Drysuit demo doofus or 4 strikes and I'm out...

[Lee Viathan]

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I'd like to share an incident that happened to me last Saturday. DUI has a traveling dry suit demonstration for folks to try out dry suits before buying one. In my opinion, a brilliant marketing tool. Being a newbie, any diving is good diving, so I bought tickets at my LDS and went. This particular event was held at Dive Alabama, a quarry, in Pelham, AL. Saturday morning was pandemonium as expected. Having a large noggin, I had to use a prototype trilaminate drysuit that took silicone seals which had to be cut to fit. This suit seemed a bit short, but I went with it.

First Dive went fine. Went to 58' to feel the second thermocline. I had some trouble straightening up and felt a little stooped in the dry suit, but I didn't think it was a problem.

Took a 1.5 hr SI, and got out of the top. I got suited back up and went down to the diving platform. I decided to put on my neoprene dew rag and 1.5 Mil gloves for dive 2. I didn't adjust my slap strap and proceeded to put on my mask. And it broke. Strike 1. One of the dive leaders on a SI tossed me his mask, so I proceeded. BTW It was only a DM and myself for this little jaunt.

DM wanted to do a weight check on me while we were still on the 4' deep platform. I proned out and immediately had wetness in my left sleeve. I got back up and everyone thought it was a wrist seal. Nope. Come to find out after 2 or 3 more wettings, my interior zipper hadn't been tugged well enough by my Dive Assistant Boss Lady. I was completely soaked. Strike 2.
DM asked me if I wanted to proceed. Stubbornness incarnate said yes ( I still can't believe it either...)

Little did I realize that the indigenous pollen had subtly taken hold of my sinuses as we descended to the 20' platform. At about 15' or so my right ear decided it didn't want to clear. I signaled ear trouble and swam up a few feet and was able to clear it. Had to yo -yo up ad down twice more to finally get clear and stay clear. Big Fat Strike 3. Did this deter our boy, you may ask? Nay, Nay!

The DM, who told me to thumb the dive at any time, had great buddy skills. I swam on his right and we were practically rubbing shoulders. We got down to 40' and we were about 40 away from the platform when the wheels fell off the wagon. In retrospect I believe that the inability to straighten up and breathe right coupled with cold, fatigue, prior ear squeeze, breaking equipment, was strike 4 for me. I was kicking but not moving. I started to feel panic creeping in on me and I was over breathing my reg. I grabbed the DM's arm and thumbed the dive. He motioned back to the platform, and I motioned up. We made a safe ascent, and he asked me what was wrong. He already knew the ingredients of the situation, and for me it was too much to gut out.

I left the dive sight exhausted, pi$$ed and disappointed. Told the Boss Lady I needed a good nights sleep and a good breakfast and then I'd decide if I'd return. I slept in, had a good breakfast, and headed back to the DUI Demo Days to get back on that horse.

Due to my aforementioned melon-of-a-head the only suit available was the same one from the previous day. I got personal attention from the DUI Boss Lady Jessica. She spent about 30 minutes loosening things up and helping me suit up. Night and Day Difference! Geared up and the same DM was in the water. I thanked him publicly for his help the day before. I told him that if my ears wouldn't clear I'd thumb myself out of the dive, and the group could go on. He looked at me like I was crazy and said we all go down together and we all come up together, no man left behind! WOW. This Fellow was definitely a pro! After some more in depth instruction about the intricacies of the inflator and dump on the dry suits (Had no added air in my suit the previous day adding squeeze to the laundry list of contributing factors to strike 4) , the six of us (3 buddy pairs) went for a nice dive. We had the chance to feed the fish at the 20' platform. Fish like Hot dogs for sure!

Overall a good learning experience (Yes, I did learn some valuable lessons) and a great opportunity provided by DUI!

LEE

 

[DanMont]

Sounds like an interesting experience! Out of interest were you dry suit trained at all before going on this tryout? Seeing as I live in the UK (wish means it is cold and miserable 70% of the year!) we were drysuit trained as part of our cert. To ensure the back seal is done up completely ask your buddy to let you give the zipper a few tugs yourself once they have done it up, it would make sure you don't have any leakage incidents again!

 

[Lee Viathan]

Danmont:

No, No drysuit training as part of my Cert. program. You can take a specialty course in Dry Suit Diving, but then you have to have a dry suit to do that in! They way DUI sets this up is you cannot go out on your own with a buddy if you do not have a dry suit specialty cert card. They take small groups (5 or less) out with a DM guide for 20 minute dives. Basically this is Dry Suit diving for complete novices to let folks see if is their cup of tea! Up to this point I've only dove "wet". Living in the SE United States and being a diving novice, I'd not done any cold water diving previously.

YES, I'm 1000% with you on the zipper check and recheck. I can only imagine what it would have been like to have a leak in really cold water ( Surf. water was 62 F) Yikes!

Thanks for your reply, and Safe Diving!

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Learning to dive dry is not all that hard, but the first few dry dives are a humbling experience as you found out. It's like learning to dive all over again. Glad you stuck with it and DUI is willing to spend the time to help new dry divers over the learning hump.

