Red Hat Maximus 30lb

[Ahoy]

Looking for a new wing to go onto my Transpac harness. Mainly warm water diving, singles. Seems to tick the box - anyone got one and care to offer an opinion? About £100 cheaper than DiveRite's own version and made here too - seems a no brainer!
Thanks,
S.

[Moleshome]

I've got one, only dived it a couple of times so far but it does the job. Seems well built, sturdy cover.

My only adverse comment is that I'd prefer the inflator hose to be offset rather than central.

[Ahoy]

Thanks, I hadn't noticed the routing. Does it create any problems rubbing against the first stage?
S.

[Moleshome]

Not that I've noticed.

[DivingAndy]

I bought this as my first wing when I moved away from diving in a BCD. I was happy with it. I found the central hose position to be a bit of a pain, but only if the wing was fully inflated as it did make contact with my first stage. I never enjoyed having to use an adapter with my DIN regs...
After a few years (possibly 3?) the internal bladder started to wear out and leak. I was working as a diver so I couldn't really say how many dives it had before I got a new one... maybe 600-800? It got a lot of use! I've got a Hollis S25 now, which I've had for a similar amount of time and have done a similar amount of dives on, and it is still going strong. The Hollis wing was more expensive though. So you get what you pay for I guess, but the red hat 30lb wing still does the job well. The only other difference between the Red Hat and the Hollis I have now is that the Hollis wing is better shaped, so doesn't wrap around the tank as much. It has a smaller lift capacity though, and I can't say that I noticed any drag or anything with the Red Hat wing while diving.

EDIT: Just thinking about it... if you have a Scubapro MK25 first stage and route a hose from the plug on the bottom or have reg similar to this then I can see the position of the inflator hose possibly getting in the way. I have a MK17, with the hoses coming off the sides and although it would make contact, there were never any issues.

[Ahoy]

Useful info, thanks to you both.
S.

[JimmE]

I've had one for a few years now, very pleased with it. Only change I made was to fit a shorter corrugated inflation hose - the original one is very long!

I dive it with a DIN Apeks DS4 and have never had any issue with the dump valve interfering with the reg. Have never noticed it as an issue.

Mine has not had anywhere near as much use as DivingAndy, as the majority of my dives are twinset dives, so using a different wing, but for single cylinder diving I don't think it can be beaten for the price. I'd buy another one tomorrow if I needed to.

[jacko]

I’ve had one for about 5 years, outer cover of the wing split but they replaced foc.
Harness is pretty much identical to the apeks for a lot less pennies.