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Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 22:27:21 -0400
From: Al Marvelli <ajmarve@ba*.ne*>
To: techdiver@aquanaut.com
Subject: [Fwd: Bungy Wings - The Awful, Horrible Truth From One Who Knows...]
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this is for that guy, you know who you are........

also Billy is an Australian.

Al Marvelli

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Date: Wed, 08 Sep 1999 08:15:29
To: techdiver@aquanaut.com
Subject: Bungy Wings - The Awful, Horrible Truth From One Who Knows...
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Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 02:26:44 +0200
From: Hans Petter Roverud <proverud@on*.no*>
Subject: Bondage wings
--------------- 

It seems safe to say that opinions vary from "This is what we see dead
divers wearing" to "These wings are the design used by most Northeastern
wreck divers and we have no problems whatsoever". For those who think I'm
beating a dead horse -- I am, but I'm trying to add the plausible reason
why "bondage" is no good idea. 

I know a lot divers using "bondage" without any incidences. I also know 
one who jumped in and found himself on the bottom at 100' in no time with a
wing that didn't hold air. What happened? A low pull dump had gotten wedged
behind his backplate and was stuck. Since the bungee cords work as an
auto-deflate, any minor leak will let the air out of the wing in no time.
With a non-bondage wing a low dump valve stuck open wouldn't actively purge
the wing -- it would just bleed air out as the wing approached full volume.
You'd still get ample buoyancy in a horizontal, slightly head-up position.
The same would go for any otherwise insignificant puncture or faulty fitting.

Thus, I believe the combination of bungee auto-deflate and jammed pull
dumps to be _the_ deadly combination. I don't choose either feature. If you
do, please get rid of the balls on the pull cords or the bungee. These
features in combination may give you a catastrophic failure. Why not get
rid of both? Would for instance an OMS be unwieldy without the bungee? 

At any rate, next time bondage wings won't inflate and hold air, check if
the pull dumps are stuck in the open position. BTW, what purpose does low
pull dumps really serve? Without that bungee assisted auto-deflate one
would never be able to purge air by pulling a low dump anyway -- since air
likes to float in water you'd have to swim head-down to bring the air to
the low dumps. (OK, so maybe you do assume an inverted position sometimes
but do we really need alternative dumps for any conceivable posture?) 

Rather, dump air through the corrugated hose and lose those pull dumps, the
bungee or preferably both! The fact that it's all hunky dory as long as the
balls of the pull dumps don't snag or get wedged doesn't mean it's a safe
combination. You've got an auto-deflate wing and _any_ minor leak will
purge it. The bungee puts a constant strain on the wing and will collapse
it whenever the opportunity presents itself. 

If you elect to keep bungee as well as pull dumps, at least check that the
wing holds air before you jump in. If a pull dump is jammed open you'll
know the moment you try to fill the wing.

regards,

Hans 


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