tips for diving drysuit

[SurDo2]

Just play around with it for a tank or two and you'll get it. If the quarry is only 30 ft deep you'll probably find it easier to get the hang of things nearer to the bottom as opposed to 10-15 feet. Just think of it as a slower reacting bc.

Have fun.

 

[Blackwood]

I agree....there are emergency techniques that you need to learn and pratice in the event that there is [a] too much air in your suit or a stuck inflator.

[a] vent it
disconnect it or turn off the gas source

Course complete.


Seriously, though, identifying a stuck inflator is as important as addressing one, and IMO that will take time in the suit. You just gotta know how it's supposed to feel and sound.

 

[Dr Neil]

Make sure your suit is comfortable before you get in the water. Trying to adjust how you suit rides in the crotch after you get into the water is nearly impossible (and downright uncomfortable.)

 

[kwflfire]

[a] vent it
disconnect it or turn off the gas source

Course complete.


Seriously, though, identifying a stuck inflator is as important as addressing one, and IMO that will take time in the suit. You just gotta know how it's supposed to feel and sound.

You are right you need time in the suit and someone to teach you the different techniques to vent, there are several ways to vent the suit.

Also if you get turned upside down with the air trapped at your feet you have to know how to turn yourself over and vent while keeping your current depth so you don't surface.

 

[Blackwood]

yah

My facetious response was rooted in my opinion that this is one of those occasions for which mentorship is at least as good an option as certification.

 

[kwflfire]

Got it,

just as long as you are taught by someone who has lots of time in a suit and not get tips on a forum and try them out by yourself.

 

[pholife]

its a bit of a dated thread but figured I would throw my two cents in.

As for myself, I learned to dive using a dry suit and until today have not donned one in almost 15 years. I just picked up a Neoprene suit, primarily I got because of a chronic wound and want to keep diving. But also as I am revamping my trim for technical diving I figured why not do it in a drysuit and relearn it all... donning it was no problem, I did end up feet up at first but 10 mins later was fine and actually find that the drysuit is great for tec trim and especially the air in the arms is excellent for keeping your arms in that ideal trim position and for reading gauges and easy way to break the recreational style I use of keeping my arms inward. Big pockets are great and to be honest I think it will be a while before I dive "wet" again. Another week of shallow 18m max practice before I attempt any deco stuff, but I think a 30m deco w. a single stage will be no problem. Plus I can practice and practice my stops before moving into hypoxic trimix!

Just a question, my neck feels a bit restricted, I was told as the seals are neoprene to fold it over on itself, but I found that gave me more of a choking sensation... I am diving in the Othree RI-100 flex (used but in great quality so the neck and wrists are stretched, any advice?

 

[Subcooled]

I will reply to your question without reading the posts above.

There are two opinions regarding drysuit diving. Some people tell you that you should use the wing/bcd for buoyancy, and only inflate the drysuit enough to avoid unpleasant suit squeeze. This is a good way of diving.

Others tell you to use the suit for buoyancy and only use the bcd/wing as a backup and on the surface. This is a good way of diving. The larger amount of air in the suit makes it less stable at shallow depth, but you'll learn a lot when you try to control that. Buoyancy is also related to breathing so note how deeply you breathe and how much air you retain in your lungs, as this controls your movement up/down.

If you loose control and become excessively buoyant, you *will* end up at the surface. Everyone I know has done that when they learned to dive a drysuit. It just happens. I made my rocket launch from 18 meters/60ft. The air in the suit expanded faster than I could vent it... and up I went. At some speed. The latex neck seal then started to leak and half of the trip up was spent in a cloud of bubbles... If this happens to you, just make sure your lungs stay empty during the ascent, and you'll be perfectly fine.

There is no reason to panic in this situation. You are doing no decompression dives, so a speedy ascent will not kill you.

Ultimately, you will use both the suit and wing. Which one you learn first is a matter of personal preference (of your instructor).

The suit is easy to contol once you understand that you need to act in advance: vent air by lifting your elbow *before* getting excessively buoyant. Add air in small amounts. Wait for the effect. Reapply. The same applies to bcds too, so nothing new here...

You just need a lot of practice and it really is a good thing to do a lot of dives where you only use the suit for buoyancy. That ensures enough practice with the suit.

It's wonderfull to dive dry and warm. Enjoy.

ps. dry gloves - and especially dry mittens - have a steep learning curve

 

[Gachnar]

If you loose control and become excessively buoyant, you *will* end up at the surface. Everyone I know has done that when they learned to dive a drysuit.

There's no reason for that to happen if you are properly weighted and managing the air well. I did take one pool session in a drysuit, but my brother learned last week and managed just fine without a class. I did go through the several common drysuit issues mentioned aboved (imbalanced bubble, stuck inflator, emergency venting) as well as making him read some basic info on drysuits.

I would strongly recommend at least diving with someone who knows how to dive them the first time, but the learning curve isn't bad. You just need to stay more on top of air management than with a BCD as it vents much more slowly and you can only vent from one spot (without taking a bath anyway). If you know how to vent a neck or wrist seal, do a roll, and disconnect a stuck inflator, you are pretty much ready.

I will say that proper weighting makes a drysuit much easier. I generally dive with my BCD for buoyancy and just take off the squeeze with the suit (most divers do), but if I am at my proper weighting I can manage it with just the suit (especially a neoprene one) if I want to as I don't need much air for buoyancy anyway. PADI teaches using the suit exclusively to avoid having extra air spaces to manage and additional multitasking. It's not a bad way to learn if you find dumping both to be an issue.

Also, dive with the vent as open as you can, which helps to manage the right air in the suit. I start with it completely open, then usually dial it down a little as I get deeper, and open again as I ascend.

Good luck!

 

[pholife]

thanks for the replys, I have spent several hours the past days in shallow water, just practicing getting the feel for things with doubles... my weighting seems pretty ideal. After getting the doubles down to about 20bar with no air in the wing or suit I am practically neutrally bouyant in about 3m of salt water (this is with 10k, a 6kilo v bar inset on the twins and 4k V on the tail) I am finding that staying in trim is easier and its holding my arms in a more ideal position. Yesterday did a 30m dive on a reef in it, was mostly concerned during the dive that i would get a squeeze so was adjusting the buoyancy constantly, but the dive went fine and i tried some simulated deco in on the ascent... definitely need some more practice on maintaining the suit and managing the new task loading while making the stop. shouldnt be and issue... plan is today to shoot my smb up from 15m and practice ascending vertically in trim and maintaining a few mins at 12, 9 , 6, 3m .... what is concerning me right now is the 3m stops more than shallower depths, but gotta nail these also gonna throw on one deco tank to see how that affects the weighting as there are some bottomless spots around here and I don't feel like being a dart!

Where I think my biggest trouble is at this point, is to stop venting air so often then re-adding it. Anyways not much I can do but stick with it, really one of the reasons I picked up the drysuit (separate of being able to dive in a drysuit) is that I have a chronic wound and as I am always diving everyday (although it heals completely .. no infection anything) has the tendancy to reopen as the scar tissue is young, diving dry will allow it to get stronger and hopefully can recover to thick nice skin.

The suit so far is great for a used suit, oThree Ri-100 flex, 200 euro, retails for like 1200 euro so thats a hell of a save... find that i am a bit moist after the dive but I am assuming that's sweat as the water temp is 28 degrees and I am playing with the dump a bit too much.

well practice and practive