Drysuit diving without enough weight. Dangerous !!

[diverbrian]

Why is your dry suit going to kill you ? :icon10: When I am working in shallow I only use my drysuit I do not even have a BCD on.

I just feel that if you have to compensate for two sources of air it just makes for error. I think anyhow.

Do they not teach you not to use your BCD with a drysuit at depth ? somehow I thought it was taught that way. Only to use your BCD at the surface.

Cheers :sunny
Derek

I had the luxury of both school of instructors at the same shop. I picked the method that I preferred. The one is a photographer who wants his hands for his camera as much as possible. He teaches to use the drysuit as it all that is required is to lift an elbow to vent and quickly tap the chest to add air.

The other's favorite saying is that you spent good money for a BC. Use it for what it was designed for. As I like as little air as possible to form pockets in the suit, I tend to go more with this philosphy and vent the suit completely prior to final ascent (using the BC for control of my ascent). That means that shallow I have one source of buoyancy control. Deep, I don't have a choice but to use the drysuit more as adding enough air to fluff the undies and manage the squeeze will coincide neatly with what is required for buoyancy control.

 

[String]

Having used both BC and drysuit for buoyancy im firmly convinced that a properly weighted single cylinder diver with a properly fitting drysuit can quite happily use either as a source of buoyancy and its down to personal preference.

 

[wolf eel]

[I tried using the dry suit at first like Padi teaches but found it much easier using my BC for buoyancy with just enough air in the suit to take the squeeze off.

But, there are those like you Derek that only use the suit for buoyancy and swear by it.]

I say all of this with full respect just responding.

Is that what PADI teaches I have no idea ? When I am diving in a dry suit i dive with my BCD as a back up to bouyancy not the main. :hai:

As divenut said some of us only dive with our drysuits and that is the way I dive. I was never taught how to use a drysuit nor a BCD really. When I started there was no course about dry suits. I have well over 4 grand in logged dry dives so I have had my lessons learned and now I can dive and pee

Put suit squeeze aside if you deflate and leave your valve open as people have said then that would explain your wet arm. As water comes in with little resistance. I have read how people say trapped air is going to get you in your suit. Why ? The BCD has a harder time ditching air then the dry suit as you are only riseing a little at a time. For me it seems so easy to ditch all air from the suit and remain dry.

My point was only this your suit will hold all the air without the zipper having any stress. The idea that my suit is going to self inflate and kill me is well the same as your BCD but some how it is considered a worse situation? :34:

In the event my suit valve fails then I will have my BCD to help me. But in the event I have trouble say BYE, BYE as a rescuer can only handle one bag two is a little too much. And you are on your way to the surface a little bent but. That is another point.

Dry suits are a safe hassle free bouancy. So is the BCD.

Caves have all kinds of rules that do not apply do regular dives.

Cheers

:sunny Derek

 

[String]

I agree totally with the rest of your post except this part:

But in the event I have trouble say BYE, BYE as a rescuer can only handle one bag two is a little too much. And you are on your way to the surface a little bent but. That is another point.

Are you saying that if a diver has air in suit and the BC any rescuer attempting to lift would be unable to do it or did i misread that comment ?

Rescue training,practice and real incidents are performed regulary here with the rescuer having to manage 4 sources of buoyancy without incident.

 

[wolf eel]

[Are you saying that if a diver has air in suit and the BC any rescuer attempting to lift would be unable to do it or did i misread that comment ?

Rescue training,practice and real incidents are performed regulary here with the rescuer having to manage 4 sources of buoyancy without incident.]

No what I ment is that your average diver is not going to understand why he can not control the lift of past out diver. I think if you had to ditch air in the suit and the BCD most would have all kinds of grief and you being the past out one are on the rise.

Cheers
Derek

 

[scubadobadoo]

Let me first say that this thread is filled with many patient and smart posts. I am glad that you didn't kill yourself. Let me add that I am 185 pounds, use a shell DS with thick fleece, and only use about 24 pounds in FW and 30 pounds in SW with an AL 80. Your weight needs will decrease as mentioned above many times.

I think that the most important lesson learned here is to never just make due when diving. When one starts using rocks as weight, it's time to call the dive. No questions asked. End it. Fix it. Return to the water. Even if in the back of your head you are reminding yourself that you have paid big bucks to rent gear and dive. A funeral costs more. I hope this doesn't seem harsh. That's not my objective because I have also continued diving when I shouldn't have. Many of us have done that, especially when we are new to diving or using new gear. I do applaud you for sharing your experience and for allowing us all to learn from it and discuss it. Thanks!

 

[snuggle]

40 lbs is a lot of weight thats for sure..i am 5 foot3 and weight 110 lbs and dive in a bare D6 dupra neoprene suit and only use 24lbs to get down..im glad that you werent hurt..again 40lbs sounds like way too much..

 

[Jim Baldwin]

Rimp,

I have to concur with the others who have posted 32 to 40 lbs is a lot of weight.
I had been diving for about 20 years when I bought my first drysuit an O'Neil 7.5 mm neoprene.

I did a couple of pool dives trying to get my buoyancy and weight down. I added more weight and was finally able to sink with about 25 lbs. To keep from doing the feet first ascent I added ankle weights.

The more dives I did with my drysuit the more comfortable I became and the less weight I found I needed. I'm 6' 170' and I now dive with a 6lb bp and I wear 8lbs on my weight belt and no ankle weights. I use a high pressure Pressed Steel 120 and have no trouble sinking very slowly. I burp my suit upon entry and exhale deeply and start down. At the end of my dive my butt doesn't float with the steel tank. An alum. is going to be about 5 lbs positive. If you dive with an aluminum get a pouch and put 5 lbs on the tank strap not extra weight on your waist.

Practice. I have students in my Advance and Rescue classes that wear 6 to 8 lbs with nothing on but a swimsuit at the start of the class. One one of first things we do is dump weight. They're always amazed how much easier it is to dive without all the excess weight.

Just my experience
Jim
Louisiana

 

[atxer]

The first thing you should start doing is burping the suit. Right before you get into your equipment make sure you get squeeze as much air out of the suit as possible. Second leave the dump valve all the way open. When you learn how to use the suit you should be able to go under and over things just by a little movement (getting rid of air or adding air). Last I like to use my dysuit as my BC. I still wear a BC but it is there as a backup. I only use my suit. Definatly use a pair of ankle weights they help out alot. Best of luck.

 

[fookisan]

I hadn't dove dry in a while and had no idea what my weight should be. .

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I'm glad when I review my wife's log as she lists our weights used and everything other little thing into her log. It helps refresh my mind with how much weight to use when I don't dive for a while. Of course, configurations and bodies change, but it reminds me where to start with the lead.