Learning the Drysuit. How was it for you?

[Ste Wart]

I didn't have much trouble with D-rings and such not being in the "right place", but I think a huge part of that was that I used (and still use) dry gloves. I *love* my dry gloves.

This is largely due to how I normally dive i.e boardies or at most a 5mm wetty. My hip d-rings (yes plural - nobody jump on this, I need both for work!) were mounted fairly close to the BP so that they would be at mid-hip level when diving, with the added girth of undersuit and drysuit I ended up moving them forward over an inch, initially because the 'warm-water' placing was to hard to find, guess I'll be changing them back next holiday.


EDIT: Vent Open or Closed

Normally as the dive progresses I run more air through the suit to take the chill off, so prefer to have it closed

 

[rhwestfall]

I am in the "always open vent" camp. The DS comes out for the deep wrecks here that are going to be in 45 degree f or lower water. For me, all is better once I added gaiters, but I still do my ascents on the line, and in a vertical position. That slow valve just keeps me very cautious. Wing is buoyancy, suit is insulation. Slow and methodical.......

 

[mathauck0814]

Oddly, I didn't have much trouble learning the dry suit, but I attribute that entirely to the suit that I bought. The Whites Fusion was the rage when I started diving dry and because it so effectively manages the "bubble" it was a non-issue to learn. I've since come to loathe that drysuit and have moved on to another, but I'm glad I learned on the Fusion. It definitely worked as "training wheels".

 

[tracydr]

For my first dive in the swimming pool and the first two open water dives, I was really ready to give it up. I'm actually amazed that PADI only requires two dives for the certification. I was nowhere near ready after two dives. If t hadn't been for the fact that I had really wanted a drysuit forever and my husband had spent so much money on my surprise custom drysuit gift, I think I would have tossed it. But, I'm pretty stubborn, too. After the 4th and 5th dives, I started to enjoy diving again. After the 10th dive, I was loving it.
I really love being warm and dry when I get out of the water and it's only 60 degrees, dark and breezy onshore. I can hardly wait for our next Catalina trip!
I regret that I didn't have a drysuit when I lived in WA for a year and dove wet.

 

[FuzzyNutz]

I haven't been privileged enough to dive dry yet (for the reason you mentioned... "single most expensive piece of kit"), but just to be clear...

The strange sausage-like constriction (often unpleasant) that occurs when you fail to equalize your drysuit periodically on descent.

Are we talking about squeezing YOUR sausage, or being squeezed LIKE a sausage??

All I really have to say is thank f**k I didn't have to take my OW in one!

Hahaha, I always think that in extremely low viz water... I wonder if I'd even go through with the training if that was my first introduction to scuba!!

 

[TSandM]

I got certified in a dry suit . . . and I still think diving in a thin wetsuit is cheating.

I started out using my BC for buoyancy and suit only for squeeze, but over the years, I've migrated to "as much gas in the dry suit as possible" for maximal warmth. I leave the valve open (unless they're Apeks valves, which have to be clicked a couple of clicks closed, or they leak). If my trim is good, I can compensate for up to an HP 100 with just the suit (doubles requires the use of the wing as well).

I also vote in favor of dry gloves. Not only are they warmer, but they're MUCH easier to get on and off.

It's funny -- once you get accustomed to the dry suit, it doesn't bug you as much. Over the last seven years, I've gone from diving wet in a thin suit in warm water, to a thick suit and hooded vest, and finally, I've just gone dry. I'm so used to the suit that the differences just don't matter any more, and I love being warm.

 

[ScubaSam]

I can emphasize with the OP's drysuit learning experience. It is also my most expensive dive gear purchase to date. I don't own a scooter, yet, so the drysuit is the most expensive gear I own.

I struggled with my HUGE drysuit learning curve for over two dozen dives. I mistakenly thought I could handle a doubles class and a new drysuit at the same time and ended up with the instructor spending more time stopping my "sudden" ascents than teaching the class. Talk about an ego crushing weekend of doubles class. If not for the patience of my instructor or my wonderful classmate who was also my regular dive buddy at the time, I would have sold the damn drysuit and remained a wet suit diver after that horrible doubles class.

I spent the remainder of that year diving dry whenever possible to get use to the gas movement through the suit and anticipate when to vent. Everyone who dove with me that first year I was learning in my drysuit deserves some kind of humanitarian award for putting up with my sudden ascents. It was painful for me but more so for my patient buddies.

I knew I wanted to take cave training so had to get comfortable diving a drysuit. I also knew there were many more cold water destinations I wanted to dive. I successfully took a cave class in my drysuit the following year, a feat I never would have imagined possible a year earlier when I was yo-yo diving and turtling underwater in my drysuit.

I just returned from a trip where I was lucky enough to dive Vancouver Island and the Seattle-area sites. I cannot imagine doing those long cold dives wet as it would have compromised the dives for my buddy/buddies and I. Still hate my blue Smurf gloves because of the reduced dexterity but love them for the warmth they provide.

I do not use my drysuit for buoyancy. I only add gas to take the squeeze out of the suit. I am in the "always open vent" camp.

 

[graham_s]

I didn't have any problems with mine.
I started with my drysuit early in my diving career.
The received wisdom at the time was to use the BCD only on the surface and to use the drysuit for all buoyancy control.
I also used a wrist dump, not an auto dump.
I much prefer one.
Of course, these days most of my diving is done in a skin, or a 1mm wetsuit

 

[Cave Diver]

I didn't have have any real issues when I started diving dry. Like several others stated, I started with the dump pretty much wide open and just added enough air to keep the squeeze off.

 

[rx7diver]

the Wart,

Re your question, "Learning the drysuit. How was it for you?"

My learning experience was not as dramatic as yours (though probably as humorous).

My initial open water cert (using a 1/4-in two-piece Farmer John) was in 1987. A couple of years later (c. 1990?) I remarked to a friend (the owner of my LDS) that I would like to learn to dive dry. "Accompany me to the [nearby] quarry next weekend when I'll be teaching an OW class, and try my DUI TLS 350," he insisted!

That Saturday morning he spent less than five minutes with me discussing how to dive the suit, especially what to avoid doing and how to recover from certain situations if they should occur, and, after I put the additional LP inflator hose on my regulator, I dressed into the suit and commenced diving as he taught his OW class.

Loved it! One slight issue though: Although he and I are about the same height, his legs are shorter than mine, which means his dry suit crotch is somewhere near mid-thigh on me. So throughout my dives, I had this "bubble" of air in what seems to be a most unusual place. I couldn't help but chuckle through my regulator at this throughout those initial dry suit dives.

Safe Diving,

rx7diver