The problem with Wing BCD’s is that most of them are just poorly designed. The Old Horseshoe design is terrible, because gas can only move around when you are in a head up position, and big slugs of gas moving around mess with your trim. With the doughnut design, the wing gas moves around better, and the wing can be designed a little narrower for the same amount of lift, and narrow is good. A big, wide Taco Wing, with two big pontoons of gas inflated Wing wrapped around both sides of your double cylinders, makes navigating restrictions difficult, adversely impacts your hydrodynamics, causes you to expend more energy, and use more gas than necessary. All this increases your exposure to DCS, oxygen toxicity, and CO2 narcosis, among other bad things. The more the lift, the wider the wing, for any given design.

IMHO, I do not need 60# of lift, and I do not need the big, wide 60# Taco associated with the big, wide 60# wing!! If I were properly weighted for the dive (as I should be), and diving my big twin Blue Steel 120’s, with two AL80’s for deco gas, that is a lot of gas by any standard you may apply. If I was to breath all of that gas on the dive, my weight differential would only be (400 cf of Air/Nitrox x 0.08 lbs/cf of gas = 32 lbs) 32 lbs. That is a pretty big dive from a gas usage standpoint, and it would be significantly less than 32# if we were to use Trimix, which is of course lighter than air. So, with some extra lift for poor initial weighting contingency, I like something like 45# of lift, as a max, for the kind of open circuit diving I do.

When it comes to deeper diving, I don’t need more lift, but I might need a Dual Bladder? A Dual Bladder Wing is not simply a good idea, it is essential for deep deco dives. Simply put, on deep dives we do not have the time to screw around with alternate ascent plans involving Lift Bags and SMB’s, in the event of a torn corrugated hose or broken elbow, nut, whatever. So, a Dual Bladder Wing is good, but most Dual Bladder Wings are huge, and wide, and heavy, and 60#!!!! A corrugated hose over each shoulder is only like the cherry on top of the Crap Sundae.

So, for deeper diving I want to start out being weighted properly, and I want a Dual Bladder Wing that is no more than 45# of lift, but with as small a profile as possible, and because I am a wreck diver, I also need it to be rugged. The Dive Rite Rec XT, which offers the Dual Bladder option, works very well for me. It is a rugged, Dual Bladder Wing with 45# of lift, with a side mount Secondary Bladder corrugated hose that I hardly even notice is there.

When I come out of a wreck, the sides of my Wing are always dirty, simply because I make a lot of wreck contact. The cover on the Rec XT is uber tough!! But the Rec XT also has adjustable bungees to keep the sides trimmed up, close to my sides, however I want them, which allows me to keep my profile narrow. But the bungees are on my side of the Wing, not the edges of the Wing, where they would get all scuffed up.

The bottom line is that the Dive Rite Rec XT 45# Wing is a rugged, low profile, adjustable, Dual Bladder Wing that is intelligently designed, and built to last. Dive Rite is solid company, with great customer service, and a loyal following. Aside from all that, the Rec XT is reasonably priced.