So I am one of those stubborn people who put off diving dry for too long. I finally decided to get a drysuit to allow myself to dive more locally. I bought the Whites Fusion suit and went out last weekend to give it a try. The shop owner and instructor for the local shop, Central Oregon Tech Divers, that I divemaster for, went along and helped me to figure it out.
We did two dives, nothing spectacular, but a great learning session.
Dive one: I wore the Fusion with the MK2 undergarment. I guessed at the weight needed and went with 20 lbs of lead along with my backplate and a 2 1/2 pound v-channel weight. This gave me a total weight of 28 lbs. I got into the water and discovered immediately that I was too light. I added 4 more lbs of lead for a total of 32. This seemed about right and we started our dive. I noticed at about 10 feet that I had added too much weight and had a bit of a learning curve in store. We did this dive without any problems to speak of. The suit was very comfortable in the 56 degree water. My bouyancy was a bit off as I figured out how to balance out the air needed in the suit, nothing serious, but a bit frustrating as I am pretty picky about my diving skills. The safety stop was not a problem at all, and besides being upset at myself for looking like a rookie diver, the whole thing went pretty well.
Dive two: I removed the 4 lbs I had added to my weight belt and after discussing it with Joe, I found out that I had too much air trapped in the suit when I entered in the water. He suggested that I try to burp the neck seal when I was about chest deep. Much better! As this dive started I realized I was still a bit heavy but wanted to see what it would be like at the safety stop as I was using an AL80 and the tank would change my buoyancy as it got lighter. This dive was much better and I was a lot happier as I got back to being solid in the water without any wavering in my trim. I practiced going back and forth balancing out the air in the suit vs the air in my wing. I found out that I liked it much better when I used the suit for what it is designed for, to keep me dry, and used my wing to do the buoyancy compensating. Again no problem at the safety stop, and decided that indeed I was still too heavy. My next dive will be with 4 more pounds removed for a total weight between the lead and my plate being 24 pounds. I have a feeling that this too will be a bit heavy as I get more comfortable with diving this way. A work in progress.
Overall this was a great experience. I was extremely pleased with how well it went. Joe was great as he gave me the advise needed, but let me discover for myself what I needed to do to be better.
The suit was a dream. Went on with no effort at all, was very comfortable, had no problems with it sagging as others have mentioned, and was very flexable. I love this thing! I am sure that it will just get better and better as I get more dives under my belt with it.
Why in the world did I wait so long to switch to diving dry in cold water? I will still dive wet in warmer waters, but it sure is nice being so comfortable and dry when the water is cold.
Later, Hawk.
We did two dives, nothing spectacular, but a great learning session.
Dive one: I wore the Fusion with the MK2 undergarment. I guessed at the weight needed and went with 20 lbs of lead along with my backplate and a 2 1/2 pound v-channel weight. This gave me a total weight of 28 lbs. I got into the water and discovered immediately that I was too light. I added 4 more lbs of lead for a total of 32. This seemed about right and we started our dive. I noticed at about 10 feet that I had added too much weight and had a bit of a learning curve in store. We did this dive without any problems to speak of. The suit was very comfortable in the 56 degree water. My bouyancy was a bit off as I figured out how to balance out the air needed in the suit, nothing serious, but a bit frustrating as I am pretty picky about my diving skills. The safety stop was not a problem at all, and besides being upset at myself for looking like a rookie diver, the whole thing went pretty well.
Dive two: I removed the 4 lbs I had added to my weight belt and after discussing it with Joe, I found out that I had too much air trapped in the suit when I entered in the water. He suggested that I try to burp the neck seal when I was about chest deep. Much better! As this dive started I realized I was still a bit heavy but wanted to see what it would be like at the safety stop as I was using an AL80 and the tank would change my buoyancy as it got lighter. This dive was much better and I was a lot happier as I got back to being solid in the water without any wavering in my trim. I practiced going back and forth balancing out the air in the suit vs the air in my wing. I found out that I liked it much better when I used the suit for what it is designed for, to keep me dry, and used my wing to do the buoyancy compensating. Again no problem at the safety stop, and decided that indeed I was still too heavy. My next dive will be with 4 more pounds removed for a total weight between the lead and my plate being 24 pounds. I have a feeling that this too will be a bit heavy as I get more comfortable with diving this way. A work in progress.
Overall this was a great experience. I was extremely pleased with how well it went. Joe was great as he gave me the advise needed, but let me discover for myself what I needed to do to be better.
The suit was a dream. Went on with no effort at all, was very comfortable, had no problems with it sagging as others have mentioned, and was very flexable. I love this thing! I am sure that it will just get better and better as I get more dives under my belt with it.
Why in the world did I wait so long to switch to diving dry in cold water? I will still dive wet in warmer waters, but it sure is nice being so comfortable and dry when the water is cold.
Later, Hawk.
