FJPatrum,
Do you leave your vent on your Shoulder open?
If so it should just vent excess gas when you raise your shoulder to be the highest point on your body.
If it is all the way open, but will not vent, then I would suggest changing the valves or servicing them.
Leaving the valve open while diving will have no detriment to the suits watertight integrity as they are NRV's.
I use SP Jet fins and love the weight of them. I did try out my buddys "lighter fins" and had similar issues that disappeared when I put on ankle weights as an experiment.
Great call on the dive and good for you finding a solid and dependable buddy.
Safe diving.
Pete.
Thanks for the advice. If I open my vent all the way I start venting the moment I descend and it doesn't seem to stop. I may not have given it enough time to even out though and get equal. So far if I've tried that I feel uncomfortable squeeze below 20 feet. Conversely, closing all the way and I have a hard time managing the bubble properly.
I only 5 or 6 dives in a dry suit so I'm still working on it all.
My "heavy" fins are TUSA splits and the "floaty" fins are Mares Quattros. I had some jets but they were too small (bought them as part of a bulk used buy) so I sold them. For now I'll stick with the splits.
---------- Post added July 9th, 2013 at 07:58 PM ----------
fjpatrum;
weight belts suck. I don't know why people are still forced to train with these.
by the statement that you where wearing a weight belt ill assume you where diving a single tank with either a backplate and wing or traditional BCD. I would recommend adding weight pockets to you harness or checking into a weight integrated BCD.
as for you problems with the drysuit, try following this simple rule on descent fully close the vent on ascent full open the vent. if you are horizontal with a slight head up posture you will vent continually during you ascent and won't have a runway; even with this you may still need the rise the left arm and pull back to help vent excess gas on ascent if you start moving too fast.
also most folks that dive dry, dive a heavy fin like the hollis F1 or jet fins.
hope this is help full.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
I agree, weight belts suck. However, I have no interest in "weight integrated BCs". I am working on a "pocket" to hang off the bottom of my plate for the 8 pounds I need on a belt for dry suit diving.
I've decided that if I hang the weights from the butt of my plate they'll be in essentially the same place I try to put them when wearing a weight belt. Unfortunately this means they'll be harder to ditch but I'm working on some ideas for that. One more DIY project on the burner.
---------- Post added July 9th, 2013 at 07:58 PM ----------
If you try a good rubber belt, you probably won't have these issues. The other comment: Why carry a found weight belt? Just put it on.
Now I hadn't thought about that... put it on... that would have reduced my rolling quite a bit, I think. Duh... next time.
---------- Post added July 9th, 2013 at 08:02 PM ----------
Just a thought... are you sure you are feet light, and not top heavy?
Or both... Light feet AND topheavy?
The combo of light fins, drysuit AND topheavy will easily give the effect that if you try to maintain horizontal trim, (and especially if frogkicking) you get air in you feet, which works together with being topheavy on turning you around.
Get your good fins on, experiment with putting 2-4 pounds on the lower camband on the tank. Good luck.
I keep 6 pounds on my cam bands (3 and 3) when diving dry. I put 8 on a belt. On the second dive I was hanging the extra weight belt from my wrist, which compounded my floaty feet to the point of fatigue.
With my normal fins I never feel floaty at all with the same weights, so my trim is pretty well sorted, generally speaking. Bad combination of events and "getting off the couch" after a couple months of not diving made for a less than ideal day. Lessons learned.
I have been thinking about getting a rubber weight belt so if I don't like my pocket solution, I'll fall back on that.
---------- Post added July 9th, 2013 at 08:04 PM ----------
May be that when one is required to use one in training, that more time is spent on proper use of the belt and on buoyancy to minimize the weight on said belt.
I think I agree with this. I trained with a weight belt (but it didn't actually have weights on it because I didn't need any in a pool) for my controlled dives and then had weight integrated for my OW dives. I prefer the weight belt, generally, but I have a real problem with keeping them in place with the weights where I want them. I think a rubber belt will alleviate that.
