Cause of high consumption rate

[dumpsterDiver]

I added huge off road tires to my pick up truck recently... AND all of a sudden my mpg drops a lot. Do you think it MIGHT have anything to do with the tires?

 

[danvolker]

Which specific skills would you say drysuits are bad for?

The issue is the skills required for a recreational diver without significant instruction and training in the drysuit....in tropical and sub tropical warm water dive sites, you get many recreational diver that learned how to dive in a wetsuit...then after being cold on winter dives for some years, they buy a dry suit....then..without training, they tend to do many things wrong--they use far too much weight to allow the air to be forced out of the shoulder dump on ascent, and this also has them typically diving with tons of air in their suit and wing/bc, and a head up and feet down posture.

There is actually a lot to learn if you want to dive in a dry suit with the skills we see cave divers so easily demonstrate ( they tend to be the personification of dry suit divers) ...

Since many recreational divers are not going to spend a huge amount of instructional dollars and time on the dry suit issues--how to ascend..how to pick you optimal weighting, how to stay horizontally in trim, etc....I see this skill issue as a big negative for the recreational diver in warm water--that is considering a dry suit--much better would be a semi-dry like the Aqualung suit.

 

[Storker]

The issue is the skills required for a recreational diver without significant instruction and training in the drysuit....in tropical and sub tropical warm water dive sites, you get many recreational diver that learned how to dive in a wetsuit...then after being cold on winter dives for some years, they buy a dry suit....then..without training, they tend to do many things wrong--they use far too much weight to allow the air to be forced out of the shoulder dump on ascent, and this also has them typically diving with tons of air in their suit and wing/bc, and a head up and feet down posture

So basically, what you're describing is the problem with people who start using a new, unfamiliar piece of gear, don't learn to use it properly and, to top it all, forget their basic skills because they're task overloaded by trying to do things the way they do in their old gear.

But the gear itself is responsible for the user error. OK, I see.

There is actually a lot to learn if you want to dive in a dry suit with the skills we see cave divers so easily demonstrate ( they tend to be the personification of dry suit divers) ...

As someone who actually took his OW cert in a dry suit - and most probably never is going to do any kind of "advanced" diving, be it cave, deco, deep (beyond 30msw) or anything else beyond standard sissy-level rec - my opinion is that diving dry is pretty far from rocket science. That was something that baffled me when joining Scubaboard, how widespread the notion that dry suits "are difficult and only for advanced divers" was. I even started a thread about it - unfortunately it disappeared in the crash Scubaboard had about a year ago - because I couldn't understand how that notion had been created. Seriously. Except for my pool sessions during my OW course, I dived exclusively dry for my first ~40 dives, and I never thought that my DS diving was "advanced", and I never ever felt that the DS hampered my skills development.

many recreational divers are not going to spend a huge amount of instructional dollars and time on the dry suit issues

Great. They don't need it. As I said, it ain't rocket science.

how to ascend

That's a little more tricky in a DS than in a WS, but not more that a couple of dives with a decent mentor should square it away easily. Provided the diver isn't a Gilligan, that is.

how to pick you optimal weighting

Same thing as for a WS. Should have been learned during OW class, no later than the PPB dive during AOW class. Add about 2kg (4lbs) if the water is cold (single digit C, sub-50 F), it keeps you warmer.

how to stay horizontally in trim

This claim is in kind of interesting, because it touches on a recurring problem of mine: my feet are usually on the heavy side. In a WS, I have to live with it. Or, alternatively, pull my weight belt so high that it sits above my waist. Or mount my tank so low that it interferes with my finning. On a diving vacation in a rental WS, it's a pain in the a$$. In a DS, when I've descended some 5-10m, I turn upside down, wait until my feet are on the floaty side, flip back to horizontal and fine-tune the amount of air in my feet/legs. Presto, my trim is perfect.

 

[waterpirate]

I will be captain obvious. I have never met a new dry suit diver that did not have a bit of the jitters and aprehension about the whole thing. Add new fins, and you have a recipe for elevated sac.

Your plan is sound. Dive, dive, dive prior to your trip and you will be just fine.
Eric

 

[Steve_C]

i dive wet year around. Some of my buddies dive dry during the winter. At first these were cruise around the quarry dives as opposed to poking around looking for fishies. I had to alter my pacing during the winter. The same pace that was comfortable for all during the summer was wearing them out in the winter.

Drag is only a problem if you are moving. If you are on a moving along kind of dive the dry suit can greatly increase your work load unless you slow down.

