I hate my new drysuit

[AbyssalPlains]

Took my Whites Catalyst 360 to the pool today to try it out. Boy, am I disappointed. At this point, I don't know how much of my frustration is due to me not being used to drysuit and how much is due to a suit that might end up on eBay before it sees the ocean. Is it normal for the first time in a drysuit to feel like a wiener in a vacuum package? I mean, no matter how much weight I added to be able to add more air, this thing was bearable, but never comfortable. My wetsuits feel way less constricting. Whenever I added enough air to feel comfortable, a big air bubble would form and go either to my feet or to my shoulders, where it would accumulate in two huge bubbles over my shoulders. The people in the pool made fun of me and said I looked like a football player in full tackle padding. I had the feeling that if I could get the air that was trapped in my shoulders to evenly distribute throughout the suit, this thing might even work. Is a drysuit supposed to wrap around your extremities like cling film? Does it just take getting used to? Apart from that, the latex wrist seals leaked, even though I never trimmed them. Not a huge deal, but my forearms were soaking wet well past my wrists.

Who said diving dry was more fun than diving wet????

Maybe I SHOULD have ordered a Fusion...

:furious:

 

[TSandM]

I'd highly recommend you have someone who is familiar with dry suits look at the fit.

Dry suits (except for the Fusion, in my experience anyway) are more constricting than wetsuits. Squeeze makes it more so, but you can't weight yourself until the suit is just a big bag you float around in, because that's WAY more air than you can manage.

If you have thin wrists with prominent tendons, your wrist seals are GOING to leak, even if they fit perfectly. The heavy-duty seals White's uses on the Fusion leak more than the lighter seals used by other suits, even if they last longer. I found that using a wide rubber band or a loop of surgical tubing would put enough compression on the seals that my wrists would only be damp at the end of the dive, which was my experience with other suits and wet gloves.

You have a very good point in your last sentence. As I found on my recent trip to Mexico, being wet in a dry suit is MUCH more uncomfortable and unbearable than being wet in a wetsuit. Dry suits are supposed to keep you damp, dammit, and when they don't succeed in that, they are infinitely annoying.

The squeeze and fit issues may or may not simply be a matter of acclimatizing yourself to a new way of diving. Only someone who knows how dry suits should fit can tell you.

 

[masterof0]

Ironically, I just dove a Catalyst last weekend and did the pool dive a couple of days prior. Couple of things to keep in mind.

You are diving a bag suit. When in the pool, you likely didn't have any undergarments on that will help distribute the air. Once you get some undergarments on that feeling of a bubble bouncing around the suit goes away (the more loft the undergarment has, the more distributed the air will be). Also, it is not nearly as bad at diving depth than in a pool with a more uniform pressure on the suit.

Make sure you "burp" the suit before you get in the water. It is definitely a different feeling than a wetsuit. On the surface, you feel like you are vacuum packed in teh suit. This is not a bad thing since it means you don't have any air in the suit. If you are going to just walk around or are between dives, having air in the suit definitely makes it more comfortable, but you will want to burp it before you get in the water again. As you descend and add air, this feeling goes away.

This was my first experience in a dry suit, so I can't speak for all dry suits, but it was definitely the case for the catalyst. The lycra skin on the fusion or use of a neoprene suit, would definitely mitigate some of these feelings due to the uniform tension constantly being exerted on the suit.

As for the space, you may have a suit that is slightly too large. If you are like me, if I get something that will fit me in the chest and hips, then the limbs are WAAAAYYYYY to long which leads to a lot of extra space. But your challenge me be just the opposite. If you get something that will fit your limbs, you may find that it is too big in the torso area. Wearing an undergarment will also help fill in this gap.

Not sure about the seals. Were your forearms the only thing wet or did water leak in and settle in your feet? was it a possibility of sweat? The first time I wore my suit out, I wore too heavy of undergarments and ended up sweating my rear off. This lead to me being wet not because my suit leaked but because I was too warm.

I would say before you get too frustrated, give it a shot at depth. Definitely a much different experience than in the pool

Just my 2 cents worth....

 

[NudeDiver]

Took my Whites Catalyst 360 to the pool today to try it out. Boy, am I disappointed.

Didn't you try it on before buying it?

Who said diving dry was more fun than diving wet????

Did someone say this??? I can't imagine anyone ever really thinking this is true. Diving dry may be more reasonable than diving wet. It may be more comfortable in a particular environment. It may be more "fun" in a particular environment, simply because diving wet would be impossibly uncomfortable and therefore you could not dive at all....but in and of itself, in any environment where warmth is not an issue, I can't imagine why anyone would think diving dry is more FUN than diving wet, even if it does have certain advantages.

Anyway - sounds like your suit is too small for you - I've found drysuits more constricting than wetsuits in general - but not as bad as you are describing, or even close.

 

[Teamcasa]

I have a Catalyst 360 and really like diving in it. Yes, switching from a wetsuit to a brand new drysuit will take a little getting used to. First, you do have to add more weight but if you add too much, the bubble in the suit will be too difficult to manage. I add about 6 -7 more pounds that my 7mm for SoCal diving.
Second, use as little air in the suit as possible, just enough to relieve the squeeze, use your BC/Wing for buoyancy control, not your suit.
My seals don’t leak but if your wrist seals do,, make sure the thumb loop for your undergarment is off of your thumb and tucked back, well away from the seal. I forgot on one dive and my arm was soaked! If the seal is tight, it should not leak.

