Bone To Pick with PADI Dry Suit Cert.

[carrielsal]

I recently took the SSI course. This book also states to use the drysuit for buoyancy, so there is less task loading. My DS instructor, who is also my tech instructor, does not agree. He told me that if I can't manage air in my wing and DS at the same time I've got much bigger problems.

Carrie

 

[BabyDuck]

I finally got my drysuit and got a very seasoned instructor to do my cert. We did it all by the book and I am now certified to dive dry suits by PADI.

rob, i think this is what the op meant.

op, all i can say is you need to spend more time reading scubaboard! this is a common complaint. rare that the answer to a dive problem is 'more scubaboard'!

 

[Crush]

I agree with the above-given reasons for not using your drysuit for buoyancy.

Getting used to using the BC as your buoyancy control may take you a few dives.

I bought a trilaminate drysuit, custom sized for me. For my first few dives (two or so) I used the suit for buoyancy exclusively, just getting used to adding air, dumping air, etc.. For the next few dives I used a combination of suit and BC for buoyancy, slowly getting used to the multi-tasking of getting the suit fill "just right" while relying on the BC more and more as my sole source of buoyancy control. Now I rely on the BC only for buoyancy, and put just enough air in the suit to keep the squeeze off. This enables me now to, for example, go inverted in the water to get a nice close look at/photo of a nudibranch while not worrying about shooting to the surface feet-first.

 

[vjanelle]

Ever dry suit course I've seen has always begun with "padi wants you to do this, but we would like you to practice using the bcd and eliminating just the squeeze for now".

That being said, being able to control a redundant set of buoyancy is a useful skill, no? For anything less than 10m I'll use the mostly suit and my lungs to control myself(and chicken wing to dump air if I need to go up after someone)

 

[Rainer]

The reality is, **for experienced divers, in singles, and with a balanced rig**, the amount of gas needed to offset suit squeeze IS about the amount of gas needed to offset the weight of the back gas (i.e. how much you'll be negative at the start of the dive). In singles, I hardly need to touch my wing inflator.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

+1 for what Rainer wrote.

Railing against the deficiencies/oversimplification of PADI training is . To be fair, many PADI instructors choose to teach above and beyond the standards dictated by the certifying agency. (My drysuit instructor did.) FWIW, I think your instructor should have at least mentioned the buoyancy control options that you have with two separate buoyancy control devices.

In practice, if you are properly weighted, diving a "balanced" single-tank rig, and using an incompressible shell drysuit, the gas needed to offset squeeze is just about the amount you need to establish neutral buoyancy at depth.

Practice diving the drysuit both ways for buoyancy control: using drysuit only and using a combination of drysuit and BCD. Do what feels most comfortable for you. Understand that there will come a day when you may want to run more gas in your suit to ensure maximal loft of your undergarments. Have fun practicing. Be patient. It takes a while before things start feeling "right."

 

[fisheater]

The reality is, **for experienced divers, in singles, and with a balanced rig**, the amount of gas needed to offset suit squeeze IS about the amount of gas needed to offset the weight of the back gas (i.e. how much you'll be negative at the start of the dive). In singles, I hardly need to touch my wing inflator.

Thanks. I'm about to get a drysuit and was hypothesizing just what you pointed out.

 

[Codiak]

It's been said, do what works best for you.

Personally, for bouyancy
BC on the surface
Drysuit below

I stay warmer and conserve argon

 

[DCBC]

Railing against the deficiencies/oversimplification of PADI training is . To be fair, many PADI instructors choose to teach above and beyond the standards dictated by the certifying agency.

Hitting horses aside, some would argue that the PADI instructors that surpass PADI standards, are the only ones affiliated with the organization that teach responsibly.

 

[Web Monkey]

The problem is that I recently did some ocean dives on a live a board towards my AOW. I had a different instructor, also PADI, along with several other PADI instructors and very long term dry suit divers on the trip. Most of our dives were less than 20 feet. Using the dry suit for buoyancy, as REQUIRED by PADI, led to nearly failing my Buoyancy dive. Once I got back on the boat I asked each of the other instructors and the long term divers what they did....nobody used the suit for buoyancy. They all said they taught the PADI way but then advised their students to only eliminate suit squeeze with gas and use the BC or wing for buoyancy.

It really pisses me off to be told this by a different set of instructors and to be told that PADI is creating more problems than they are solving for dry suit divers. PADI, and any other agencies that teach only dry suit buoyancy need to re-evaluate what they teach or also teach the "better" way by using the BC/wing for basic buoyancy control.

The problem is that you missed out on a critical aspect of the class: weighting.

If you get your weighting correct, the amount of air required to prevent suit squeeze is the same amount needed to maintain neutral buoyancy, so you won't need to use your BC.

Terry