Dry Suit Diving Advice

[NAM001]

Thats good. My position is skewed to the safety side of the equations.

No. My position is that he may - but will not necessarily - be one of the statistics.

---------- Post added October 19th, 2014 at 10:27 AM ----------

When i first tried my dry suit i hd the perverbial problems. I didnt have anyone to teach me teh skills. I got mine finally at a DUI rally. There i learned the hard way about whether to use the suit for buoyancy of hte bcd or bp/w. Either way your history has students in pool for learning and limited depth usage till they obtain profieciency. A world apart from taking the thing out of the box putting it on and junping in for a dive.

Our divers are about 50% dry suit from day 1, but this of course means that they are only certied to 18-20m for at leads their first 25 dives. We do try to start them with a pool session, then least 4-5 dives at 5-12m.
Generally folks don't have much trouble, actually the only problem case I can recall was a guy with a faulty weight pocket he kept dropping.

 

[Storker]

your history has students in pool for learning and limited depth usage till they obtain profieciency.

When I took my OW, we did the pool stuff in wetsuits and were given drysuits at the open water dives. I imagine that that's a pretty standard way of doing it, because donning a DS in an indoor pool would be uncomfortably warm.

 

[raftingtigger]

donning a DS in an indoor pool would be uncomfortably warm.

The pool all our local DS divers are trained in (and the one I use for some of my DS tests) is a pleasant 92F. Hydrate first, relax, and keep the session fairly short (20 min or so) and it works well. If you can do the stuff in a wetsuit and not overheat then the pool is cool enough to at least try out the dry suit in the same pool.

 

[Storker]

Hydrate first, relax, and keep the session fairly short (20 min or so) and it works well. If you can do the stuff in a wetsuit and not overheat then the pool is cool enough to at least try out the dry suit in the same pool.

I wasn't talking about trying out the DS. I was talking about the confined water exercises for the OW cert. For me, that took a bit more than 20 min...


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[raftingtigger]

I wasn't talking about trying out the DS. I was talking about the confined water exercises for the OW cert. For me, that took a bit more than 20 min...


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I agree, doing a full CW session in a warm pool using a DS is probably a bit much, nor was it what I meant. OTHO, if the pool is cool enough to use a wetsuit I don't see any reason why a DS with minimal insulation wouldn't work just as well. Be that as it may, I don't think an OW student (on dive #1) should have their first experience with a DS in the ocean. Of course I kind of feel that way about a thick wetsuit too (knowing full well that is how MOST of the local classes I have seen are conducted).

 

[FinnMom]

Even a neophrene drysuit is OK in a pool if you change your undergarmet to something lightweight like cotton pj pants and a long-sleeve t-shirt. The temp is bearable for an hour or two and that is long enough to practice bouyancy control and at least once practice rolling to correct a feet-going skyward problem.

 

[Vindobona]

I just completed the PADI Drysuit specialty course this weekend.
It was fun but challenging, as I had some issues with buoyancy (we were expected to use only the drysuit for buoyancy, not a combination of BCD and drysuit).
When I left the exhaust valve completely open, I dropped like a stone because all the air I let into my suit immediately went out again.
Then I opened the exhaust valve 2 stops which worked well for a while, but after a few minutes going to a different depth I had buoyancy issues again. I always had either negative or positive buoyancy and just couldn't get it neutral.
I played around with the exhaust valve quite a lot and had to put air into my suit very often, plus focus on my breathing technique to compensate for my buoyancy troubles. I came close to the ground too often, which resulted in bad sight for the whole group. This made me quite un-relaxed and slightly stressed, and because I was breathing way too fast I ran out of air first of the whole group.

All in all, not a smooth dive.

I think I could do much better if I would use mainly the BCD for buoyancy (I don't have any issues getting perfect buyoancy with the BCD) and leave the exhaust valve of the drysuit open all the time and only use the inflator of the drysuit to avoid a squeeze, but not for buoyancy.

