Drysuit course needed?

[SubMariner]

Franky, I am surprised that people who spend so much time, effort, and yes, MONEY, act like vampires who have seen a cross when it comes to taking a drysuit course. Why?

A drysuit is NOT just another passive piece of equipment (like fins) that you throw on and use. It takes proper training to know how to use a drysuit safely and effectively.

One day I was a Cypress Springs in Florida with a group of students. During a surface interval I chanced to look over to see a man & a woman floudering around in about 6' of water. It was obvious that NEITHER had any training or knowledge about how to dive in a drysuit. As was sadly evidenced by the woman becoming inverted and being unable to right herself. Until her male partner dragged her into shallow water so he could stand up & turn her right side up!

Although these people were cautioned about the dangers of what they were doing, they were still there when we packing up to leave a few hours later. Apparently, they were "trying out some drysuits" that their local shop had lent them on spec.

How scarey is THAT?!

Do I teach the course? Yes.

But then I have dove for over 10 years in various types of drysuits; in near-freezing low vis quarries, the Great Lakes, the Channel Islands, the Gulf of Mexico, the Red Sea...

It's awesome. But you need to learn how to use it. SAFELY & PROPERLY.

~SubMariner~

 

[ScoobieDooo]

Wow - that IS scary! Well, I have heard from many divers that some of the dive 'training' by certains agencies CAN BE (notice I said, CAN BE) a ploy to sell more C-cards to students. Now, I'm not saying that thats the case ALL the time, but, some folks have told me that the drysuit courses were a joke for the money paid.

I recall doing my BOW confined pool sessions where 2 divers were tkaing the drysuit course. They were inverted as well. I never saw the instructor near them in the pool assisting them at all. That surprised me a bit.

 

[djhall]

SubMariner once bubbled...
Franky, I am surprised that people who spend so much time, effort, and yes, MONEY, act like vampires who have seen a cross when it comes to taking a drysuit course. Why?

Well, I suppose it comes down to your prior training experiences, the opportunity cost of the course fee, and the perceived value added by the instructor. My prior experience with the AOW class was a complete joke and the course manual for the night diver class seems to be ultra basic, so I am rather skeptical about the vast amounts of knowledge that are supposedly taught in these courses. For me, $100 is a significant chunk of money to pay for diving and would pretty much double the cost of diving dry (used suit obviously). And, I usually find in any kind of training that 50% of the value comes from information usually available in books / videos / manuals / etc, 40% of the value is in applying this knowledge (practical application, practice, etc), and 10% of the value comes from the instructor. I know this may be different for different people and different instructors. I am just saying this has been my prior experience with training situations. It also doesn't help that my LDS only teaches the class three or four times a year.

Given that situation, I feel more inclined to study the books on drysuit diving thoroughly, spend several hours in the pool practicing and refining the skills, and then use some experienced drysuit diving buddies (and yes, even a drysuit class instructor or two) to review what I have learned and see if I have left anything out or gotten anything wrong before proceeding into open water with an experienced buddy for the first several dives. Perhaps I am shortchanging myself here, but I think it is also possible that I will learn more this way than I would in the class.

 

[chrispete]

I recall doing my BOW confined pool sessions where 2 divers were tkaing the drysuit course. They were inverted as well. I never saw the instructor near them in the pool assisting them at all. That surprised me a bit.

You sure that one wasn't the instructor?

 

[ScoobieDooo]

Yup, I know every instructor that school has...be wasn't near the two.

 

[Genesis]

to figure out, but you CAN screw yourself up and good if you don't understand how they work and what's important to know.

As was pointed out, the two "biggies" are how to right yourself if you find yourself upside down with your feet up and buoyant, and how to "emergency dump" air from the suit (the latter will let some water in! You don't want to do that unless you must in actual cold water!) You also need to know how to disconnect the inlet hose if the inlet valve runs away, but that's pretty obvious.

If you consider a class ask the instructor how they intend to teach you to use the suit - specifically, whether they intend to teach you to use it as a BC or not. If you get a "yes" to that question, IMHO, find a different instructor - if you can.

This is just my opinion, and while I DO dive dry I freely admit to not having a LOT of dry diving experience (enough to be comfortable, not enough to call myself "experienced"), but using the suit as a BC is a profoundly bad idea.

I dive mine with the exhaust valve cranked full open and put in just enough air to avoid the squeeze. My buoyancy control is still done with my BC.

What I specifically dislike about the "suit as BC" concept is that it results in a "bolus" of air that moves around the suit as you change attitude. I can see this easily ending up in one of those feet-up postures if you're not careful, and how quickly that could get out of control.

 

[ScoobieDooo]

Hi,
Thanks and I agree that using the drysuit as a BC is a poor idea. Thats what I have wings for...

 

[Irishdiver]

ScoobieDooo once bubbled...
Hi,
Thanks and I agree that using the drysuit as a BC is a poor idea. Thats what I have wings for...

Agreed. and bad habits learned early are hard to get rid of. I have dived a dry suit for the past five years.
Did I do a dry suit course...no.
Would I do one tomorrow if I was in the same position...yes.
Do I use my dry suit for buoyancy...yes :embarr:

 

[kelpmermaid]

I have tried it both ways, and to me, while the shift of air with attitude change can be disconcerting, I like the simplicity of having only one item to vent. Also, when using only enough air to avoid squeeze, I ended up with odd "hickey marks" in places where equipment rubs...they went away rapidly, but looked nasty, and that can't be good.
I was glad I took the course, though - why not just drive a car with no training?

 

[noshow]

A drysuit course is THE BIGGEST WASTE OF MONEY I can think of second to boat diver specialty. PLEASE don't waste your money. Invest it in gear or send it to me via PayPal. Get some experienced divers to give you some instruction and tell you the basics (should take 10-20 minutes) and then do 2-5 dives in 35 feet of water with the same people until you are comforatble.

A dry suit course is the biggest waste of money. Unless you want to collect badges, don't bother.