Floaty feet. Dry suit boot inversion.

[AlphaDuff]

So I've had about 3 floaty boot incidents in last 2 years. After first incident I bought ankle weights, second time I put it down to bad drills, but third time means action! So I need to do something about it after last incident at a safety stop had me looking silly doing some inverted aquarobics and popping up to the surface without my usual grace.

I'm wearing a Northern diver RBX2 dry suit. Bouyancy comes from the BC and I keep it tight with air in suit as cold doesn't bother me too much.
I think the problem is coming with the boots. They don't compress down and can trap air on the ascent. I wear ankle weights and ND power fins.

I'm looking at two options either get the suit altered to socks and get some rock boots. (expensive option)

Or else get some decent heavy fins (cheaper option). I've had apeks Rk3 HD and scuba pro jet fins recommended to me. Any experience to share with either would be great.

Edit: someone mentioned that fin keepers could work?

Any recommendations or advice welcome.

 

[lexvil]

Socks and rock boots

 

[Edward3c]

First question are you going slightly vertical to let the air get out of your boots, legs and go past your weight belt.
Using your BCD for buoyancy means you’ve got to manage two air spaces - not something I teach new divers. Better to use just the suit until you’ve mastered it.

 

[AlphaDuff]

First question are you going slightly vertical to let the air get out of your boots, legs and go past your weight belt.
Using your BCD for buoyancy means you’ve got to manage two air spaces - not something I teach new divers. Better to use just the suit until you’ve mastered it.

Yes, I've been hanging vertical and venting all air from suit on the ascent. Drills have worked well enough (regular knee tucks and vents etc) in that it's only happened 3 times in last 2 years. But I want to try avoid it completely by changing my set up.

Ref second part. I hugely appreciate the input but I'm choosing to use BCD for buoyancy as opposed to the suit. I know that's an ongoing debate with DS divers. But personally I prefer being able to dump from the BCD. As I use very little air in the suit (just enough to avoid squeeze) and manage buoyancy (bar the recent incident ) well enough.

 

[kelemvor]

Ankle gaiters can make it much easier as they greatly slow airflow to the feet. My drysuit came with gaiters, but you can add them.

Dive Rite Gaiters Pair, Adjustable Size Fits All | Dive Gear Express® This is what they are.. 80 bucks seems excessive for such a simple thing, might be able to find it cheaper. On my suit it's just a simple velcro strap that goes around the ankle of each leg.

 

[Wathdoc]

Since I have had new boots fitted, with wider ankles, there is greater air flow to the feet, not that its an issue. You might find the gaiters a wise investment.

 

[Subcooled]

[QUOTE="AlphaDuff, post: 9090652, member: 518801"I wear ankle weights and ND power fins.[/QUOTE]

Plastic fins with a drysuit? That is not quite optimal for most of us. Get some heavy enough rubber fins. Also make sure they come with spring straps.
These have been the gold standard for decades: Scubapro JetFins
I have been using Scubapro JetFins for a decade, and they work well with drysuits. If the suit is too big of course, then the feet will be a bit floaty, but manageable.

Another thing to consider is your boot size. Are they too large?

Third, have you tried gaitors?

 

[crzyfish]

Is it cheating if I have exhaust valves in my boots? I have an Apollo drysuit so I avoided the floaty feet issue.

I now have the DUI TLS 350 SEAL and a Whites Fusion Bullet. I'm wearing neoprene socks outside my drysuit socks and wearing one size larger booties. It squeezes the foot well enough that air doesn't get trapped and my foot is insulated enough to keep warm. I don't like ankle weights because they shift about when finning.

 

[bubblemonkey2]

Even with ankle gaiters and heavy jetfins, depending on the undergarments etc, more air can get into the boots than is comfortable. To get the last bit out, or on ascent, some leg straightening with feet slightly down may be helpful, well before there is too much air in them to make this easy, and prior to moving shallower. If your DIR buddy chastises you for "breaking trim" to do this, just facetiously apologize for silting the open ocean

 

[asterosdeals]

Yea, diving with my drysuit for 3 years now, never had any issues. My drysuit is with fabric sock and rock boots, so like crzyfish said, that already prevents the feet to be inflated too much. And combining with gaitors it should be very safe. I sometimes hope that my feet could be a bit more floaty depending on the fins I use for the dive.