Take heart, you will love diving in your suit, it just takes a bit of practice.

 

[spectrum]

Yea, check the fit and get trained or mentored. I find it had to understand the need to add any air for the sake of comfort in a pool of typical depth.

For most divers there is a 10-20 dive breaking in period to finesse your configuration and adapt your skills.

Pete

 

[Gombessa]

A lot of people hate drysuits the first time they try them. But if you really dive in waters cold enough to justify them over wetsuits, you get over it REALLY quickly. If you're cold in a pool, it's hard to say what the problem is - maybe insufficient underwear? What's the pool temp?

How squeezed to dive the suit and air bubble management is an arcane art, and really takes many people (like me) a long time to get the hang of it.

 

[WHITES Justin]

Took my Whites Catalyst 360 to the pool today to try it out. Boy, am I disappointed. At this point, I don't know how much of my frustration is due to me not being used to drysuit and how much is due to a suit that might end up on eBay before it sees the ocean. Is it normal for the first time in a drysuit to feel like a wiener in a vacuum package? I mean, no matter how much weight I added to be able to add more air, this thing was bearable, but never comfortable. My wetsuits feel way less constricting. Whenever I added enough air to feel comfortable, a big air bubble would form and go either to my feet or to my shoulders, where it would accumulate in two huge bubbles over my shoulders. The people in the pool made fun of me and said I looked like a football player in full tackle padding. I had the feeling that if I could get the air that was trapped in my shoulders to evenly distribute throughout the suit, this thing might even work. Is a drysuit supposed to wrap around your extremities like cling film? Does it just take getting used to? Apart from that, the latex wrist seals leaked, even though I never trimmed them. Not a huge deal, but my forearms were soaking wet well past my wrists.

Who said diving dry was more fun than diving wet????

Maybe I SHOULD have ordered a Fusion...

:furious:

Hi There,

When you take the next step from a wetsuit to a Drysuit there is definitley a learning curve and sometimes it can be frustrating learning to dive new equipment. For example, I have literally hundreds of dives with the exact same gear configuration, and if I change so much as the placement of a lanyard I feel like I have an off dive. Upgrading from a wetsuit to a Drysuit is one of the largest gear changes you will ever make and it requires you to master new diving techniques and procedures.

Air management is the most important skill to master in a Drysuit. When you are on the surface you must completely vent the Drysuit via the exhaust valve to be able to descend. Once you begin your descent you will feel a "suit squeeze" after about 5 feet and you must equalize this with short bursts of air from your intake valve. The deeper you go, the more air you will need to add to the suit to offset the suit squeeze. There are 2 schools of thought on how much air you should put in your Drysuit. Some people like to use their Drysuit as their sole source of buoyancy and not use the BCD at all. Personally I don't like this method as it can create those air bubbles in your Drysuit. The 2nd method and the one I recommend is to put just enough air in your suit to offset the squeeze and stay warm, and use your BCD for the majority of your buoyancy.

When you are on a real dive the pressure will keep most of the air in your Drysuit under control. You will learn the techniques for exhausting any excess air through your exhaust valve by either rolling your shoulder back and up so that is at the highest point on your body (this will only work if you have your exhaust valve opened) or by going vertical and manually depressing your exhaust valve.

Your weighting will definitly change when you move into a Drysuit as well and you should perform a buoyancy check so that you can begin training with the weight that you will dive with. Ankle weights are a good option when you begin learning to dive dry as well as they will help keep you streamlined until you learn to control your suit.

The most important thing that you can do is a Drysuit class with an experienced instructor who can show you the techniques and tricks. With time I am sure that you will find Drysuit diving to be very beneficial, fun and easy. I can understand your frustration and it is completely normal but please don't give up on it.

I hope some of this information helps, but if you could call me directly I would be more than happy to discuss this further. My direct line is 866-652-8556 ext 280.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Best Regards,

Justin Balaski
Regional Sales Manager
Whites Manufacturing Ltd.

 

[AndyDragon]

I'll add my vote to 'keep trying'. I hated my dry suit. A LOT. It took me several dives before I got comfortable. I STILL prefer diving wet, but I know when it's cold, I can dive and it does it's job.

Here's a story from another instructor that works with me. Bought his dry suit. Brought it home and put it on and took it off a dozen or so times. He thought he was gold. Went to the first pool session, got out, threw it in the corner and exclaimed that he just wasted $2k. Now? He dives his dry suit about 3x's more than his wet suit. Keep your chin up, and keep at it. Spend as much time as you can with long-time dry suit divers and also newer dry suit divers (sometimes seeing others with the same issues can relieve a lot of the stress and feeling of failing). Best of luck with your foray into the dry wet world...

 

[D_B]

I hated mine too, I was ready to sell my drysuit after the first dives for class
... now I think I have the hang of it .

Gonna mention here that having good training by a good mentor or instructor will go a long way to help you feel comfortable, and make you a safer drysuit diver ... I had a very thorough class and posted my struggles in the Advanced Diving forum