Drysuit Specialty course tips?

[DCN]

Initially, we were supposed to do our OW in drysuits, and we did start out in drysuits, completing a couple of 'dives', which in retrospect must have looked absolutely ridiculous However, we feel we didn't get much info about how to properly dive a drysuit, and handling a drysuit on top of everything turned out to be too much for us at the point, so we switched to wetsuits and completed our OW.

We want to be able to dive dry, so we've signed up for a drysuit course, and having gone through the drysuit course theory (and also completed the drysuit theory section in the AOW course (not yet certified AOW), it all makes a lot more sense.

Now we're wondering which skills we have to go through, what is the hardest part of the course? Any good tips and tricks for beginners?

 

[passeparici]

For a beginner buoyancy is a difficult part most of the time, especially with a dry suit. Dive, practice and everything will fit together at a certain point. Do your AOW and other things you think are important for you (Nitrox maybe). For me, even after many dives I still think the orientation is sometime the difficult part. Diving in different conditions help to improve.

 

[Still Kicking]

Don't use your suit for buoyancy. Use your BC.

Add only enough air to the suit to take the squeeze off. This will make buoyancy control easier; closer to what you learned in a wetsuit.

If you get cold like this, you need better undergarments.

Before ascending, dump as much air from the suit as you can. Use your BC and finning up as the primary control for your ascent. You may need to dump more air from suit at it expands though.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I don't know what exactly will be taught in your course as far as in-water exercises, but one exercise from my drysuit class that I thought was very valuable was swimming around a circuit that our instructor had marked using a line, over a bottom that sloped up in some places and down in others. We were constantly forced to adjust. We learned to anticipate when to add gas to the suit to prevent squeeze and when to dump gas from the suit to control the bubble. This seemed much more helpful than if we had simply practiced descending and ascending vertically. Of course, we did that, too.

I'm sure your instructor will go over tips and tricks--that's what a drysuit course is about. In theory, it is all so simple, right? In practice, you just need to develop a feel for how it works.

 

[Heat Miser]

Now we're wondering which skills we have to go through, what is the hardest part of the course? Any good tips and tricks for beginners?

I bought my first dry-suit off the rack ..... that was a mistake .... I couldnt reach the valves above my head because the biceps and lats were too tight .... the legs in the drysuit were too long ... and the boots were too big (the crutch had too much give haha). I persisted for 3 years.

Step 1 get something properly fitted.

Also I just wore my old snowboard thermals and woollen under garments for 1-3 years, they shrunk eventually didnt fit that well and didnt wick sweat ...

Step 2. get good undergarments.

Step 3 Don;t be afraid to practice, upside down , on your back inverted .... work it out ... mu old ill fitting drysuit is better than a wetsuit most days

 

[Wheeler925]

I took a padi drysuit course. I found the first pool session to be very difficult. The biggest problem there was I was in a size too large drysuit. The other problem is that (as you'll learn once certified and diving) buoyancy becomes easier as you go deeper.. a 15ft deep pool doesn't make it easy to learn.

 

[Bento.Box]

Now we're wondering which skills we have to go through, what is the hardest part of the course? Any good tips and tricks for beginners?

- being able to do the somersault is a skill you need
- also practice detaching/reattaching the inflator hose and adjusting the valve.

Otherwise, maintaining buoyancy (just practice, practice, practice) has already been addressed.

Mentally prepare your emergency procedures (e.g. what will you do if it floods and possibly gets heavy?) and get to know your drysuit well. Every suit has some quirks, e.g. water might leak in if you fold your neck cuff wrong or the gloves might be hard to attach without lube. If you're as forgetful as I am, plenty of small things will go wrong in the beginning, such as failure to fasten straps properly or entaglement issues when slipping in. Just be patient, do it during daylight and follow up on what you did wrong.

In the water, keep an eye on your trim and drag and adjust the weight distribution and fin length appropriately for maximum comfort. It's going to be different than in your wetsuit.

And of course watch the inflation level so you don't get squeezed.

 

[steinbil]

I'm afraid the class you're signed up for might teach to use only the drysuit for buoyancy, but I hope I'm wrong, as I think it's way better to use the BC and have just enough air in the suit to avoid the squeeze.

The argument for teaching only using the drysuit is that you only have to manage one source of buoyancy and not two.

The arguments for teaching using the BC + minimal gas in suit is:
- the BC is better suited to hold the gas
- too much gas in the drysuit is unstable, and can affect your position in the water (trim)
- in a head up position you can vent gas from drysuit through neck seal unintentionally
- it's easier and faster to vent gas from BC
- almost all of the issues you can face with a drysuit is minimized by having less gas in it
- if you have a well positioned dump valve on your drysuit, it will dump just by holding your elbow higher than your shoulder, meaning if you dump the BC with the inflator hose you can dump the drysuit simultaneously

As for skills, the only skills I would say you need with a drysuit is:
- being able to add and dump gas
- being able to reconnect inflator hose

 

[DCN]

Don't use your suit for buoyancy. Use your BC.

Add only enough air to the suit to take the squeeze off. This will make buoyancy control easier; closer to what you learned in a wetsuit.

If you get cold like this, you need better undergarments.

Before ascending, dump as much air from the suit as you can. Use your BC and finning up as the primary control for your ascent. You may need to dump more air from suit at it expands though.

Thanks for the tips!
We started off using the drysuit for buoyancy, but it seems it might be easier to handle both the drysuit dump and bc dump instead of risking a feet first ascent.
We have some of the best undergarments, so getting cold should not be an issue, at least it wasn't when we first tried drysuits.

 

[DCN]

For a beginner buoyancy is a difficult part most of the time, especially with a dry suit. Dive, practice and everything will fit together at a certain point. Do your AOW and other things you think are important for you (Nitrox maybe).

We have used drysuits twice, but as beginners, we decided it was too much to handle at once with the other skills, so that's why we switched to wet. Now that we have more experience and not fluttering around too much, it's time to conquer the drysuit as it will open up so many more opportunities for going diving. Nitrox is done