Dry suit training?

Hi everyone. I've recently moved to Seattle and am excited about doing some diving here given everything I've been reading and hearing. That being said, I've never dove in a dry suit. I recently spent 2 months in the Gulf of Thailand working from my Open Water to about halfway through my Dive Control Specialist and have logged about 55 dives to date.

Understanding that conditions and equipment vary quite a bit from what I'm currently familiar with, do you think it's worthwhile for me to take a dry suit course? I've watched the PADI dry suit video and the person I'm looking to buy a dry suit from suggested that I just dive with some experienced dry suit divers, rather than take a course.

On that note, I'm looking to put my kit together over the next few weeks and look forward to diving with anyone that may be interested.

Cheers,

Mark

Whether you take a course or just tips from a knowledgable person -- your choice. I couldn't tell you which might be better because "it depends" on the person. But, please, don't try to learn all by yourself from a book!

If you have a good mentor, you can learn a lot from him or her. There ARE a few emergency procedures you should know, and if your mentor can't show them to you, you should find someone who can. A knowledgeable person can also look at the fit of your suit and its construction, and warn you about any management issues you might expect (eg. poor exhaust valve placement). It is a very good idea to keep your first few dry suit dives pretty darned shallow -- buoyancy in a dry suit can be quite different, and poor buoyancy control in the early stages is very common.

Pretty much at dive sites you will run into drysuit divers and find a buddy there also if you are new to the area. Have fun in our waters and now your waters. Going out and diving your drysuit is like a fun dive in it self, just focus the whole dive on the suit and the releasing of air.

Marq what kind of drysuit are you buying.

Thanks for the advice everyone, very much appreciated.

VooDoo, I'm looking at purchasing a Whites Catalyst that has about 10 dives on it. I've yet to see it and try it on, so we'll see how that goes and decide if I need to go in another direction.

Another request for advice that I should probably save for another post, but will give it a go: thoughts on BC / BP&W setup? I was originally looking to a Wing BC, but have started researching BP&W setups (which are completely new to me). My dilemma is that I'll be doing cold water/dry suit dives for the next 8 - 10 months and then it will be warm water / tropical dives for an indefinite amount of time. A reasonable person might say that I should have two rigs for this, and that's likely the route I'll go, but it would be nice to just have one rig that can adapt to my needs and environment as it changes. If money were no obstacle the Halcyon Infinity system looks nice with the easy-adjust cinch system. But to be honest, I've not much experience with anything other than a Vest BC and I don't know what my options are for trying kit out before making such a significant investment.

Cheers,

Mark

For diving our cold waters, backplates have huge advantages. We end up having to carry a lot of weight to sink the exposure protection necessary to stay warm up here, and a backplate puts at least five pounds of that weight up between your shoulders, which helps you achieve a horizontal diving position. Some backplate systems permit the use of weight plates (Deep Sea Supply) or weighted STAs.

I walked down the sidewalk at Les Davis one day, and I was really amazed to find that in the back of almost every automobile was at least one backplate setup. And no, they weren't all my friends, or even the same kinds of divers. It's just that people gravitate to what works, and what works well up here is minimizing padding (which you have to wear weight to sink) and moving weight up on your back.

If you are interested in looking at backplate systems, we have Deep Sea Supply and HOG systems at home, and I'd be happy to show them to you.

And, btw, if you are using any exposure protection at all, a stainless backplate works just fine in the tropics, too.

Marq I will look into the suit you want and see if it is a Neo or Trilam. What gear do you have now, and where is your destination on diving later on. I know that most gear will dive anywhere. its just what you will be wanting to dive, deeper, or just rec and staying above 130'.

Marq there are three different suits, what one is yours, and they look to have great qualities. I would purchase it, but ? the 10 dives, what is the divers name and when was the last time he dove. I would meet him at beach for a dive in this particular suit, it might be older than you think, look at history of suit there should be a date when made.

By the way Marq I like how you roll of the boat in screen name avatar.

Contact GUE instructor Guy Shockey for a drysuit course. He comes to the Seattle area frequently, is an extremely nice guy, and a very competent and effective instructor. The GUE drysuit course includes other fundamental topics like gear configuration, team diving, buoyancy, trim, etc. and is an excellent value even for more experienced divers. While the course requires certain gear prerequisites, you can rent all that from Guy for a modest fee. I am not going to post his prices for instruction and gear rental here but can tell you from experience (in an individual lesson) that you will be hard pressed to find a better value for your dollar.