Dry Suit Thoughts and Experiences?

[Wibble]

My recent(11/20) dry suit class taught me to use my dry suit for bouyency. It was through an SDI instructor.

And do you find that you do that, or have you worked out that it's dependent upon the circumstances?

 

[Jim Lapenta]

My recent(11/20) dry suit class taught me to use my dry suit for bouyency. It was through an SDI instructor.

Then he was not teaching to the recommendations in the manual. I know as I wrote the manual and the course requirements. This was in consultation with many drysuit mfgs.

 

[Wibble]

Then he was not teaching to the recommendations in the manual. I know as I wrote the manual and the course requirements. This was in consultation with many drysuit mfgs.

Are these recommendations now to use drysuit for squeeze and BCD for buoyancy control?

 

[HKGuns]

Then he was not teaching to the recommendations in the manual. I know as I wrote the manual and the course requirements. This was in consultation with many drysuit mfgs.

I now better understand why you recommended what you did to me in the other dry suit thread. This seems to be a significant divergence between PADI and the other agencies, where they tend to align pretty well on most other diving topics.

Given your experience, I'm wondering if you have any insights into why PADI would be different on this specific topic?

 

[boulderjohn]

Over 94 pages…. Were they paid by the word?

Over 130 pages.

 

[Wibble]

Over 130 pages.

Must be lots of pictures of gurning students and adverts for drysuits...

 

[boulderjohn]

Must be lots of pictures of gurning students and adverts for drysuits...

The adverts come after the 130 pages. The book is a publication of DUI and Viking owners, so it is not surprise. The advertisements are for DUI, Viking, Whites, and Diving Concepts.

 

[Jhgt2d]

And do you find that you do that, or have you worked out that it's dependent upon the circumstances?

I am still new to diving dry, about 50 dives on my dry suit so far, but yes. I find using my dry suit for bouyency control and comfort is the best for me. My experience is limited however to diving in the NW OH area quarries/wrecks.

Then he was not teaching to the recommendations in the manual. I know as I wrote the manual and the course requirements. This was in consultation with many drysuit mfgs.

I found a section in one of the manuals that came with my dry suit. Specifically it's the user manual for the SI tech dry suit valves. The picture should be attached. It tells me to keep my BCD empty during the dive.

That being said, you have WAY more experience than I do diving, just like my instructor has WAY more experience than me as well. So I usually defer to the experience to become familiar with the material/procedures/conditions and then when I am comfortable tweak as required.

 

[boulderjohn]

I am still new to diving dry, about 50 dives on my dry suit so far, but yes. I find using my dry suit for bouyency control and comfort is the best for me. My experience is limited however to diving in the NW OH area quarries/wrecks.



I found a section in one of the manuals that came with my dry suit. Specifically it's the user manual for the SI tech dry suit valves. The picture should be attached. It tells me to keep my BCD empty during the dive.

That being said, you have WAY more experience than I do diving, just like my instructor has WAY more experience than me as well. So I usually defer to the experience to become familiar with the material/procedures/conditions and then when I am comfortable tweak as required.

I cannot speak for Wibble, but I think many of the people who respond to these threads (and they come regularly) are also technical divers, and technical divers dive heavy. I do a lot of my drysuit diving in steel doubles, and with that gear, I do everything I can to lighten the load. I use an aluminum backplate instead of steel, for example. Even so, when I am on the surface at the beginning or end of a dive, I have to get my wing pretty full to keep my head above water.

People such as that are so used to diving heavy and using the BCD for buoyancy that they may have trouble relating to people doing basic, single tank diving.

And I have a confession. When I am doing decompression stops at the end of a technical dive, I frequently use my drysuit for buoyancy. If I am on a stop and feel a bit heavy, a brief touch of the inflator valve on my chest does the trick, and when I go to the next stop, a slight tilt of the shoulder gets me neutral again. I learned that watching instructional videos on decompression stops. The videos did not "say" to do that, but it was obvious that they were dong that.

 

[lexvil]

I am still new to diving dry, about 50 dives on my dry suit so far, but yes. I find using my dry suit for bouyency control and comfort is the best for me. My experience is limited however to diving in the NW OH area quarries/wrecks.



I found a section in one of the manuals that came with my dry suit. Specifically it's the user manual for the SI tech dry suit valves. The picture should be attached. It tells me to keep my BCD empty during the dive.

That being said, you have WAY more experience than I do diving, just like my instructor has WAY more experience than me as well. So I usually defer to the experience to become familiar with the material/procedures/conditions and then when I am comfortable tweak as required.

The main thing here is to realize there is more than one way to dive dry, I prefer not using the wing and I did try the wing for buoyancy for a while before adopting my preferred method, avoid dogma and find what works best for you.