Mndiv
Contributor
Hi everyone,
I recently started drysuit diving, and since the majority of my diving takes place in the chilly midwest, this is pretty exciting stuff for me. However during my drysuit class I became inverted and had to surface with an instructor. I think this is due to the fact that my rock boots are slightly too big and therefore have excess air in them, in addition I have a little bit of extra material in the legs of my drysuit. In the class I temporarily fixed the problem by pulling my fin straps on really tight, which had the effect of reducing the airspace around my feet, however, this is obviously no permanent solution. When I talked to the instructor about my problem he originally suggested one or two pound ankle weights. At the time this made sense because I needed an extra 4 or so anyway with a drysuit, but recently I have also looked into gaiters. I know gaiters wouldn't actually reduce the airspace in your feet, but I can't help but feel that ankle weights would destroy any sort of trim and make it very difficult to kick. In a time when I'm adjusting to diving dry and trying to work out buoyancy etc. with a drysuit as it is, this would obviously by counterproductive.
Basically my question is: which option would be the better one in my situation? Plain and simple. I know there are advantages and disadvantages to both, and I'm just looking for some feedback and opinions.
Thanks in advance.
I recently started drysuit diving, and since the majority of my diving takes place in the chilly midwest, this is pretty exciting stuff for me. However during my drysuit class I became inverted and had to surface with an instructor. I think this is due to the fact that my rock boots are slightly too big and therefore have excess air in them, in addition I have a little bit of extra material in the legs of my drysuit. In the class I temporarily fixed the problem by pulling my fin straps on really tight, which had the effect of reducing the airspace around my feet, however, this is obviously no permanent solution. When I talked to the instructor about my problem he originally suggested one or two pound ankle weights. At the time this made sense because I needed an extra 4 or so anyway with a drysuit, but recently I have also looked into gaiters. I know gaiters wouldn't actually reduce the airspace in your feet, but I can't help but feel that ankle weights would destroy any sort of trim and make it very difficult to kick. In a time when I'm adjusting to diving dry and trying to work out buoyancy etc. with a drysuit as it is, this would obviously by counterproductive.
Basically my question is: which option would be the better one in my situation? Plain and simple. I know there are advantages and disadvantages to both, and I'm just looking for some feedback and opinions.
Thanks in advance.