Tips and tricks for valve shutdown in a drysuit?

[kr2y5]

Thanks very much to all of you for all this great advice, I shall get back into the water promptly and see if I can make progress. Pre-stretching and letting my suit shift around while on the surface is something that has not crossed my mind, and come to think of it, I am definitely getting shrink-wrapped! My suit does feel borderline a little short (Whites Fusion L/XL on a 6-foot person). If I want to be able to do a proper full squat, and pull enough of it down to bend my knees, there really isn't any loose material on my chest to work with. Knock on the wood, hopefully this won't turn out to be the problem here...

By following your tips, I do seem to be able to get into the valves while wearing a couple of winter jackets, albeit not without a bit of effort. Not while I stand straight, and have the full weight of my HP100s pull on my shoulders, but if I just slightly support the bottoms of the tanks against a table to release the tension from the straps, without raising them higher, it does seem to work. Kneeling in a horizontal position on all fours, on the other hand, with all the tank weight pressing on my back, makes it again quite a bit more difficult, the weight of the tank limits my mobility. Given this, I wonder if I should also consider moving some of my weight off the backplate. Right now, all the lead I carry is strapped to my doubles, and pressing against my back (so, among other things, also potentially getting out of my doubles to release myself from entanglement is not really an option I would dare to consider). Then again, maybe it's just the tension in my muscles from holding the weight.

Dhboner: in fact, I did just get a sidemount harness, and took the class, and I absolutely love the way it feels in the water. Still, if I could make it work and have the versatility to dive in either configuration, it will help maximize my diving opportunities. We have a very nice local community of folks, who like to dive in a particular way, and I would like to be able to fit right in with this or any other group. Plus, it's not clear how easy it might be to continue my tech training in sidemount (not that I can do a tech dive in either config right now, since I can't shutdown valves in one, and don't have the skills to carry stages in the other). Basically, trying to keep my options open if/while I can...

 

[shoredivr]

You can do tech training in sidemount. Make sure your instructor dives sidemount also.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Or move to sidemount

... he's already done that ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[rx7diver]

After moving from a wetsuit to a drysuit, I can no longer reach my valves. ... When I did my deco procedures earlier this year in a wetsuit and double AL80s, the valve drill, surprisingly, was the easiest part of it. ... I dive Faber HP100s with the Thermo manifold. My valve handles should be sticking out just as high behind my neck as they did on the AL80s, where I did not seem to have any difficulty doing the drill.

kr2y5,

I had a similar problem: I could easily reach my valves when wearing my wetsuit or drysuit and manifolded Al 80's (26" length) or borrowed manifolded OMS (Faber) 108/112's (26" length, too, I believe), but I couldn't reach my valves when wearing a wetsuit or drysuit and my manifolded PST HP (3,500 psig) 100's (24" length).

My solution was to sell my 100's and purchase PST HP (3,500 psig) 120's, which are 28" tanks. The additional length of the HP 120's solved the problem for me (and I was able to use the manifold and tank bands from my HP 100's, with my HP 120's).

EDIT: I am 6'2", and, so, the manifolded 28" tanks fit me quite nicely and balance out quite nicely, too. They are a bit too long for me when I wear them as singles, though.

Safe diving,

rx7diver

 

[ajduplessis]

Not sure if anyone mentioned the "issue" with the suspenders on the fusion that pulls through the loops?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jq2AvIujDu8

 

[kr2y5]

I have thought about it, in fact I chose Faber HP100 for my doubles over the Worthingtons for this reason: because they are longer, at 25.3'', only 0.6'' less than the AL80s, and I wanted to get close to what I know worked for me (Worthingtons would have been 22.7'', over 3'' shorter indeed). I thought about HP120s as well, but I worry that at 6', I am just a bit too short for them, 26'' seems to be just about perfect for my body size in all other respects. Faber HP130s would give me an extra inch, but at the cost of having to carry extra 16lbs of weight that cannot be removed. I'd like make sure I have exhausted all other options before I go there...

---------- Post added December 30th, 2014 at 01:30 PM ----------

Not sure if anyone mentioned the "issue" with the suspenders on the fusion that pulls through the loops? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jq2AvIujDu8

Interesting. Upon closer inspection, I think the outer skin is also contributing to making the suit vertically more constricting, it is tighter than the dry core. I will also try not attaching the skin's ankle velcroes to either the core or the boots, and just let the skin on my legs ride up as much as it wants (or maybe keep it in place with gaiters).

 

[ajduplessis]

You are height wise close to the max size for the dry core LG/XL (inch or 2 spare). I doudt the skin is the problem. It will stretch beyound believe (dont ask how I know). Have you checked your suspenders, I made the same mistake and suddenly I lost a lot of movement. The effect will be more dramatic as you are a lot taller.

 

[tbone1004]

ok, not questioning anyones decisions here, but since the doubles are set from the top of the tanks, how on earth does having a longer tank help you when doing valve drills unless you are pushing them up from the bottom of the tank? The bands are fixed on the backplate, the backplate is fixed on your back. The tank height is set by the top band, always, so you should be able to go from HP80's at under 20" long, up to HP120's at 28" long without having any effect on the positioning of the valves. If you can't reach, scoot the bands down half an inch until you can, no shame in that.

 

[rx7diver]

ok, not questioning anyones decisions here, but since the doubles are set from the top of the tanks, how on earth does having a longer tank help you when doing valve drills unless you are pushing them up from the bottom of the tank? The bands are fixed on the backplate, the backplate is fixed on your back. The tank height is set by the top band, always, so you should be able to go from HP80's at under 20" long, up to HP120's at 28" long without having any effect on the positioning of the valves. If you can't reach, scoot the bands down half an inch until you can, no shame in that.

tbone,

Speaking only from my own experience, with my PST HP 100's, the top of my top tank band was situated at the *bottom* of the crown of the cylinders. However, with my HP 120's, the top of my tank band is situated approximately 1.5"-to-2.0" *below* the bottom of the crown of the cylinders. Everything else (e.g., position of my plate, length of my harness shoulder straps, etc.) remains the same.

EDIT: I'm not sure what you mean by "The tank height is set by the top band, always..."

Safe Diving,

rx7diver

 

[kr2y5]

ok, not questioning anyones decisions here, but since the doubles are set from the top of the tanks, how on earth does having a longer tank help you when doing valve drills unless you are pushing them up from the bottom of the tank? The bands are fixed on the backplate, the backplate is fixed on your back. The tank height is set by the top band, always, so you should be able to go from HP80's at under 20" long, up to HP120's at 28" long without having any effect on the positioning of the valves. If you can't reach, scoot the bands down half an inch until you can, no shame in that.

I guess in my case, I was worried that a shorter tank like the Worthington's will have to sit lower on the back to prevent it from being head-heavy. I made a couple of dives with those tanks, and felt unstable, but then again, it could have just been my lack of experience. I might be talking nonsense. The Faber HP100s seem nicer in all other respects. Then again, I already own them, and as they say, every cockroach is beautiful in the eyes of its mother...