SeaHorse81
Contributor
For nearly a year, I hemmed and hawed about whether to get a dry suit. Ever tormented by hypothermia, I have slowly ramped up my keep-warm efforts over the years to where I'm wearing a 7 mil wetsuit and 5 mil hood just to dive in the tropics, and still having to wear fleece head-to-toe between dives on my liveaboard trips. :depressed:
After a particularly nasty episode of hypothermia after some local diving in early September, I started -- VERY reluctantly -- thinking more seriously about a dry suit. I posted a thread here, asking for more information. The responses were detailed and very helpful, ultimately helping me to get over the hump and get a suit ordered.
My concerns were that I'd end up investing a bunch of money in a piece of gear I would not like. To my untrained eye, dry suits look cumbersome and uncomfortable. I wondered what it would be like to be in the water but not so much a part of it -- I wondered if it would even still feel like diving at all. I kept hearing all this stuff about seals and zippers and thought, "Great, new maintenance obligations." I had no good or hopeful feelings at all about dry suits, really, and turned to the idea with great resistance, and only because I had no options left.
My Edge dry suit arrived a couple months ago, and I eyed it warily. Getting it on the first time was really odd, though it looked kind of techy cool once it was in place. I dubbed it the Borg Queen Suit. Being all black, that's simply what it looks like.
I had my first lesson a few weeks ago, with Jim Lapenta. He has been great about introducing me to new aspects of dry suit diving one small bit at a time, so thankfully, the weirdness has been nicely modulated. When I first stepped into the pool, I was at once distracted by feeling lightly squeezed all over, even in just four feet of water. It was just moments before I dialed in to the idea that I was standing in a pool, yet was not wet. I liked it. A lot.
I got to spend lots of time just seeing how the suit felt and behaved differently, and found the bubble in the suit to be an interesting new variable. It took awhile to tune in to the new sensations and what they mean (presence or absence of the bubble in a certain part of the suit), and of course, lots of practice in the management of floaty feet. I could easily see why the feet-first ascent is commonly mentioned, so I dutifully did lots of somersault practice.
Jim had me do a couple of really basic drills during the first session, just to see how doing them feels different now, given the physicality of the suit. The extra bulk and features of the suit made the weight belt doff-and-don significantly different. My suit has thigh pockets, so between those (a new feature for me) and the fact that the suit and BC are now made of the same material (and also all black), I found it challenging to figure out by feel what was suit and what was BC, and where one ends and the other begins. That part's getting better, but will take more practice.
By the end of the first session, I was liking the idea of the suit quite a bit. I was shocked to find that we'd been in the pool for two hours, not only because what we were doing was so interesting that I hadn't noticed the passage of time, but because I wasn't cold! Better yet, I quickly saw that the end of a dry suit dive is MUCH less labor-intense than the end of a wetsuit dive. No neoprene to clean/dry! Just quickly hosed off everything right there at the pool, and the dry suit was barely dripping by the time we packed up to leave. I must say, exiting the pool and being toasty dry except for damp hair was pretty neat.
I had my second session with Jim last night. What struck me this time was how little gear prep there is for this. There's less stuff to take and less fussing to do on-site, since I don't get wet. I never realized how much overhead there is with actually getting wet, but I'm sure noticing now that it's gone.
Did some additional drills last night, including gear remove/replace, and limited gear exchange. I'm getting better at figuring out how to maneuver in the suit, plus am getting the bonus of basic skill work that I've not had from previous instructors (thanks, Jim!). I also got to try gaiters last night, which made a huge difference in the floaty feet issue. Air could still get to the feet, but having the lower leg wrapped kept the bubble to a much more manageable size, and made for easier management of trim.
I was practically giddy as I exited the pool last night (again after a two-hour session that felt like 20 minutes). The Borg Queen Suit is starting to feel familiar, diving still feels like diving, there's less gear prep and management associated with a dive, and I get to stay warm and dry, which means I have a much better time. But wait, there's more... The dry suit is a piece of cake to get into, out of, and move around in, especially compared to my 7 mil (which is named The Snow Tire). I can't really describe how much more physically comfortable it is -- in every respect -- to dive this way.
At this moment, I don't care if I ever dive wet again, and I'm not sure why I'd want to. The 7 mil is on standby, but it may be standing by for quite some time.
I'm writing this mostly for anyone else out there who may be pondering this decision. I hope the details of my experience help you to figure out what works best for you. As for me, it is clear now that this is the best gear decision I have yet made. Having knowledgeable help in the selection of the suit, followed by nicely paced lessons in its use, have made this process painless. The only part of it that was hard was getting past my own reluctance. I wish I'd done it a lot sooner.