 

[danvolker]

So basically, what you're describing is the problem with people who start using a new, unfamiliar piece of gear, don't learn to use it properly and, to top it all, forget their basic skills because they're task overloaded by trying to do things the way they do in their old gear.

But the gear itself is responsible for the user error. OK, I see.



As someone who actually took his OW cert in a dry suit - and most probably never is going to do any kind of "advanced" diving, be it cave, deco, deep (beyond 30msw) or anything else beyond standard sissy-level rec - my opinion is that diving dry is pretty far from rocket science. That was something that baffled me when joining Scubaboard, how widespread the notion that dry suits "are difficult and only for advanced divers" was. I even started a thread about it - unfortunately it disappeared in the crash Scubaboard had about a year ago - because I couldn't understand how that notion had been created. Seriously. Except for my pool sessions during my OW course, I dived exclusively dry for my first ~40 dives, and I never thought that my DS diving was "advanced", and I never ever felt that the DS hampered my skills development.


Great. They don't need it. As I said, it ain't rocket science.


That's a little more tricky in a DS than in a WS, but not more that a couple of dives with a decent mentor should square it away easily. Provided the diver isn't a Gilligan, that is.


Same thing as for a WS. Should have been learned during OW class, no later than the PPB dive during AOW class. Add about 2kg (4lbs) if the water is cold (single digit C, sub-50 F), it keeps you warmer.


This claim is in kind of interesting, because it touches on a recurring problem of mine: my feet are usually on the heavy side. In a WS, I have to live with it. Or, alternatively, pull my weight belt so high that it sits above my waist. Or mount my tank so low that it interferes with my finning. On a diving vacation in a rental WS, it's a pain in the a$$. In a DS, when I've descended some 5-10m, I turn upside down, wait until my feet are on the floaty side, flip back to horizontal and fine-tune the amount of air in my feet/legs. Presto, my trim is perfect.

I am glad that the dry suit helps your trim. Unfortunately, I think you are in the minority with this, where most recreational divers can figure out how to get horizontal trim with a wetsuit, MUCH more easily than they can maintain this with a dry suit...and the reason is fairly obvious....with the wetsuit, you fix the leverage and posture, and everything stays pretty much constant--learning trim is not that challenging( though many divers still do need help with this)...the dry suit is a much greater challenge for most divers, because the air bubble in the drysuit is constantly changing in size, and in location all over the body--sometimes head is light--sometimes the feet are light and heading to the surface with the heat pointing straight down
The point is, you have to learn how to control the bubble, and to limit how large the bubble can grow...while this is not Rocket science, as has been stated, it is harder than most other aspects of diving....and it is much easier to get everything "right" or close to it for most recreational divers, in a wet suit....And as long as we are talking warm water, there is no reason to create all the problems of the drysuit....and for cold water, I still like the semi dry better for most recreational divers...for tech diving, or deep cave, the compression of the wetsuit renders it useless at depths much over 150 feet, so the Dry suit is going to remain King of this realm, for the foreseeable future.

 

[TSandM]

WhiteSands, check your trim -- if you are out of trim in the dry suit and having to dive negative because you're feet low (or positive because you're feet up) that will waste a lot of gas. If you are having a lot of buoyancy variations, requiring filling the suit and dumping it, that will impact your gas usage, too.

 

[Goodtime Adventures]

Yep, in agreement with all of the comments about ditching your dry suit in favour of rash vest and boardies. It will undoubtedly help with air consumption compared to dry suit and more weights. Plus it helps you abide by the number one rule in diving....always look cool!

 

[Nemrod]

Which specific skills would you say drysuits are bad for?

Apparently, at least for the OP, a low SAC rate.

N

 

[Storker]

for cold water, I still like the semi dry better for most recreational divers...

You seem to have some deep-rooted issues with drysuits that no DS diver I know shares with you, and I know quite a few recreational DS divers. I used to know a couple of semidry-users, but they also dive dry now.

You are of course entitled to your own opinion, so I won't try to discuss the issue any more with you. However since you're not entitled to your own facts, I want to point that you're widely exaggerating the challenges of using a DS.

BTW, I'm going diving today. The temperature outside my window right now is 3C (37F), and expected water temp is some 5-8C (40-45F). You're welcome to join us in your semidry. I'll even bring an extra thermos of hot chocolate, 'cause, man, you're gonna need it!


EDIT: It turned out I was a bit optimistic about the temps. The computer says 1C/34F air, 4C/39F water. Nice dive anyway. My feet were a little cold after three-quarters of an hour underwater (I have to put one size bigger socks on that DS, to make place for a bit more wool inside them!), but except for that, nice and toasty :cool2: