aquacat8
Contributor
Now you know why cold water divers are obsessed with steel backplates, steel tanks and dry suits.
how do you dive a 7.5 mm full suit
- Thread starter Jayfarmlaw
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Stoo
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aquacat8
Contributor
Don't be afraid to BUMP that BC inflator button when you get down, put enough air in it to feel neutral, it will be a lot more than for warm, conversely DUMP it as you ascend... better to ascend a bit negative and swim up a little than let the wetsuit start swimming up for you ;-)
aquacat8
Contributor
I used to wear 3 mil socks with 5 mil booties. When I moved to warmer water I had to buy smaller fins ;-)
Yes, they did. I think the point that @aquacat8 might be trying to make is this?:
All things being equal, my drysuit with thick undergarment is 8 lbs more positively buoyant than my 7mm wetsuit. I think that is the reason that some people are likely to want to use a steel backplate and steel tanks- (to offset the amount of lead required to carry). Not as a result of compression, but as a result of inherent additional positive buoyancy of the drysuit and undergarment.
vam
Contributor
I wear 24lbs with my 7mm. I do have to kick that down, but once the bubbles under the neoprene work out I don't have trouble maintaining a safety stop, even with under 500 psi left in the tank. I started with just over 30lbs and worked my way down slowly until I found a number that worked for me.
Most of the season I use a drysuit, but at the height of summer I find the 7mm more comfortable. Even then I'll use a drysuit for deeper than 70 or 80' because of the buoyancy issues you mentioned. When I trained under UTD they didn't allow a 7mm past 60' because they said it was impossible to have a balanced rig under those conditions. They're probably right.
Most of the season I use a drysuit, but at the height of summer I find the 7mm more comfortable. Even then I'll use a drysuit for deeper than 70 or 80' because of the buoyancy issues you mentioned. When I trained under UTD they didn't allow a 7mm past 60' because they said it was impossible to have a balanced rig under those conditions. They're probably right.
aquacat8
Contributor
Actually I never had a dry suit, But whatever you use for cold water you need what may be a surprising amount of weight. Steel tanks made the biggest difference to me. If diving wet it can be interesting to do a weight check with just the wetsuit. Ah HA! There’s the culprit!
ratjn
Registered
Jay,
Sounds like training for here. Let me know when you are ready.
Sounds like training for here. Let me know when you are ready.
Having pretty much "learned" diving a 7mm full wetsuit in the 1960s, I had the opposite problem... learning to dive in the nice, warm, toasty waters of the tropics! Oh, and we didn't use BCDs back then. Today I styill dive a 5mm or 7mm full wetsuit at home but have the benefit of a BCD these days. I over weight myself with 38# to keep stable when filming in surgy conditions.
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