand as i waded out to the boat.

of course, being as tights as a gnatts provebial, the price was super attractive as it was way less than £200 even with a single tank adaptor, which means if twinset diving does turn out to be a pig and a poke, it's not like i've broken the bank on it.

Admittedly, all wings tend to look a bit of a dogs dinner in a dive shop, esp. when compared with bcs. Afterall, you're buying a lump of metal, some straps and a big inflatable bag, it's hard to make that lot look 'cool' in the shop.

 

[andy2tanx]

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Jules

i use an OMS 100lb bungied wing with 12's and 7's.  I also have a buddy tekwing which is used when i want to use a single, although i have used the OMS with a single no problem at all.  I still have the plasatic backplate for the buddy so you are welcome to come over and try out both types of wing and plate if you like.

i got the 100lb wing cos it was only  £15 more and i thought it may come in handy one day.  Actually, i am planning on getting a little outboard motor and sailing on the wing to the dive site!!

 

[BSH]

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<font color='#0000FF'>Julia

I have the OMS IQ pack single bladder 55lb one, which I bought some time ago, a guy at my club has bought one recently and it doesn't have the pockets on the harness, I would have bought that option as apart from the front "Tool" pockets I don't use the zipped ones.

The only problem with the OMS one is mine is a size S.XS I know I don't know how they size them, but unless they do something a lot smaller I would suggest it would be too big for you.

However apart from the pockets I like mine and find it very comfortable.

Fiona

 

[Digger]

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I recently had a 45lb MOS wing come through my hands, and it looked a great bit of kit, but I would stress that the wing is probably as big as you'd need it. It wasn't small, and when inflated was gigantorantonormous. Any bigger than that and you'd need to buy bigger fins to make up for it.

On the size issue, if the pre-made harnesses are too small, the backplate and webbing harness will fit anyone, you just adjust it to fit. Another reason why I like my kit.

I do think you need to get into a few different wings and harnesses etc. to get an idea of what you like. I've tried kit that everyone loved and found it unbearable, and others have tried my kit and hated it too. It's all personal choice.