Valve shutdown cycle in a freakin' Bare CD4

[MarcelT]

Hi,

I have this annoying problem: I just cannot seem to reach my (single 12l 300bar) tank valve when I am wearing my Bare CD4 drysuit.

No problem in a shorty, but the sturdy neoprene of the CD4 prevents me from reaching behind my head... It's driving me nuts and preventing me from completing an Advanced Nitrox / decompression course.

Has anyone encountered the same problem? Any suggestions on how to deal with this?

Thanks,
Marcel

 

[PfcAJ]

Get another suit?

 

[scawt]

Try adding a little air in your drysuit to give your shoulders and upper arms a little more room to move. Or loosen whatever you use for a bc/ harness around waist buckle, grab the shoulder strap, and pull raising the tank up enough for you to reach it.

A lot depends on tour trim and what setup you are diving.

Scott

 

[jtivat]

Are you sure it is not the undergarment? I had an issue as I am tall with an undergarment and took it to a tailor and had the shoulders fixed.

 

[MarcelT]

Try adding a little air in your drysuit to give your shoulders and upper arms a little more room to move. Or loosen whatever you use for a bc/ harness around waist buckle, grab the shoulder strap, and pull raising the tank up enough for you to reach it.

A lot depends on tour trim and what setup you are diving.

Scott

Thanks, I will try this tomorrow morning!

My setup is recreational scuba (seaquest i3 pro qd jacket). I do not want to invest heavily in a tec setup because I want to move into CCR. (I have a SCR and love it, Deco and advanced nitrox are just a required intermediate step. I guess the valve shutdown cycle is less relevant on CCR because you would just bail out instead)

Happy diving
Marcel

 

[Frosty]

sorry to state the odvious but Have you tried repositioning the tank?

 

[nielsent]

In my CD4 I was having a lot of trouble with valve drills with my double 80's but i simply repositioned them a little higher and everything was cool.

 

[TSandM]

I struggled hard with single tank valve drills in my original dry suit.

Putting as much gas in the suit as you can manage helps, but be careful that you don't dump it when using your arms, because then you have buoyancy issues.

Reaching around behind you with the left hand and pushing the tank up can also help.

What solved the problem was having my buddy watch me, and we kept moving the tank up in the cambands until I could reach it. It ended up a great deal higher than I had had it.

Buying a Fusion made the whole thing trivial.

 

[DevonDiver]

As others have said; primary improvements can be made via:

1) Re-adjusting the postioning of the tank (move it higher).

2) Ensuring that your suit has air in the shoulders, to prevent squeeze limiting shoulder rotation.

3) Assessing your under-garments. Drysuits are often designed to enable good shoulder mobility, but sometimes the under-garments are not.

4) Conducting the drill in a horizontal, or slightly head-down, trim - to ensure that the cylinder is higher on your torso.

As you probably know, the most common error with shut-downs is to reach back at an outwards angle, rather than a direct lateral movement (brushing the side of your head with the arm). If you could achieve a shut-down in other types of suit, then I am assuming this isn't an issue for you.

Why exactly are you shutting down a single cylinder on a recreational rig though?

 

[MarcelT]

Why exactly are you shutting down a single cylinder on a recreational rig though?


Thanks. I will let you guys know how it went tonight...!

I want to move into CCR. I have a SCR and love it. Getting certified on decompression procedures and advanced nitrox is a required intermediate step. These courses require you to demonstrate the valve shutdown cycle. I guess this is less relevant on CCR because you would just bail out instead, but I need the certification to do the CCR course later on.

(I do sling a stage bottle during the drills for safety though)