Dry Suit Help

[jjhill]

I'm a fairly experienced diver with getting close to 200 dives but have only recently made the splurge for the drysuit. I think the transition won't be too bad. Of course there will be a feeling out process to get totally comfortable with it, but I'm not worried.

As for the drysuit course, I have a good friend who is an Naui Instructor and teaches the course who will come with on a few dives and serve as more of a mentor in an "unoffical" course. I won't get a new fancy c-card out of it (not that I need one) but will still get some top notch mentoring and instruction for FREE!

 

[ligersandtions]

IMO, a good mentor is worth much more than a drysuit course....especially if that mentor will not foce you to do it one way versus the other (i.e. using only drysuit as buoyancy versus using wing for buoyancy). It's good to experiment both ways and see what works for you....most drysuit courses don't do that. A good, experienced mentor can help speed up this process.

 

[Bluey]

2 - Do not go heads downs, specially with dry suit, the correct position is always horizontal, your tool to control your descent and ascent is your lungs, put air in the suit to avoid squeezing, air in the wing to be neutral, a litle more air in your lungs to ascent, or a little less to descent. This way, without too much air in the suit and always horizontal, air in your legs should never be a problem

Although I mostly avoid head down when diving dry, sometimes I want to poke my head down into a hole for a look, or in a strong surge or current I'll need to swim down strongly to get where I'm going.
When I first got my dry suit I spent heaps of time in about 6m of water just going inverted and upright and every other position, then recovering while trying to maintain my depth.
I think it's important to be familiar and comfortable with any position, for safety and for fun.

I realize horizontal is essential in some situations but to be locked into that position at all times just contradicts the whole weightless-freedom thing that is so wonderful about diving.

 

[syonker]

Hi Gang,

For the record, I shoot a lot of underwater photo and video, and as a result wind up hanging upside down quite often to shoot under ledges, other divers, etc. while avoiding crashing into reefs, setting down, etc. (I don't believe in "hanging on to get the shot" - If I can't get it using my own skill and not harming the life, I'll just use my eyes and enjoy the show).

Anyway, this includes the photo and video work I do in the dry suit as well, so I wind up feet up quite a bit. Does it drag up upward? Yes. Is it manageable? Yes. If I had a suggestion, it would be not to be afraid of getting inverted in the suit...in fact, go with it...get *into* it...try it out. If you get really good at righting yourself when inverted and do it a lot, you'll *nail* the kick/flip (and if necessary, open the neck seal once righted) methods. These are very useful, and can be entertaining as well.

...just dont flip over and come crashing down into your dive buddy, as it has a tendancy to make him a trifle irked. :shocked2:

Regards,


-S

 

[ivobj]

Although I mostly avoid head down when diving dry, sometimes I want to poke my head down into a hole for a look, or in a strong surge or current I'll need to swim down strongly to get where I'm going.
When I first got my dry suit I spent heaps of time in about 6m of water just going inverted and upright and every other position, then recovering while trying to maintain my depth.
I think it's important to be familiar and comfortable with any position, for safety and for fun.

I realize horizontal is essential in some situations but to be locked into that position at all times just contradicts the whole weightless-freedom thing that is so wonderful about diving.

Do doubt about practicing, regardless if you are going heads down or not, it is important to be prepared to deal with that, after all, panic is number one killer, being confortable with any possible situation (at least the predictable ones) is the best way to avoid trouble.

About the position itself, was not my intention to say you must be locked at one position, although for me horizontal is the most confortable and enjoyable anyway. If you do it sometimes and are confortable with, that is ok, my suggestion though, if you do it frequently, is to use gaitors, but of course, you are also right that this doesn't mean that you must not be prepared to do it also without gaitors.

 

[Doc Harry]

i have found that just enuff air in the suit to remove the squeez is a much easyer way to dive dry it keeps the expanding bubble more managable when assending. I also found that if you have BCD with a cumberbun on it make it loose so that the air in the suit can move around better

Along the same lines.... Don't use gaitors, they don't prevent air from going to your feet but they do make it difficult to get air OUT of your feet once the air is there.

 

[dave4868]

Along the same lines.... Don't use gaitors, they don't prevent air from going to your feet but they do make it difficult to get air OUT of your feet once the air is there.

I don't use them, but you're right that gaiters will slow down the shifting of air from the boots. However, IMHO, it's more important to keep the air out of the potentially much larger area of the calves, thereby reducing the impact on trim of the shifting air.

The slower removal of the small amount of air from the boots won't be a big problem, since the gaiters secure your suit legs in place, thereby preventing both the boots and legs from excessively filling and popping a fin. Besides, more air in the boots is much warmer!

Personally, for the sake of that added warmth, I try to keep lots of air in my boots, so I fin with bent knees to keep them high and filled with air. I trim my gear with that in mind and when using two pairs of socks in my loosely laced Rockboots, I use ankle weights. No more cold toes!

Another alternative to gaiters, as was mentioned, is to have less air in the suit, but I like to have lots of air in my suit for extra warmth and I like using only the suit for buoyancy control.

I don't need gaiters because the legs of my suit fit my insulation snugly there. If I had a suit with baggier calves, I wouldn't hesitate to use them.

Dave C

 

[muddiver]

To the OP original questions:

I have found that if you are getting squeezed, you may have to little weight on and thus you have too little air in the dry suit. I dive a 5 mil wet suit with approx. 24 lbs of lead. I my old rubber Viking dry suit I used 28 lbs. Recently in my Viking trilam I found I was more comfortable with 30 lbs. So add a pound or two and see how it works.

A dry suit course is good for someone with limited diving experience. If you dive all the time just buy Steve Barsky's book on Dry Suit Diving, go dive the pool a couple of time with all the different toys you might use and you'll be set. You will find out if you think that you want to cave dive or use a camera while diving dry that the task loading goes up really fast. It took me two full dives in the open ocean, as an experienced diver, to get comfortable controling buoyancy and handling other tasks.

I agree with Dave 4868 that it is easier to use the dry suit for buoyancy than the BC. But that is up to debate by the whole diving community.

 

[ruready7]

I recently got a drysuit and took the course. It takes a few dives to get it worked out but you will get there. Im still perfecting my drysuit diving. All the advice is good. I did find one thing about a drysuit that I like...if Im close to the bottom I can let a little more air in my feet to get them to rise and make sure I dont stir up the bottom.

 

[Teamcasa]

Most divers that make the transition to dry experience the "I'm a noob" feeling again.

I descend head first or horizontal depending of where and why and just tend to puff in a little air in the suit as the depth increases but use my wing for most of the bouyancy control.

One more note: If you find you are getting cold in your drysuit you may not have enough air in the suit and it is crushing your thermo protection.