Drysuit Training

[Axeman]

I have the same suit and it is great.

The advise about training already stated is good. Like others have said, your LDS where you bought the suit shoudl give you a free training with it. The dive shop I used to work for does.

good luck with the suit. nice purchace.

Chris

 

[on my way wanda]

Well I bit the bullet and purchased a new dry-suit, a Bare ATR-HD. I was going to get the DUI but given the money difference and the fact that I'm a perfect fit to one of the Bare sizes it made good sense.

I haven't asked the shop to tell me how to use this thing yet but when it comes in I'm going to take it to the pool, my question is will I be damaging the suit by taking it into a chlorine pool? I've seen what the chlorine can do to a BC in a few days use and I don't want the latex / nylon etc. to be damaged, am I better off jumping into 10" of water behind my house with my buddy? Are there any good books on the subject? I'm not interested in a PADI card, I just want to safely dive dry.

Thanks,
Craig.

Congrats. on the new suit. Bare is a good company, make sure you rinse it off after using it in the pool. If you have concerns about the chlorine on the suit call Bare up and ask them, they are very good answering questions about there products. That is what I did, when, I had some concerns about my drysuit I purchased from them.

 

[Stoo]

I had a sharpened piece of copper pipe that I was trying to punch through the suit and it took several attempts of hard pounding to get through.

LOL... I'm sure I'm missing something here... but why the H#ll would you be doing this?

I agree with the others though. Assuming you are a 'relatively' new diver, some practice with an instructor or very experienced dry diver wouldn't hurt. I don't know that anyone has mentioned that pros and cons of using a BC with the suit. Many divers dive dry and use only the suit for buoyancy control. There are several advantages to using a BC though. It is easier to control the gas volume in the BC, the BC will provide a safety 'lift' in case of an unlikely catastrophic suit failure (ie blowing a zipper of neck seal) and it also comes in handy when diving from a small boat since you can use the BC to float your tanks while you climb in. Most dry divers use back-mounted wings since they tend to leave the front of the suit clear.

I've been diving dry (Viking Pro) for 25 years and would have given up the sport long ago if I'd been diving wet...

Enjoy your new suit!

 

[Tom R]

LOL... I'm sure I'm missing something here... but why the H#ll would you be doing this?

QUOTE]

To place a personal discharge device.

 

[Eric__U]

http://www.halcyon.net/exposure/discharge.shtml
that should tell you all you need to know, it evean has a pic

 

[Over The Egde]

The best method for cutting a hole in a drysuit to install a "discharge valve" is with a hot soldering iron. I think "a sharpened piece of copper pipe that I was trying to punch through the suit and it took several attempts of hard pounding to get through" is a little extreme.

On another note "am I better off jumping into 10" of water behind my house", 10 icnes of water will not be enough water to test your new suit.

 

[nalfein]

" I don't know that anyone has mentioned that pros and cons of using a BC with the suit. Many divers dive dry and use only the suit for buoyancy control. There are several advantages to using a BC though. "

The only time I ever used my suit for buoyancy, was working at a salmon farm.... I wanted as little clutter as possible and the nets only go about 30' deep. I find that using the suit pretty much sucks for control, especially in a trilam, lots of air travel. I couldn't speak for neoprene. Generally the more air in my suit, the more prone I am to leaking at the neck when the suit burps...

Pretty much everyone here uses a BC

 

[SoScuba]

LOL... I'm sure I'm missing something here... but why the H#ll would you be doing this?

Yes Stoo...the boys know the score. I was "pounding " a hole in my suit so I could install my new "personal discharge device" aka "P - valve". I have been reading about several different methods for making the hole and decided to go with the sharpened 1\2 inch copper pipe and use it as a punch. I may have gone with the soldering iron method but my iron is at a different location at the moment. I needed/wanted to try the device the next morning so a pounding I went. I must report that I wish I had installed one of these long ago! I love it. Drove up to Rockport Sunday morning and I drank coffee and tons of water without worrying about having to "discharge" in my drysuit during those long , cold dives. While my buddies kept complaining about having to "Go", I just smiled and let out this sigh of RELIEF...literally!
AAaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Just a quick note re the installation. No glue and no leaks. Just cut out a latex washer and placed between unit and suit. Read about some guys doing it this way and decided to try it. So far so good.
Now to get me a quick dissconnect!

 

[SoScuba]

Oh yeah....I let out that sigh of relief 4 times during the two dives. Lots of water during the S.I. and no need to crawl half out of the suit to "discharge".

......did I tell you that I love this thing???? :07:

 

[zslnk]

The best method for cutting a hole in a drysuit to install a "discharge valve" is with a hot soldering iron. I think "a sharpened piece of copper pipe that I was trying to punch through the suit and it took several attempts of hard pounding to get through" is a little extreme.

On another note "am I better off jumping into 10" of water behind my house", 10 icnes of water will not be enough water to test your new suit.

Did I say 10", 10' yes. Well I dove the suit this weekend with some instruction and it was really nice. I had a leaky dry glove but I took it apart and it looked like I had a fold in the glove pinched in the ring. I dove the suit with VERY little gas in it and I was warm and had no trim issues. Instead of using the bleed tubes I ran my hands through the latex seals with the glove liners and this worked well to equalize the gloves, my leaky glove didn't even wet my undies with this configuration.

Looking forward to a dive this weekend somewhere east of Belleville.

Craig.