making the switch-wet to drysuit

[kazbanz]

Hey folks other than the simple fact one suit is dry and the other is wet what changes to setup and gear are needed to make the transition?

[50Fathom]

I let out the shoulder straps in the harness some.

I needed more lead.

I needed bigger fins for the rockboots.

That's about it for gear really.

Oh, I recommend a good DS class. You CAN learn on your own, but a class, (or solid mentor), can shorten the learning curve significantly. I thought I was a pretty hot-s**t diver in a wetsuit, then I got a DS, and I was an OW student all over again for how it messed with my buoyancy. Then I got pretty good at the DS, (or so I thought), then I took an unrelated (non-DS) class with a very experienced instructor while using my DS. I realized I didn't know s**t, and the learning curve of the "school of just diving and getting experience that way" was too slow.

I'm now taking a DS class from the same instructor. I'm sure it's nothing I can't learn over time, but the learning curve will get shortened dramatically.

[TSandM]

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.

[knowone]

You can either dive, or attempting to

There's absolutely no room for anger

Unless of course gear and courses that achieve nothing are constantly pushed
without a consideration for the student

[Dsix36]

You will need the proper undergarments for the temp of water also.

Blue jeans and a T shirt will add absolutely no insulation, but they work well in tropical water when a wetsuit would suffice.

[ScubaBing]

Hubby and I are currently making the switch. We found when we got our suits that the seals had to be switched completely on mine from neoprene to latex and on the wrists for hubby from neoprene to latex.

We've been in the water twice on them - once in the pool & once in a quarry.

Our Dive Instructor nailed the advice - he said inflate for comfort, not buoyancy. Following that advice, both hubby and I had our buoyancy sorted out in the pool no problem.

As for what to wear under, we're avid skiers, so we wear our ski base laywers, realizing we'll add more as the summer fades into glorious fall (and the algae blooms disappear).

[ScubaVideo]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this, your going to want a pee-valve.

[spectrum]

In addition to more weight you may want to consider a weight harness such as the DUI Weight & Trim series. It carries the extra weight nicely. Also as you pile on the garments your hips will diminish and keeping a weight belt secure can become more of a challenge. It also lets you carry the weight a little lower than your natural hips which can be helpful if you're feeling light in the legs. Legs being the air traps that they are don't want to be the light point.

Pete

[turnerjd]

Ankle weights! certainly to begin with get 1lb on each ankle, it does help with trim.

Now the tech gods here will kill me for saying this, but a P-valve can be a pain in the arse, and is only really worth it if the dives you are doing are much longer than 1.5 hours underwater. The better (male) solution is a comfort zip - It's just an 8 or 10 inch zip in the correct place, so that before, or after the dive you can "relieve" yourself without taking off the suit - especially usefull on small ribs where the protocol is to stay on the boat with the suit closed. UK divers have been using comfort zips for far longer than P-valves, and they pose no greater risk of failure than the P-valve.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I would avoid the ankle weight if possible, adding mass to your legs making fining more work. If you have floating feet, consider gators.

I do like the P-valve (my wife thinks it crazy though), but being a few years older it is more important.

Count on at lest 2 dives to get your weight figured out to be just enough to not get pinched. Then another 4-6 dives to get trimmed out right. This is where the weight harness pays off. Until your trim gets back to normal, you will hoover air and feel like a total newbie. Its a humbling experience - been there - done that.