Drysuit Help?

I have purchased a drysuit and played around with it yesterday in the pool, got to say I don't like it so far.
Problems I experienced....
1. Just sticking my legs inthe water cause uncomfortable squeze and it just got worse the more in the water I got.
2. Tried the whole useing the drysuit only to control buoncy, just kept ending up swing in the fin up head down angle, worse and worse until I was vertical head down fin up.


Also do you figure out your weighting requirments of a drysuit like you would a wetsuit?

First try some gaiters. You must put some air in the suit to eliminate squeeze. Wt is dependant on many things: single or double cylinders and type of undies. The first time I wore a drysuit with really thick wooly bear undies it took 38lbs in a swimming pool just to sink me in the suit w/o any other equip. on. Now diving double 112's I need no wt at all. You'll just have to try diff. combinations. Talk with your Inst. and LDS for help.

HMMM, Did you take a Dry Suit Course. In the course they will show you how to get rid of the squeeze and how to prevent you from going feet up. With out the course a drysuit is dangerous as it exposes you to new hazards.
But with the right training a drysuit is awesome. I own a Whites Polar Flex and a Whites tropical (IMHO Whites is the only suit to buy) and love both.
Take the training and have fun.

Relax Francis =)

Welcome to the world of dry-ving. You are now starting from scratch. I have 150 wet dives and it feels like I'm starting over again...have patience and keep practicing. Accept the fact that it will take several dives to become used to it...I'm leaving the camera at home and dive wet for surveys for now (minimize task loading). If you dont take a specialty or drysuit instruction class, try to borrow the PADI video/DVD, or ask experienced drysuit divers to help you out. WOrked for me. The squeeze in the legs is normal anytime you are vertical in the water (fins down), particularly on the surface. Keeping a horizontal position in a drysuit is critical...work on your weight distribution and trim.

Oh, the weight thing...here in SoCal I've been diving wet with 7mm full suit and hooded vest, steel 120, I use 22-24 lbs of lead. With the drysuit (DUI CLX450 w/Polartech 300 undies), I started with 30 lb...8 on the hips 12 in the BC ditch pockets, 4 in the trim pckets, and another 6 on my tank strap mounted high. WIll likely transfer some of that weight hip-ward to counterbalance some of the foot float...eventually dropping some of that as well.

Good luck!

ghostrunner007:

HMMM, Did you take a Dry Suit Course. In the course they will show you how to get rid of the squeeze and how to prevent you from going feet up. With out the course a drysuit is dangerous as it exposes you to new hazards.
But with the right training a drysuit is awesome. I own a Whites Polar Flex and a Whites tropical (IMHO Whites is the only suit to buy) and love both.
Take the training and have fun.

Click to expand...

When we first picked ours up, our dive shop provided us with an "orientation" to using the suits in the water. Fortunately the shop has it's own pool, so it was relatively easy to arrange. Once you've been shown how to deal with "floating feet" and practiced that for a bit, you shouldn't have too much trouble. That first experience with the squeeze and staying dry was strange to say the least. A "course" is not a bad idea - there are some considerations to using a dry suit that best come with instruction (formal, or from a good buddy who knows his/her stuff).

You've asked very basic questions that are covered in detail in Dry Suit Diving, A Guide to Diving Dry, by Steve Barsky, Dick Long, and Bob Stinton.

I highly recommend gaining some basic knowledge on the subject before experimenting on your own.

The opinions offered here, while usually excellent, may be hard for you to sort out without the basic foundations.

Do you have some source for those foundations?

Dave C

In our LDS if you dont have your dry suit card or your not planning on taking the course your not going to buy or rent a suit.
Wearing a dry suit has a complete diffrent set of rules than wearing a wetsuit. Take the course and dive safe

I am getting ready to strart a course, but wanted to play around in the pool so I could get the just of the suit and weighting requirements

I didn't take a class just got in the pool and played around alot. Eventually I felt in control in the pool and then went and did some easy shallow dives. Those felt good and eventually I just barely have to pay attention to the drysuit on most dives.

If you are standing in the pool and getting squeeze there isn't much you can do about it. If you legs are in and most of your body out adding air isn't going to go down into your legs. Getting used to a certain amount of squeeze seems normal to me.

Some might tell you don't use your drysuit for buoyancy control, you have a perfectly working BC right? I would be among them

A course is the best option. If you can't or won't take a course, however, find a buddy who is experienced with drysuit diving, and have him teach you the basics in the pool before going anywhere near open water.

There are only a few new things you'll need to learn to safely dive a drysuit, but they are important and critical to know. It WILL take some time to get used to it.

But once you get comfortable, you'll dive wet far less often than you initially thought!