Subwing

[veedubtek]

Anyone seen this? Got this? Heard about this?

Looks pretty fun:

http://www.subwing.com/

 

[jdonalds]

Looks like fun for short periods of time. The "diver" would enjoy it but it's not an observable sport so doesn't include the laughs or pleasure of watching someone use it. Perhaps two at the same time might make more sense.

I can think of two potential safety related issues.

1) People might get deep let go losing the advantage of the wing bringing them to the surface. Or they might forget to let go, panic, and stay too deep. How many times have you watched someone hold onto a tow rope after they've failed to stand up on the wake board and you're yelling "Let go. let go."

2) It might be tempting to use SCUBA with the Subwing to greatly extend underwater time. That would be a bad idea. SCUBA requires controlled ascents. Breath hold diving does not require controlled ascents. I did SCUBA for 20 years. Being 25 feet underwater is pretty deep for someone not used to that kind of diving.

Also $895 seems a bit extreme.

I notice the young man wasn't wearing a life jacket...

 

[KXCam22]

That would be fun. That technology has been used for underwater searches. The $895 seem steep when you could make an ugly one out of plywood and a file in 3 beer (a beer is a variable unit of time). Cam.

 

[BravoMike]

Looks like shark bate to me!

 

[Andy S]

I built a simple wing and first used it on the 2011 Bimini trip. I took it on the 2014 Bimini trip but did not use it. It takes some practice to get good at it. For my wing the optimum speed was about 6 to 8 mph. It is made out of a pressure treated 2" x 12" and shaped like an airplane wing.

 

[KXCam22]

Thats cool. I rest my case. How many beer to build? Cam

 

[Andy S]

Thats cool. I rest my case. How many beer to build? Cam

I actually built 2 of these and if I remember, too many beers in between, I think it was a 4 beer project or 2 beers per wing.