Crush
Contributor
+1 to GoG - you will not need ankle weights if you properly trim your gear. I have weights on my top cam band, weights on the bottom cam band, and weights on my belt. I do not have any weights on my ankles and don't need any.
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And it lots of fun to watch a cold water buddy (my wife) on her first dive with a wetsuit in tropical waters. She is always trying to vent before ascending.You need a dry suit inflation hose on your regulator. You may need to change fins, if the boots on your suit (or the rock boots, or whatever you use on your feet) won't fit in your existing fins.
You will find that buoyancy once again becomes a significant challenge. Air in a dry suit has a lot more degrees of freedom, can get a lot further from an exhaust valve, and vents more slowly. Anticipation of the need to vent becomes much more critical. And you will be carrying quite a bit more weight, most likely.
A lot of people get angry at their dry suits when they switch, because they feel like beginners again. It takes some time to sort all the balance and buoyancy issues out, but once you do, you have a lot more flexibility in where and when you can dive.
Each to their own. I think that ankle weights are a usefull tool in the drysuit divers toolbox. Some people have naturally floaty feet, others don't, and have no need for ankle weights.
An alternative for floaty feet people are the gators mentioned by GoG, as they prevent air from gathering round the lower legs and ankles. However, a word of warning if you tighten then up too much, then if you have to swim hard, for example in a surface current, they do increase your risk of a cramp. The only times I have had a cramp on a dive was when I had my dive knife strapped round my lower leg and had to swim hard.
Jon
then you can use heavy fins or ankle weights. I would go for heavy fins, but that is a personal preference.
If you do end up with light fins like Slipstreams (which I ended up with because their foot pockets are slightly bigger than the XL Jets') try adding spring straps. That may be all you need.