Drysuit Bouyancy Issues

[InTheDrink]

For shits and giggles, I bought a really good price DUI TLS Drysuit. It would have fitted someone twice my size.

Diving it was like going to the rodeo and wasn’t any fun at all unless you like swimming hard and inverted on your advanced nitrox course and swapping bottles.

As well as valves, a good fitting suit is - obviously - important.

+1 for wing for buoyancy.

 

[Marie13]

I do not understand why there is a debate on using the drysuit for buoyancy. From what my instructor has told me, I need to use a BCD as a drysuit won't be enough for technical diving, and I need to get as much experience as possible with technical grade equipment and use a gear setup as close as possible to technical diving. As far as diving with a drysuit goes, I have been doing a lot better, although my instructor still doesn't let me use it for deeper dives.

Why there is debate is that some people, when recreational divers, are taught to use their suit for buoyancy underwater, not their BC. Of course, that has to ignored once one starts down the tech road.

 

[SpeedyBob27]

For shits and giggles, I bought a really good price DUI TLS Drysuit. It would have fitted someone twice my size.

Diving it was like going to the rodeo and wasn’t any fun at all unless you like swimming hard and inverted on your advanced nitrox course and swapping bottles.

As well as valves, a good fitting suit is - obviously - important.

+1 for wing for buoyancy.

Always have and always will use it for buoyancy, I generally don't like the though of using the drysuit for buoyancy, feels somewhat unreliable and harder to dump without compromising the dryness. At the moment I rent a dry suit, as I am still collecting gear. Additionally, I have a very nice BCD for the future when I get into tech diving, so it doesn't make sense not to use it.

 

[SpeedyBob27]

I'm writing this because it is a fun story I have from a while ago, and some of you can learn from this. About 6 months ago, I was doing my deep dive for the advanced open water course. We had chosen to do this in Lake Travis, because it is a little safer than the ocean. We had descended perfectly fine, through the green murky water, when at about 74 feet we had encountered a thick layer of sediments. Seeing as we were deep enough already, (PADI requires 60ft for the deep dive), we had chosen to ascend. I had some slight issues going up, but I remembered to twist the exhaust valve the other way for the way up. Well, it turns out I hadn't. I accidentally let go of the reel anchored to the bottom, and I had to keep flipping over and ejecting the air from my BCD, thinking that would be enough. At first it was, and I managed to regroup and grab the reel. Then as we continued to go up, there was no more air in my BCD, I had flipped over, and I was now rocketing up to the surface. I couldn't eject air from my neck seal either, as I was feet first. At about 15 feet, my divemaster managed to hold onto me for 3 minutes for an emergency deco stop. When he couldn't hold on any longer I floated up to the surface, and on the way up my boots had fallen off, so I had to deflate myself and put my fins back on for any sort of mobility. Thinking back on this incident, if I had been in the ocean, it would have most certainly been worse, and I may not have made it. What had happened with my drysuit

was I apparently had the exhaust valve open at the bottom, and I had closed it for the ascent. This is why it is always important to remember, clockwise closes, counterclockwise opens. I was wondering if you guys have any similar stories or input?​

I am sorry to those that replied to this post. The information here is apparently somewhat inaccurate and incomplete. Labeling it as a fun story was inappropriate, and I am sorry to my divemaster for misquoting the things he has told me.

 

[davehicks]

Always have and always will use it for buoyancy, I generally don't like the though of using the drysuit for buoyancy, feels somewhat unreliable and harder to dump without compromising the dryness. At the moment I rent a dry suit, as I am still collecting gear. Additionally, I have a very nice BCD for the future when I get into tech diving, so it doesn't make sense not to use it.

You have mentioned a couple of times that dumping air from your drysuit "compromises dryness". If you are having this issue then your valve is broken. You should not be concerned about this as an issue.

Furthermore, as a dry suit diver you will find that your suit is "mostly dry". It is very common to get a little leak here and there. Maybe you extend your neck and a little water comes in, maybe your zipper is wearing out, your dry glove leaks etc. Your undergarment will still keep you warm, mostly, but you are going to get a little wet now and again.

 

[SpeedyBob27]

You have mentioned a couple of times that dumping air from your drysuit "compromises dryness". If you are having this issue then your valve is broken. You should not be concerned about this as an issue.

Furthermore, as a dry suit diver you will find that your suit is "mostly dry". It is very common to get a little leak here and there. Maybe you extend your neck and a little water comes in, maybe your zipper is wearing out, your dry glove leaks etc. Your undergarment will still keep you warm, mostly, but you are going to get a little wet now and again.

No, I meant that if it was broken in some way somehow and I didn't know about it I would get flooded.

 

[davehicks]

No, I meant that if it was broken in some way somehow and I didn't know about it I would get flooded.

This is a counterproductive obsession adding risk to your training. The valves don't tend to leak. That said, eventually you will get wet in a dry suit. Don't worry about it and just go diving. And leave your valve fully open until you have more experience.

 

[azstinger11]

Cold water diver, don’t screw around with the valve or you are asking for problems with it, like forgetting to open/close it. Set it and forget it.

 

[rboban]

and CHECK every DIVE for position...