Happy diving,everybody!
After a particularly nasty episode of hypothermia after some local diving in early September, I started -- VERY reluctantly -- thinking more seriously about a dry suit. I posted a thread here, asking for more information. The responses were detailed and very helpful, ultimately helping me to get over the hump and get a suit ordered.
My concerns were that I'd end up investing a bunch of money in a piece of gear I would not like. To my untrained eye, dry suits look cumbersome and uncomfortable. I wondered what it would be like to be in the water but not so much a part of it -- I wondered if it would even still feel like diving at all. I kept hearing all this stuff about seals and zippers and thought, "Great, new maintenance obligations." I had no good or hopeful feelings at all about dry suits, really, and turned to the idea with great resistance, and only because I had no options left.
My Edge dry suit arrived a couple months ago, and I eyed it warily. Getting it on the first time was really odd, though it looked kind of techy cool once it was in place. I dubbed it the Borg Queen Suit. Being all black, that's simply what it looks like.
I had my first lesson a few weeks ago, with Jim Lapenta. He has been great about introducing me to new aspects of dry suit diving one small bit at a time, so thankfully, the weirdness has been nicely modulated.
When I first stepped into the pool, I was at once distracted by feeling lightly squeezed all over, even in just four feet of water. It was just moments before I dialed in to the idea that I was standing in a pool, yet was not wet. I liked it. A lot.I got to spend lots of time just seeing how the suit felt and behaved differently, and found the bubble in the suit to be an interesting new variable. It took awhile to tune in to the new sensations and what they mean (presence or absence of the bubble in a certain part of the suit), and of course, lots of practice in the management of floaty feet. I could easily see why the feet-first ascent is commonly mentioned, so I dutifully did lots of somersault practice.
Jim had me do a couple of really basic drills during the first session, just to see how doing them feels different now, given the physicality of the suit. The extra bulk and features of the suit made the weight belt doff-and-don significantly different. My suit has thigh pockets, so between those (a new feature for me) and the fact that the suit and BC are now made of the same material (and also all black), I found it challenging to figure out by feel what was suit and what was BC, and where one ends and the other begins. That part's getting better, but will take more practice.
By the end of the first session, I was liking the idea of the suit quite a bit. I was shocked to find that we'd been in the pool for two hours, not only because what we were doing was so interesting that I hadn't noticed the passage of time, but because I wasn't cold! Better yet, I quickly saw that the end of a dry suit dive is MUCH less labor-intense than the end of a wetsuit dive. No neoprene to clean/dry! Just quickly hosed off everything right there at the pool, and the dry suit was barely dripping by the time we packed up to leave. I must say, exiting the pool and being toasty dry except for damp hair was pretty neat.
I had my second session with Jim last night. What struck me this time was how little gear prep there is for this. There's less stuff to take and less fussing to do on-site, since I don't get wet. I never realized how much overhead there is with actually getting wet, but I'm sure noticing now that it's gone.
Did some additional drills last night, including gear remove/replace, and limited gear exchange. I'm getting better at figuring out how to maneuver in the suit, plus am getting the bonus of basic skill work that I've not had from previous instructors (thanks, Jim!). I also got to try gaiters last night, which made a huge difference in the floaty feet issue. Air could still get to the feet, but having the lower leg wrapped kept the bubble to a much more manageable size, and made for easier management of trim.
I was practically giddy as I exited the pool last night (again after a two-hour session that felt like 20 minutes). The Borg Queen Suit is starting to feel familiar, diving still feels like diving, there's less gear prep and management associated with a dive, and I get to stay warm and dry, which means I have a much better time. But wait, there's more... The dry suit is a piece of cake to get into, out of, and move around in, especially compared to my 7 mil (which is named The Snow Tire
). I can't really describe how much more physically comfortable it is -- in every respect -- to dive this way.At this moment, I don't care if I ever dive wet again, and I'm not sure why I'd want to. The 7 mil is on standby, but it may be standing by for quite some time.
I'm writing this mostly for anyone else out there who may be pondering this decision. I hope the details of my experience help you to figure out what works best for you. As for me, it is clear now that this is the best gear decision I have yet made. Having knowledgeable help in the selection of the suit, followed by nicely paced lessons in its use, have made this process painless. The only part of it that was hard was getting past my own reluctance. I wish I'd done it a lot sooner.
Happy diving,everybody!
