the aussie drysuit n00b continues......

hi all... well dive #8 with the new drysuit and just when i thought it was coming together it fell apart on me again yesterday

yesterday switched from my zeagle tech to bpw, was about 6lbs overweighted (despite dropping lbs for the bp) and i was wearing new aeroskin/polartec socks that were so slippery that at one point my fin came off with my rockboot inside it! (i have latex socks on my drysuit)

hubby took some video and despite my computer dangling a bit (i thought it was closer to my body than what i see in the vid) the drysuit thing is slowly coming together for me... i do LOVE drydiving btw but somedays i dont love the suit.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoVfpzRQSIo

anyone else new to drysuit diving and how are you finding it???

I'm so tempted to go dry...but the winter is almost over here (ROFL) and I'm just not getting out enough to justify it. Maybe next year...

Another newbie here! The horror... the horror...

First off, I'm in a rental suit which fits horrendously but I'm trying to make the best of it. I did OK in the pool, but when I attempted the check-out dives for my drysuit cert, I had a bit of a freak out and aborted the dive.

This coming Saturday, I'll be going out again with a friend of mine who's highly experienced in both diving and teaching, so I should be OK. (The instructor I was sent out with on my first attempt just got her instructor cert. I think she dealt worse with the situation that I did. )

A few things that were suggested to me were to use fin keepers, put as least amount of air into the suit as possible, rent a neoprene neck seal to tighten the fit of the latex seal on the suit, use electrical tape to tighten the wrist seals (basically create a rubber band around the latex) and get a proper fitting hood.

almity, you'll get there (and so will I)!

I will never dive wet again! (except for really warm water)

ok, I'll start by saying i am screwing myself by doing this.....So this year I decide its a good year to buy all new gear....and I mean all new, short of mask fins and snorkel....BC with weight integration, Regs, Computer...Then I find I have a little bit of money left over, so I spring for a lower end Drysuit.......So I get in the water this spring....feeling like a fish out of water trying to get everything under control. Luckily......my research into gear paid off, and There wasnt much of a learning curve.....except the dry suit. I know have 5 dives on it in fairly shallow fresh water.....still trying to get the weight thing right (from such a big equipment change) and the difference from a 7mm to a drysuit, and then the drysuit to different undergarments.....I have noticed, my SAC has become worse, due to using the air to equalize/bouyancy......but im sure that will become better with time....I also just ordered a hp 119 tank from a AL80 to help also Heopefully by the end of the season I will be golden.......just need to get more bottom time to work on it.....

oh, and i forgot to add that on sunday i HAD to go to the toilet and i HAD to go NOW if not 5mins ago!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i dont wear depends just keep thinking of the last ultrasound i had and how i can handle it a few mins longer and i did make it..... just :shakehead

annasea:

....... put as least amount of air into the suit as possible, .....

Click to expand...

im only putting a small amount of air in my suit and using my bc for bouyancy but yesterday was being told that this was incorrect and i should use the suit for bouyancy.

i dont care what the book says - i feel safer using my wing

anyone else getting this difference of opinion from other divers???

Well, I struggled with my (few) drysuit attempts but it wasn't the instructor's fault- he was great! When I was in the pool (heated), the drysuit was slowly flooding & so I thought I was managing much better than I was. Out in the open water with a different suit it was a different story. :shakehead

Mrs A, just watched the vid- you look pretty darned good!!!

almitywife:

oh, and i forgot to add that on sunday i HAD to go to the toilet and i HAD to go NOW if not 5mins ago!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i dont wear depends just keep thinking of the last ultrasound i had and how i can handle it a few mins longer and i did make it..... just :shakehead




im only putting a small amount of air in my suit and using my bc for bouyancy but yesterday was being told that this was incorrect and i should use the suit for bouyancy.

i dont care what the book says - i feel safer using my wing

anyone else getting this difference of opinion from other divers???

Click to expand...

Depends are your friends, Mrs A.

Both methods have been discussed at length- I came away with using the wing, not the drysuit.

I still think I am new to drysuits (Diving to for that matter). I have been using my drysuit for buoyancy I don't dive over weighted so the air is fairly minimal. I have used my BC but, I think you have to choose one a stick with it because I was venting my drysuit and still was positive. I had forgot I put some air in my bc.

Ok now the good stuff.
I like when I make a dive in 40F(4.44C) my feet stay warm. When I did this wet my feet and toes where Cold.
Drygloves with Rings. I like warm hands almost as much as feet. I got the Viking ring system this spring and it is great warm hands.

almitywife:

oh, and i forgot to add that on sunday i HAD to go to the toilet and i HAD to go NOW if not 5mins ago!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i dont wear depends just keep thinking of the last ultrasound i had and how i can handle it a few mins longer and i did make it..... just :shakehead




im only putting a small amount of air in my suit and using my bc for bouyancy but yesterday was being told that this was incorrect and i should use the suit for bouyancy.

i dont care what the book says - i feel safer using my wing

anyone else getting this difference of opinion from other divers???

Click to expand...

I heard both that you should use your suit for bouyancy and that you shouldnt myself as well.. Gets confusing, dont it?
What Ive ended up with is using the BC mainly for the lift, but fine-tuning it with the suit as it just came to me quite easilly...

Gonna be interesting diving wet again, and further more so, a thin shorty when I hopefully get to go on vacation