minimalist

[WeekendDiver]

Greetings!
I am a newbie with about 100 dives or so under my wetsuit and I took a dry suit class last week. In my wetsuit I felt fairly competent - good buoyancy, air consumption, in general, I felt in control of what I was doing.
Enter The Dry Suit.
I suck.
Even though my buoyancy overall was not terrible, I also wore a hood and 5mm gloves and I could barely check my SPG (yes, clipped off to those stupid halcyon weight pockets - making it even more difficult than just on my regular left D ring) I did not feel in control of my body. usually I can determine what position I am in (head up, down, whatever) without much ado, but wearing that @#$%!& drysuit (DUI C something 200) I had zero control over the micro movements. Like I said, macro control was ok - I did not bolt to the surface nor did a sink like a rock - but that subtle stuff like holding your breath for a couple of seconds to raise your torso - just was not working. Also, when I was horizontal my exhales tend to go into my wet hood (with vent) and make change the angle (horizontal that is) that I was going for.
In short, I am looking for a shoulder to cry on about my incompetence.

 

[divad]

Where are you taking the class?

 

[Lone Frogman]

Live and learn do you remember your first dive? How was your bouyancy? Get back in the water and practice. No shoulders to cry on here. You can do it!

 

[TSandM]

A dry suit is a different animal. But if you had good buoyancy control in your wetsuit, you'll be happy with how quickly it comes back. My regular dive buddy went dry last spring, and within a dozen dives or so he was back to his elegant self. Me, I learned in a dry suit, and have yet to approach elegance . . .

 

[vablackwater]

a few more dives in it and it becomes an afterthought. may also want to find a buddy who is comfortable diving dry to work with you if you have taken the class.

 

[WeekendDiver]

Thanks for all the responses.
I took the class backwards (which was entirely my own doing) by doing the open water part first and the pool a couple of days later. I took it with Village Divers here in NYC. A lot of my frustration stems not so much from the dry suit per se, but from all the other, additional exposure protection (hood, gloves). I wore all that stuff even in the pool because my goal was not so much to have a comfortable dive but to learn to deal with all that additional stuff. Before this class the most I've worn is a beanie and tropical gloves.
For example, just getting into and out of my harness is a pain - getting hung up on the exhaust valve, forgetting to disconnect the inflator hose, my computer got caught in the webbing - so I practiced that a bunch of times until I was able to to that with without destroying equipment and yanking on things (with gloves and hood and mask on). Just putting on my mask while wearing a hood and gloves requires practice.(I did it over as well as under the hood). Clearing my mask while the hood is over the edge of the mask was something else I did a bunch of times. Clipping /unclipping my SPG and primary reg (smaller bolt) with gloves was something else I did ad nauseum. They're all tedious things that I have to relearn, but important (IMHO), and it is going to be a while before I am "fluent" at it.

 

[TSandM]

So, you're not only diving a drysuit for the first time, but making the transition to cold water diving altogether? I have even more empathy for you, then. Every time I come home from a vacation with tropical diving, the first cold water dive is painful. Reduced mobility, massively increased weight, and buoyancy challenges. There are days when I understand why some people never do anything but warm water diving!

 

[WeekendDiver]

Yep -I like diving but I can't really go south every weekend so I decided to give NE diving a shot. It is a very different game though - there is a much smaller margin of safety.