dumpsterDiver
Banned
- Messages
- 9,003
- Reaction score
- 4,652
- # of dives
- 2500 - 4999
These dry suit stories are funny. My dad took me to the shop to buy one (a 7mm neoprene unisuit) when I was 14 (maybe 15), the instructor tried to talk me out of it, but I was tired of freezing in 40 degree New Jersey water. There was no training for dry suit diving in 1974 that I ever heard about.
So I bought it, read the manual and went diving a few times (solo)in a quarry before diving the wrecks solo. I was pretty skinny and needed 40 lbs of lead, which I hated and was always worried would fall off, but I don't remember it being a big deal at all to learn to use the suit. Somehow I learned to wear wool socks, cotton farmer johns, cotton tee shirt a wool sweater and a down vest under the suit.
It was so cool to have a power inflator to control your descent!. My horse collar did not have a power inflator so this was a big improvement compared to manual inflation of BC with numb lips in 40 degree water. I was also told I didn't need a BC when using the dry suit, because the suit would provide bouyancy. So I just wore a back pack, Maybe not having a BC made it easier to learn?
So I bought it, read the manual and went diving a few times (solo)in a quarry before diving the wrecks solo. I was pretty skinny and needed 40 lbs of lead, which I hated and was always worried would fall off, but I don't remember it being a big deal at all to learn to use the suit. Somehow I learned to wear wool socks, cotton farmer johns, cotton tee shirt a wool sweater and a down vest under the suit.
It was so cool to have a power inflator to control your descent!. My horse collar did not have a power inflator so this was a big improvement compared to manual inflation of BC with numb lips in 40 degree water. I was also told I didn't need a BC when using the dry suit, because the suit would provide bouyancy. So I just wore a back pack, Maybe not having a BC made it easier to learn?