 

[Fatterboy]

My wife and I did the DUI Demo Tour last Saturday in Beaver Lake in northwest Arkansas. I am very grateful to DUI for the experience. We didn't think it was worth the work of getting suited up and the expense for us personally, BUT if I do decide to go dry, it will be DUI as the darn thing worked like a charm. Comfortable and toasty at 27feet for the short dive we were there in 52 degree water. I was very impressed. May do it again next year if it comes back.

Kudos to DUI! Can't say enough good things about the experience, lunch wasn't too bad either.

By the way, we had never had a drysuit on either. They were very patient and accomodating with us.

 

[finnks]

My wife and I did the DUI Demo Tour last Saturday in Beaver Lake in northwest Arkansas. I am very grateful to DUI for the experience. We didn't think it was worth the work of getting suited up and the expense for us personally, BUT if I do decide to go dry, it will be DUI as the darn thing worked like a charm. Comfortable and toasty at 27feet for the short dive we were there in 52 degree water. I was very impressed. May do it again next year if it comes back.

Kudos to DUI! Can't say enough good things about the experience, lunch wasn't too bad either.

By the way, we had never had a drysuit on either. They were very patient and accomodating with us.

Clearly I'll have to try the DUI demo when it comes down here. Have tried a different dry suit and the experience was uncomfortable, way too heavy to shlep in and out of the water, unsafe due to restricted mobility and far colder than diving wet. Clearly I'm doing something wrong!

 

[proteinrage]

I was also at the DUI Demo Days in Pelham. I have zero experience with a dry suit, and my dive buddies and I decided months ago we were going to give it a go. My experience was on par with Lee's experience. I had a dry suit that fit well, kept me dry, but I missed the briefing (or lack thereof) of how to use the suit. I did get briefed on burping the suit, but frankly, missed the inflation part. Needless to say, the squeeze that I experienced was incredibly painful. My upper body was bruised for 4 days. I also had moments of panic while this occurred, but I was able to keep my ears clear, and ascend safetly. I was not prepared for this kind of diving - ironically, I got my OW in a rock quarry - since I now dive the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic. After exiting the water, I determined I had a bit too much weight for the dive, figured out how and when to inflate the suit, and how cold that water really was. DUI reps, especially Jessica, were very helpful in getting me the right fitting suit and how to use it, after the fact. I do not fault DUI on my inexperience. This was a lesson learned for me on trying new equipment and not asking the right questions, even if they were seemingly obvious. The second dive was worse for me, as I did not do a thorough zipper check. Like Lee, I got wet. I don't fault the suit - my own lack of knowledge and training did me in on this one.

I had a hit and miss experience with the DMs there. My first one seemed to be more occupied with trying the different suits, than leading noobie drysuit divers. Not a horrible experience, but not an outstanding one. The second DM was more accommodating and seemed more interested in our experience with the drysuit, and being safe divers.

I can't say this enough - thank you DUI for having this DEMO day! Jessica was very patient and willing to go the distance to make sure my experience was awesome. I am not sure I am willing to go the drysuit route yet, but this experience gave me food for thought, and some humble pie on lessons to be relearned.

 

[DanMont]

I am assuming that those of you who have mentioned suffering from the compression of the drysuit were still using your BC's for buoyancy control?

 

[techintime]

Congrats on trying the dry suit.

Some thoughts and rules of thumb for dry suit diving:
- It takes a while to learn how to dive one and to get the weighting/weight distribution figured out, but once you do, having a dry suit opens up so many more possibilities for diving (times of year, places, durations, depths, etc)...so it's worth it.
- At first they are a PITA, and they are always more of a hassle than a simple 3mm wet suit, but when you are diving while others are staying home, or when they come out of the water shivering, then it is all worthwhile.
- All dry suits should be thought of as semi-dry. They all leak to a certain extent depending on the suit, fit, how much movement. The more you move around, especially turning your head around, the more water may get in. That said, they still keep you warm even with if a fair amount of water gets in.
- Triple check the inside zipper every time (that's why I like front zip suits)
- Don't let the suit squeeze you. it's uncomfortable, colder, restricts mobility,, and even dangerous. and if too tight it may suck water in through the seals
- Opinions vary widely on using the suit as a BC, personally I use the BC for basic buoyancy control and only add enough gas to the suit to prevent squeeze, stay warm, and trim out horizontal (generally the suit will move you more head up if you add gas to it)
- keep excess gas out of your legs and feet. stay trimmed out horizontal
- If you can afford it, buy a good one right off the bat and buy a good undergarment. But if you can’t, then go ahead and buy a cheap one. It’s still a ticket to the dance that other people can’t attend. If you dive a lot, you will probably end up buying a better one later, and the cheap one can serve as a backup.

 

[Fatterboy]

I am assuming that those of you who have mentioned suffering from the compression of the drysuit were still using your BC's for buoyancy control?

They instructed us that air was added to the drysuit only to relieve squeeze, not for bouancy control.