Into the "Death Zone"

LG Diver · Mar 7, 2007

The "Death Zone" is what I affectionately call the zone from 0 - 20 ft. It seems I can't enter this zone without some crazy drysuit acrobatics. The thought of trying to hold a safety stop at 20' or 10' in good horizontal trim gives me the cold sweats. Honestly, I would have enrolled in Fundies already if I could get this one skill mastered. It invariably makes me look like a fool on just about every dive. Below 20'- no problem at all. I don't have a ton of dives in the DS yet (~15) but I would think that something this elementrary shouldn't be that hard to master. Being the gear geek that I am, it's hard to resist the temptation to throw gear at the problem, but I don't think that's the right solution. The suit currently has an Apeks high profile shoulder dump, and the suit's been checked at DUI within the last year when it went in for new seals and boots, so I don't think it's a sticky valve, but rather likely user error. Nonetheless, I've contemplated replacing it with a Sitech dump (based on numerous accounts here on SB about how much easier and faster it dumps), using gaiters, or adding a cuff dump.

So, how many dives did it take you to be able to comfortably hold good buoyancy in a DS while ascending through the 10' - 20' zone? Got any good skills drills you'd recommend for me to try on the next dive? Should I try gaiters? Please help. I love how warm I am in the DS, but I hate feeling totally out of control.

Thanks,
John

FIXXERVI6 · Mar 7, 2007

I nailed it on my first drysuit dive, but there could be a lot of factors here, the suit I wore fit me like a glove so I didn't have any issues with air trapping etc. is it air in your legs pulling your over or something like that?

LG Diver · Mar 7, 2007

I think the suit fits pretty well. It's a DUI CF200x, so it's cut slimmer than a trilam suit would be, and there's not a lot of excess suit bagging up anywhere. I'm using fleece undergarments, not anything with crazy high loft like Weezles, and I'm running the suit pretty tight during the dive (in anticipation of the moment I'll have to dump any air out that I've put in). I think that partly it's air being trapped in the legs (not feet, as I'm wearing rockboots) and partly bad technique on my part when trying to get the shoulder up to dump. It seems like I have to really exaggerate the shoulder up, squeeze the bicep motion to get air out. Often times, I also end up reaching around and trying to manually dump it, as I can't seem to get air to come out. By this point, I've invariably ascended at least 10 feet.

SteveAD · Mar 7, 2007

If you recall your open water class. Pressure increases underwater at one atm for every 33 fsw. This means that pressure doubles from the surface to 33 feet. As we go deeper, the relative pressure change decreases. From 33 to 66 is 2 ata to 3 ata an increase of only 50% this means that the greatest volume change will occur in the shallowest water. So as we get shallower it becomes more and more important to stay ahead of the bouyancy change. The problem can be solved with skill rather than gear, one great exercise I use is simply following the bottom contour on a beach dive with the goal of maintaining neutral bouyancy into the shallowest posible depth. As you swim in, try to stay within 2 feet of the bottom, this will greatly increase your awareness of your bouyancy. eventually you will reach the point that you are swimming in until you reach water you can stand up in, or better yet you have to turn around and swim out to water you can stand in.

You also want to make sure the dump valve is all the way counterclockwise.

LG Diver · Mar 7, 2007

stevead:
If you recall your open water class. Pressure increases underwater at one atm for every 33 fsw. This means that pressure doubles from the surface to 33 feet. As we go deeper, the relative pressure change decreases. From 33 to 66 is 2 ata to 3 ata an increase of only 50% this means that the greatest volume change will occur in the shallowest water. So as we get shallower it becomes more and more important to stay ahead of the bouyancy change. The problem can be solved with skill rather than gear, one great exercise I use is simply following the bottom contour on a beach dive with the goal of maintaining neutral bouyancy into the shallowest posible depth. As you swim in, try to stay within 2 feet of the bottom, this will greatly increase your awareness of your bouyancy. eventually you will reach the point that you are swimming in until you reach water you can stand up in, or better yet you have to turn around and swim out to water you can stand in.

You also want to make sure the dump valve is all the way counterclockwise.

Yup, I'm totally with you on the physics behind why it's happening where it is - I'm just at a loss as to what to do about it. I constantly check that the valve is all the way open. Each time I'm sure I'll find that it accidentally rotated shut, but no such luck.

KMD · Mar 7, 2007

LG Diver:
The "Death Zone" is what I affectionately call the zone from 0 - 20 ft. It seems I can't enter this zone without some crazy drysuit acrobatics. The thought of trying to hold a safety stop at 20' or 10' in good horizontal trim gives me the cold sweats. Honestly, I would have enrolled in Fundies already if I could get this one skill mastered. It invariably makes me look like a fool on just about every dive. Below 20'- no problem at all. I don't have a ton of dives in the DS yet (~15) but I would think that something this elementrary shouldn't be that hard to master. Being the gear geek that I am, it's hard to resist the temptation to throw gear at the problem, but I don't think that's the right solution. The suit currently has an Apeks high profile shoulder dump, and the suit's been checked at DUI within the last year when it went in for new seals and boots, so I don't think it's a sticky valve, but rather likely user error. Nonetheless, I've contemplated replacing it with a Sitech dump (based on numerous accounts here on SB about how much easier and faster it dumps), using gaiters, or adding a cuff dump.

So, how many dives did it take you to be able to comfortably hold good buoyancy in a DS while ascending through the 10' - 20' zone? Got any good skills drills you'd recommend for me to try on the next dive? Should I try gaiters? Please help. I love how warm I am in the DS, but I hate feeling totally out of control.

Thanks,
John

Its just practice and time spent diving. Dry suit diving is very different than wetsuit.

SteveAD · Mar 7, 2007

LG Diver:
Yup, I'm totally with you on the physics behind why it's happening where it is - I'm just at a loss as to what to do about it. I constantly check that the valve is all the way open. Each time I'm sure I'll find that it accidentally rotated shut, but no such luck.

What you need to do is stay aware and stay ahead of it. Ensure that you are adequately weighted (if you do lose control, are you able to dump and go back down?), be aware of where you might lose control and actively dump before you get there. the more time you spend diving in the shallows the better you'll become. particularly if you are making multiple trips between 5 and 15 feet.

cummings66 · Mar 7, 2007

I held the safety stop my first dive just fine. I have seen others have problems when they don't have enough weight and I suspect you might be a tad light at the end of your dive. Typically you'll feel like somebodies got a hook in you reeling you in and there's nothing you can do to stop it. You try to vent and there's no air bubbles that want to come out, and if they do it's only a couple. Same for the BC, it's empty.

If that's what you've got going on add a couple lbs and see how that affects you. I've seen more than one diver be too light and have problems shallow, and it sounds just like you described, or at least how I pictured your description.

FIXXERVI6 · Mar 7, 2007

yea, doubles or a single? I've done all my stuff in doubles and weight was never an issue.

lamont · Mar 7, 2007

I used to swim upslope overdumping to keep from going out of control and 'skipping' upslope touching the bottom with my hand because managing buoyancy with the drysuit and the wing was such a pain and i was so uncomfortable and didn't want a runaway ascent. After awhile i got used to it -- by dive #50 i was getting complimented on my buoyancy control by more experienced divers, but it still wasn't perfect by any means. You'll get there.

Into the "Death Zone"

Please register or login

LG Diver

Guest

FIXXERVI6

Contributor

LG Diver

Guest

SteveAD

Contributor

LG Diver

Guest

KMD

Contributor

SteveAD

Contributor

cummings66

Contributor

FIXXERVI6

Contributor

lamont

Contributor

Similar threads