Gidds v. The Drysuit Round II

[crpntr133]

Gidds, not sure how long Larry at Scubatoys will honor this but he gave me what I thought was one hell of a deal. I bought the Zeagle ZX Flathead VI and he threw in the Envoy octo for free....I upgraded to the ZX octo. He also threw in a Armor reg bag. Rapdiver started a sale on here and then canceled it..Larry took the ball and ran with it.
I really wasn't ready to drop anymore on dive gear since I just got my dry suit but I couldn't pass it up. It would cost me more in the long run and I hate Oceanic regs that I rent. Besides I am looking at doing an ice dive this winter and the LDS really didn't act excited when I asked him how reliable their regs would be.

 

[spectrum]

Some regulators are more neutral in buoyancy than others and that can amke a difference. Alignment and lebgth of hose seem to be the biggest contributors to an ill fitting second stage. Something like the Seacure mouthpiece that you fit and trim can be a nice upgrade. Keep the original mouthpiece in your save-a-daive kiot along with tiewraps and tools.

Our Blizards have the "walrus" bubble difuser that doubles as a chin rest. Normally it dosen't touch but if I swim hard or into a current it lends some support.

Almost all regulators will breathe wet when inverted. Described as lilke breathing through a wet sponge.

The boots? Same as you conventional gear I suppose, rinse and dry after every outing. Use one of the enzyme stink killers as needed. It's not so much the material as it is the stowaway organisims that are dying and rotting in the material, right?

Clarification on my issue with big clunky regs: sometimes when I am underwater it feels like the reg is pulling the mouth piece away from my mouth. I'm thinking this may be drag on the clunky part of the reg and the fact that the mouthpiece doesn't jibe with my jaws, which are a touch abnormally small. I also had a reg in the pool the other day that leaked a bit if I was completely upside down practicing how to deal with floaty drysuit feet. While I am complaining: some bigger regs almost touch my nose, which means a bit of fiddling is needed to clear my ears.
I have another question: how do I keep my rock boots from getting skanky? I'm not sure what they are made out of so I dunno how quick it dries but they seem like they could get yucky.

 

[steveann]

On regs, there's tons of good ones out there, some better than others, some cheaper than others (and not necesarily in the same order). I dive an Odin/Jetstream, and it's been unstoppable for me (took it down to 130 feet in 45 degree freshwater the weekend after Turkey Day and it breathed like it did on the surface), but it is a bit on the expensive side. It does work like a champ though, and the side outlet keeps the bubblies out of my face. It also doesn't breathe wet when upside down. Don't know why, but it don't. It does breathe a bit wet <10 feet, seems the reg likes it deep.

Wife dives Zeagle Tech 50D first with ZX second. Awesome, light reg. Awesome breather. Cheaper than a lot of comparable setups. Easy as all getout to service. Works in everything from tropics to ice. And any Apeks dealer has the parts for 'em, since Apeks=Zeagle.

On the stank.....that seems to be one of the unmentioned joys of drysuit diving. Just wait till you smell those undies at the end of your first season. Yummmmmmmy. There's a bunch of stuff out there to help with it, but i think it's mostly a get used to it, you won't smell it when you're underwater anyway. Although, I guess you could just wear your mask all the time.

 

[JohnL]

I went with a set of oceanic regs, got delta3 that had been used only 3 or 4 times. Nice breather (only been to 80 feet with it though), sealed, and a reputation for reliability. A friend of mine has had one (ok, delta2) for 5 years, had it to over 120 feet, and hasn't had it serviced in 5 years/150 dives (he's thinking about it this year).

Sure, their are higher end regs out there, but the delta's are a good value.

 

[ScubaSarus]

One thing I like about my Sherwood Blizzard. You hardly notice its in your mouth. Very light weight, reliable, and inexpensive, and easy to service for almost any shop.

 

[Diesel298]

One thing I like about my Sherwood Blizzard. You hardly notice its in your mouth. Very light weight, reliable, and inexpensive, and easy to service for almost any shop.

i think that sherwod has a excellent record, and are so simple to service.... parts are often ez to get and inexpensive...
i just could never get past that whole dry air bleed thing....
but id still recomend it for gidds

 

[Gidds]

I have another question of a girly nature *waits for all the boys to run*
I'm sort of allergic to chocolate and therefore I have hives all over my collarbone, attractive I know Anyway hives are dealt with by application of moisturizer but I was just thinking that moisturizer would probably eat holes in my neck seal. Yes or no?

 

[JeffG]

I have another question of a girly nature *waits for all the boys to run*
I'm sort of allergic to chocolate and therefore I have hives all over my collarbone, attractive I know Anyway hives are dealt with by application of moisturizer but I was just thinking that moisturizer would probably eat holes in my neck seal. Yes or no?

Depends what its made of, but if it is on your collarbone it won't come into contact with the neck seal anyways. (probably covered by your undies)

 

[johnnyseko]

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=38622

bored....

 

[Gidds]

John, go study!

Thank you for the input Jeff. I usually apply the stuff rather liberally on face, neck, and collarbone. Ingredients: water, isopropyl isostearate,octyl palmitate, glycerine, petroleum...