1st time in Dry Suit and Floating Feet

[diverrobs]

I tried my new dry suit for the first time a couple weeks ago in the pool. I found my feet wanting to be up a little. Not so much so that I was floating legs up but enough to be anoying such that my fins were pointing upward instead of back. I did not have a squeeze in my feet because I worked the air out of my feet area at the start of the dive. I know that the dry suit will take a little getting used to but I was thinking of trying some ankle weigths to get my feet out parallel to my body.

I can only stand the heat in the dry suit during the pool dive for about 20min. (I come out of the dry suit wetter due to sweat than I do in my wet suit from the pool water) so any suggestions would help me make the most of the 20 min.

Thanks
Rob

 

[jlovold]

First, make sure you use the BCD for buoyancy-control, an use as little air in the suit as possible without being squeezed.

Then get jet-fins with springstraps, and use frog-kicks...

Problem solved...

 

[theskull]

Your feet are in the correct position. Possibly for the first time since you started diving. You will learn to like it. A lot.

theskull

 

[msg]

Make sure that your boots are tight to you feet. Not uncomfortably tight, but use thick sock to take up any "extra" space. Second on the heavier fins. You can also try ankle weights.
Good Luck

 

[dkatchalov]

Also, pool diving in a DS is tough. My first pool session in my DS was horrible.

If you do have floaty feet, get ankle weights or jets with spring straps. They will make a huge difference.

 

[dkatchalov]

Also, when you take your DS to OW don't forget to vent often on ascent That is my personal mantra & comes from two unpleasant experiences of runaway ascents. I take it you're not taking a DS class?

 

[whoji]

You could always go the Gaiter route to prevent air migration to the feet.
Halcyon or Oxycheq make some good ones.

 

[dave4868]

Shallow water will be tougher because of the quicker changes in suit gas volume. Don't get discouraged, it will get easier in deeper water.

Try rechecking your weighting. If you avoid excess weight, you can avoid excess suit air. That will be especially helpful in shallow water and may even keep you a little cooler in the pool. Won't be as warm on a cold water dive, though....I like extra air for warmth.

I like the suggestion of filling your boots with thicker liners and using ankle weights or gaiters. They will all slow or restrict the air movement to the feet.

A baggy suit will let air shift quickly, too. That's where filling it out with insulation can help, if the temps allow. If you're wearing light insulation for the pool work, that's part of the reason the air can shift easily.

Shallow water is tough to manage at first....keep at it.

Dave C

 

[TSandM]

You may, in fact, have floaty feet, depending on the undergarment you are using and how the air is distributed, and also on how the drysuit fits you around the legs and feet.

If the problem is that the boots are too big and there's excess air space in them, finkeepers help a lot. One of the scariest things that's ever happened to me diving was kicking out of my dry suit boots, something that instantly renders you quite helpless. Finkeepers help prevent that.

But you also have to look at body posture and how your equipment is arranged. If your legs and feet are light, bending your knees and bringing your feet closer to your body will decrease the lever arm for those light things to push up, and decrease the feet up tendency. Adding a negative fin like Jets with springs also helps (we DIR divers pooh-pooh ankle weights, but we all wear negative fins!) Moving your tank down a bit can help, as can moving some of your weight onto a weight belt, and thus further down your body.

It takes some time to play with the gas in the suit, one's posture and one's equipment, with the goal being the ability to hover quietly in a horizontal position without the need to kick, but it is time well worth spending, because once you have that stable base, your control over your position in the water column becomes much more finely tuned. This is what I would spend my pool time doing, if I were you.

 

[String]

2 types of floaty feet:
(i) the knees bend 90 degrees and stay there but no other motion
(ii) the feet go as above but continue to rise pulling the body head down in a rotating motion.

The first is normal and desirable, the second isnt.

If the second is the case then check there isnt too much empty space in the boots, check your weighting is correct. Consider MAYBE using the BC for buyoancy or ankle weights if the above can't fix it.

People mock ankle weights while at the same time talking about trim weights on jackets etc. Well ankle weights ARE just trim weights and if they're needed then use them. If not then dont.