Neutral Buoyancy for a safety stop

[The Chairman]

I use the suit for buoyancy...

When I wear a Dry suit, I do the same. I keep my BC bladder empty as a backup. HOWEVER, I make sure I have just enough weight to keep me warm and no more. Excess air results in excess buoyancy shift, so keep it to a minimum, while still keeping warm. Weight=warmth.

 

[boulderjohn]

As some have suggested, buoyancy control with a drysuit depends heavily upon the amount of weight you are carrying. If you are very nicely weighted with a single tank and only have enough air in the drysuit to prevent squeeze, you will really need little if any air in the BCD. Add much more weight, and you will need to use the BCD. Technical divers have to use air in the BCD because of the added weight of their gear and the extra gas they have to carry, or else they would have to fill their drysuits to the point that they look like the Michelin Man.

BTW, the book on drysuit diving (which I own but cannot locate at the moment) co-written by the owners of DUI and Viking drysuits advocates using the drysuit alone for buoyancy for beginning drysuit divers.

 

[Peter Boyd]

I did solve the problem,, I was over weighted. It did not seem like it when I was dive, but once I removed about 8lbs of weight I found it much easier to control my buoyancy.

 

[stevensamler]

I did solve the problem,, I was over weighted. It did not seem like it when I was dive, but once I removed about 8lbs of weight I found it much easier to control my buoyancy.

Great news glad you were able to figure it out , that last ata can be a son of a gun.

 

[JackD342]

Although the training tends to get a little dumbed down in practice, the PADI drysuit course actually says to use the suit for buoyancy control with shell suits, and to use the BCD with neoprene suits or any tec diving, adding just enough to the suit for comfort. Maybe everyone learns in one type, and then remembers that as the only way they were trained to do it.

I have learned to do both with my Fusion suit, as I dive a bit heavy to have some extra weight I can clip onto a student in a pinch. If I just use the suit when overweighted, I tend to burp the extra air bubble out my neck seal, and let some water in.

 

[CT-Rich]

I have been told that during the final part of the ascent I should probably leave the valve opened to automatically release

I am by no means an expert on drysuit, but I always dive with the valve wide open during the dive. I want just enough air in the suit so I can move freely. I tend to end up with bubbles on my feet because I swim bent at the knees.

I only shut my shoulder vale when I am on the surface, letting me pump up the suit for a relaxed surface swim.

 

[Landlocked123]

Second what some others have said. Short of lack of training I have seen this in some divers as a result of overweighting. The more excess gas you need to add due to excess weight the greater the swing in shallow depths and the harder it is to hold stops. I think its great you are looking for a solution. Get weighted properly if that is the issue...then practice and practice some more. You should be able to hold 1 foot incremnetal stops from 10 feet to 12 inches below the water and with proper weighting and a ton of practice you can do this. Once you get there your enjoyment of diving will take on a whole new meaning.