Dry Suit and OW Cert at the same time?

[CraigE]

I JUST completed my Open Water Certification in a dry suit. Was not a problem at all.

As long as your instructor knows and is aware of the changes. According to the manuals, you control your bouyance with the suite, not the BC for fin pivot skills. On my 2nd day of dives We just did the last drill of removing the Dry Suite Inflator hose and replacement skill to complete my Dry Suite Certification.

Just dove again on Saturday and I am soo happy I decided to go Dry..

-Craig

 

[ligersandtions]

If it's cold, dive dry. It's much more likely that you'll continue diving rather than doing it now and again in warm destinations.

As Steve said, at this point it'll just be 'how you learned'.

And, FWIW, all a drysuit brings over a wetsuit one an additional task; specifically the filling and venting of the suit in addition to the BC. It's pretty simple and may eventually become muscle memory (another dry diver and I decided to dive wet last saturday for the first time in a few years, and both of us caught ourselves lifting our arms to vent our suits).

haha, I saw that!

 

[tgsmith]

I wouldn't do your OW course in a drysuit. Simple reason being you may end up not liking diving enough. It's quite common. Also, you may still like diving, but not enough to do cold water diving. Most scuba divers are primarily vacation divers that only dive when they head out to a tropical place(or atleast somewhere warm). Rent one first and see if it's for you.

Save the money on buying until you're sure. This also seems to be a lesson that is learned the hard way by most people.

 

[Jax Teller]

......

 

[ligersandtions]

I wouldn't do your OW course in a drysuit. Simple reason being you may end up not liking diving enough. It's quite common. Also, you may still like diving, but not enough to do cold water diving. Most scuba divers are primarily vacation divers that only dive when they head out to a tropical place(or atleast somewhere warm). Rent one first and see if it's for you.

Save the money on buying until you're sure. This also seems to be a lesson that is learned the hard way by most people.

I would fully agree that you should rent a drysuit....definitely do not buy one before you start your training.

But if the opportunity to take the class in a drysuit exists, jump on it!

 

[Sas]

Jax

You may not have seen this as it was posted in one of the other half-dozen threads you've started this week. But I wonder if, between deciding whether to spend your wife's borrowed student grant money on your diving equipment, figuring out what to eat while diving and adding to your possible DCS woes by deciding to dive primarily in cold water...if you have bothered to ask either your prospective dive instructor or DAN about the correlation between DCS and obesity.

Please read below:

Gee, hate to throw a wet blanket on this thread, but Jax...I didn't get his age, says he's "5'11 between 260 and 275." That ht and wt gives a BMI of 36+. 30 being the level of obese. Two things come to mind....

1) DAN says that obesity can increase the chances of DCS (specifically the bends). This can be avoided for the most part by diving conservatively, but the fact is the more tissue you have, the more nitrogen you absorb.

2) Most certifying agencies require at least the minimal ability to both tread water for a period of time and swim a number of laps in the pool without the assistance of fins or flotation devices.

While it is true that adaptive techniques have allowed differently-abled divers to enjoy the sport, there is still a certain level of cardio-vascular health needed for diving. You may also be required to carry tanks over a distance for a shore dive or be able to swim to or from a dive site from a boat. Are you doing a triathlon? No, but only you can decide if diving is right for you.

You may want to find a local dive shop (LDS) and speak with an instructor about your concerns. You can also call or write the Diver Alert Network (DAN) about the correlation between obesity and decompression sickness.

Good luck!

You may also want to read Jim Lap's recent post about who is responsible for what. Bottom line is the only person responisble for your dive safety is you.

How exactly this this answering the OP's question?

Jax, if there is an opportunity to do your OW in a drysuit and it is cold water, take it They are not difficult to learn at all and it will make your diving a lot more comfortable.

 

[bamamedic]

Jax,

I'd just like to mention that I really admire your enthusiasm....it is readily apparent from your posts that you're just thrilled to learn to dive! I wish more people had your attitude...

Secondly, I don't think it would be too terribly difficult to learn to dive in a drysuit. I learned how to dive a drysuit somewhere around my 50th dive, and I can't say that it was all that difficult. Another option might be to take the course in a decent-fitting 7mm wetsuit, that will provide enough thermal protection to be comfortable, then purchase a drysuit and take the drysuit course once you're certain you're wanting to stick with diving.

Finding a rental drysuit to take your OW course in might be a wee bit difficult (it can be hard to find a rental drysuit that fits well, especially if you're a nonstandard size), and you'd want to make sure that you really like diving before you plunk down the $1000 or so to purchase your own drysuit.