Drysuit squeeze and feet over head

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cruisekingkris

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Location
New Jersey
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After two and a half seasons with my drysuit (been diving wet for 16 years) I can’t seem to get comfortable with drysuit squeeze. I don’t know if it’s just me not liking the feeling around my chest cavity or if I’m doing something wrong.

When I descend (typically doing dives in the 100’-130’ range) I try and put only the bare minimum amount of air in my suit to reduce squeeze. Once hitting my bottom depth I will even out with my wing. This will leave me not enjoying the feeing on my lungs from the suit squeeze. I’m an asthmatic and this instantly makes my mind think of the onset of an attack. Side note, I haven’t had an asthma attack in 7-8 years and I haven’t used an inhaler either. So by this I know it’s not a lung issue. Plus when I dive wet or without any protection I don’t have these issues.

So if I try to be comfortable on the descent and add enough air to remove the squeeze I can feel the bubble move through out the suit when I do my dive. I’m diving the north East wrecks and tend to be poking my head and body in holes to look for critters and what not. I do find my self feet above head while searching around since most wrecks here are wire dragged or really old and flattened out. This obviously makes my feet super buoyant. Thus making me need to reset position and even out the gas in the suit. Is this normal, is this much air normal, do people just deal with suit squeeze while diving and not add much air.

I’ve tried diving with minimal air in the suit and enough air in the suit and they each pose their own problems. What do people do??? Is wreck drysuit diving different from cave drysuit diving. Does each have there own trick? If I’m going to start doing longer dives during deco training, I need to figure the squeeze out. Ugh!!
 
What fins are you wearing?

I’m in the “gaiters are solution to a skills problem” boat but there are instances where suit cut/fit can come into play. How trim is your suit? Is it a Fusion/Whites/off the shelf (but not coordinate with your body dimensions)? Doubly so if you’re keeping extra gas in your suit as a means of insulation and warmth.

There shouldn’t be a difference in terms of drysuit use between wreck diving and cave diving. I’d argue you’re more likely to encounter head down situations in a cave than you are recreational wreck diving.
 
So if I try to be comfortable on the descent and add enough air to remove the squeeze I can feel the bubble move through out the suit when I do my dive.
Suggestion:

Empty your suit on the surface. Splash. If you are uncomfortable with a hot drop then add gas to your BC/Wing before you drop. Add just enough air to the suit so that it doesn't hurt on descent. Forget comfort on descent. Pay attention to your ears.

When you get to the bottom, add just enough air/gas that your suit doesn't pinch you. Open your suit valve and use your BC/Wing for everything else.
 
Step 1 is that your suit absolutely must fit properly. Extra fabric isn’t going to do you any favors.

Step 2 is to add enough gas to loft the undergarment. No more, no less.

If your suit fits well, there won’t be a bunch of extra space for a bubble to move around in. If you loft your undergarment, there won’t even be much of a bubble to move around.
 
Others here are much more experienced than I, but I prefer the simplicity of using just the suit for buoyancy. With a single tank I don’t need much air the achieve neutral buoyancy. Also I never feel any squeeze from the suit.

I also don’t dive with the valve completely open. I adjust it so that it maintains the amount or gas I need for neutral buoyancy. As the dive goes I open the valve a few clicks to account for the decrease of gas in the tank.

If you haven’t tried using just the suit for buoyancy you can give it a shot. If you feel like there is too much air in the suit, decrease your lead. You can do a weight check similarly to how you would with a wing. When your tank is almost empty, go to your safety stop, and get the correct amount of air in your suit. And just the lead so that’s neutrally buoyant.

This approach isn’t the standard on scubaboard, but it’s a very common way to dive single tanks in drysuits recreationally.
 
I am new to dry suits, so take this for what it is worth. Just trying to help.

I concentrate on my ears when descending and put enough air in the suit to be comfortable and maintain neutral buoyancy once I get to depth. The squeeze doesn't bother me much at all though. In fact, I kind of like it. I too use the suit for buoyancy and leave the BC for the surface.

Not sure if this will help your feet up or not, but I found my SeaWing Nova's to be too light and my feet kept floating up in the dry suit. Switched them out for the heavier Aqua Lung Rocket fins, which made a huge difference in my trim. I am better balanced with the air in the suit using the heavier fins. I can easily maintain really good trim with the heavier fins and the suit.
 
The squeeze doesn't bother me much at all though. In fact, I kind of like it.
Ha! IKR. I like the feeling of just relieving the squeeze at the bottom. Tells me that I 'have arrived'.

I too use the suit for buoyancy and leave the BC for the surface.
Nah. Compare the complexity of a suit bubble to a BC bubble. One of them is far more constrained and manageable in all orientations than the other.

YMMV...
 

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