Scubapro X-Tek Sidemount Wing Black 20LT 45 lbs Lift Capacity

A BCD should fit snugly enough that it does not ride up toward your ears when inflated, while still letting you breathe fully. Fasten the waist and cummerbund first, then adjust the shoulder straps so the tank sits close to your back and the shoulders cannot slide off. With the BCD fully inflated at the surface you should still be able to take a deep, comfortable breath; if it squeezes your chest, loosen it or move up a size.

Rinse the outside in fresh water and also flush the inside of the bladder, because salt water gets in through the inflator and dump valves. Fill the bladder roughly a third full of fresh water through the oral inflator, slosh it around, then drain it out through the inflator and each dump valve. Hang it to dry out of direct sunlight and store it partially inflated so the bladder walls do not stick together.

Integrated weight pockets carry the lead in the BCD itself, which many divers find more comfortable and easier on the hips, while a weight belt keeps the weight independent of your BCD. Either way, you must be able to release your ditchable weight quickly with one hand, and your buddy should know how your system releases. Non-ditchable trim pockets are useful for balance but should never hold weight you might need to drop.

Make sure the BCD is completely dry inside and out before packing so it does not mildew in transit. Remove all weights, deflate it fully, and fold or roll it around softer items such as a wetsuit to cushion the inflator and valves. Avoid hard creases in the air cell, and unpack and air it out as soon as you arrive.

Follow the service interval in the manufacturer's manual, which is commonly an annual inspection alongside the rest of your life-support gear. Have the inflator, dump valves, and bladder checked any time the inflator sticks, free-flows, feels rough, or the BCD holds air poorly. Between services, confirm that it inflates and deflates properly as part of every pre-dive check.

A jacket-style BCD holds air in panels that wrap around your sides as well as your back, while a back-inflate BCD keeps the entire air cell behind you. Jacket styles tend to feel very stable and upright at the surface, and back-inflate styles keep the chest clear and are often preferred for horizontal trim underwater. Neither is objectively better, so treat it as a fit and preference decision and try both if you can.

Most recreational BCDs use an adjustable cam band sized for common single-cylinder diameters, so standard aluminum and steel tanks generally work. Re-check the band tension after the first wetting, because webbing can relax slightly and let the tank shift. If you dive doubles or unusual cylinder diameters, confirm compatibility with the manufacturer before assuming it will hold.

It provides 45 lbs of lift, which is 20.4 kg, from a compact independent air cell. That capacity is intended for sidemount configurations where cylinders ride at the diver's sides. The complete wing assembly weighs 2.95 lb (1.34 kg), and it is not weight integrated.

A sidemount wing is designed for cylinders clipped along the diver's sides instead of mounted on the back. Sidemount diving was originally developed for better maneuverability in small spaces such as caves, and its advantages have since made it popular in many other diving environments.

The harness system is fully adjustable, and a crotch strap helps keep the rig in position; contact us to confirm your setup.

No. SCUBAPRO developed the X-TEK sidemount system in coordination with leading sidemount cave divers, but the modular design lets you build a rig for any recreational or technical sidemount dive plan. Sidemount started as a solution for tight overhead spaces, and today sidemount divers can be found in a wide variety of water environments.