 

[Storker]

I had some issues with buoyancy (we were expected to use only the drysuit for buoyancy, not a combination of BCD and drysuit).
When I left the exhaust valve completely open, I dropped like a stone because all the air I let into my suit immediately went out again.
Then I opened the exhaust valve 2 stops which worked well for a while, but after a few minutes going to a different depth I had buoyancy issues again. I always had either negative or positive buoyancy and just couldn't get it neutral.

Did you operate your exhaust valve manually, or did you rely on it dumping air automatically?

IME, there's two ways of dumping air from a drysuit:

1. Exhaust valve open, horizontal trim. When dumping is necessary, roll to your right and lift your left elbow. When you've dumped enough air, resume normal position.
2. Exhaust valve closed, any trim. When dumping is necessary, make sure exhaust valve is higher than most of the rest of you, press the exhaust valve with your right hand.

If I were a beginner, I'd choose option 2, since it gives me the best control of my suit air. Option 1 requires you to close the valve before ascending if you ascend head-first, otherwise you'll lose all your suit air. If fit hits the shan, the elevator is starting and you need to dump air quickly, you can operate your suit exhaust valve with your right hand and your BCD inflator with your left hand, simultaneously.

And "open" is anything from wide open, via a few clicks closed to just a few clicks open. Depends on your gear, so you'll have to use trial and error to find what's best for you and your gear. Some suits leak through a fully open valve, and you'll surface with a soaking wet left upper arm, others don't.

 

[AfterDark]

From what I've heard, highly likely, but not 100% guaranteed (that you can tell dangerously uncomfortable from just regular uncomfortable). I could be wrong.

When I put my head thru the neck seal for the 1st time on my current dry suit and after a few minutes it felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head I'd said that's not good. I'm no doctor but when the pressure around my neck makes me hear my heart beat in my head not good. I cut the seal and have survived every dive since.

---------- Post added October 25th, 2014 at 01:33 PM ----------

Most of that thread is a good read. And it's got one of the better discussions I've seen about the air-in-suit vs air-in-wing/BCD issue.

---------- Post added September 23rd, 2014 at 10:57 AM ----------


I've seen that claim over and over at this board. Weird thing is, I've never heard anyone complaining about such a problem around here, where practically everyone dives dry. Yes, some of the folks I meet use gaiters, but that's usually if they've got thin lower legs so they get a lot of "dead" volume around their lower legs and ankles. Like my son, who's got skinny legs and found that gaiters help with floaty feet. If you (like me...) have legs that require loose fit type of jeans, I'd say that the air-in-legs issue is way overblown and gaiters are not worth the money.

And (also around here) a feet-first ascent or two is more or less expected during the first dives

I agree during the 30+ I've been using dry suits (self taught no classes then) the only time I got air to my boots was when I went upside down to play hockey on the underside of the ice. I don't get it, maybe people need to stop taking dry suit classes and start learning on their own? I just don't get it.

---------- Post added October 25th, 2014 at 01:39 PM ----------

I am glad to hear you are not going beyond 30 ft cause a DS is not an item of "If i loose bouyancy control" but when. Most important is air in the wing for buoyancy and only enough air in the suit for squeeze relief. The inportance of a pee valve will come in its own time when its importance becomes clear.

Good lock and post again with your post dive thoughts.

Depends.

---------- Post added October 25th, 2014 at 01:46 PM ----------

When i first tried my dry suit i hd the perverbial problems. I didnt have anyone to teach me teh skills. I got mine finally at a DUI rally. There i learned the hard way about whether to use the suit for buoyancy of hte bcd or bp/w. Either way your history has students in pool for learning and limited depth usage till they obtain profieciency. A world apart from taking the thing out of the box putting it on and junping in for a dive.

My 1st one came with directions of use; of course that was 30+ years ago when companies didn't get sued for stuff like that.

 

[Storker]

When I put my head thru the neck seal for the 1st time on my current dry suit and after a few minutes it felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head I'd said that's not good.

I'd say that you probably was on the right track there

The standard test I've experienced a couple of times is that if someone can slip a couple of fingers inside your correctly tucked neck seal without much trouble and without you starting to feel as if someone's choking you, the seal is proably not too tight. If five finger go in the same way, it's probably too loose.


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