Advice about protection wear, dry suit / wetsuit

[Mr. Ed]

Former instructor suggested giving up my dry suit for a wetsuit. The only real problem I had was the weight of all my gear, 100 cf steel cylinder, trilam pro dry suit, 32 lbs of lead weights which was more than I could handle. Age has depleted most of my strength and there is not much I can do about it.
I have to decide whether to continue dry suit diving or trade it for a wetsuit. I've used my dry suit 2 times, not enough experience to trade it for a wetsuit.

My hood would not expel trapped air that allowed water to seep into my mask. On my second dive, I didn't wear a hood, making the dive much better.

I don't know what to do about reducing the weight of my gear. One solution is to put gear on in the water instead of carrying it to the dive site. I have a large Pelican box with an extended handle and wheels. Unlike other divers, I may need to compensate for the weight by gearing up in the water.

 

[Brett Hatch]

Hi Ed. What water temps are you diving in, and what sort of undergarments are you using? If it's warm enough to dive without a hood, then maybe a wetsuit would be a better choice, or thinner undergarments.

And if you don't mind, what is your height, weight, and build? The reason I ask is, 32 lbs is a lot for people of small or medium build. But for some divers of a larger build, or in colder water it might be appropriate. As a point of reference, I am 6'0", about 185 lbs, medium build with some extra flub here and there. With an HP100 tank, stainless backplate (approx 5 lbs negative), I need about 14 lbs of lead in a trilam suit with 250gsm undies (suitable for my local temps in the 46F-56F range).

I don't quite understand the hood issue, and how it caused a mask leak. But I will say, if you had air trapped inside your hood, you might want to poke a few holes in it. My hood came with a few 1/8" or so little holes in it (one near the forehead, one on the back) for the purpose of venting air. I also added a little hole on each side where my earholes are, to help avoid trapping an air bubble between my outer ear and the hood.

If you are shore diving, you can try assembling your gear, carrying it out to the beach, and leaving it there. Then return to your car, don your exposure gear, weight belt, etc, and then go back to the beach. You can either don your scuba gear on the shore, or wade in past the surf zone and don it in shallow water. Some folks who have knee or back issues have reported that sidemount diving is easier for them, since you don the tanks at the last minute -- I haven't tried this, so will let others comment further on it, but it is an option.

If you are boat diving, yeah, I think donning in the water will help a lot. You'll want to let your dive op know beforehand, they'll probably be fine with that and offer a hand. If not, find a more accommodating dive op, they're out there.

Best of luck.

 

[-JD-]

My first reaction is that 32lbs with a steel tank seems to be significantly too much. BUT and this is a HUGE "BUT" that is compared to MY body composition, equipment and drysuit/thermals.


I just went back min my log and pulled out my data.
Me: 5'10" 185lbs
Equipment: 2lb steel backplate/harness (w/limited shoulder and waist padding) HP100 Steel tank
Thermal: Aqualung Fusion drysuit with base layer and sweats.
Bottom temp: 53f @ 70ft
Weight: 17 lbs
Obviously would be more if I was wearing heavier undergarments


If you are a "big" guy and were wearing heavy thermal undergarments, that is going to add significantly to your buoyancy. My suit is also very good for keeping the internal bubble minimized because of the way it is constructed with an elastic outer skin. I believe you are using a "bag" suit and unless it is well fitted you may be getting excess air in certain places while you were trying to get air into your legs, requiring more lead.

I also recall you are using a jacket type BCD. Many of those start out significantly more buoyant compared to a backplate system. A additional benefit to a heavy or weighted backplate is that that weight is close to your back, near your center of buoyancy, and it "feels" easier to carry that weight there than on your hips in pockets and/or a belt.

If you are going to continue to dive colder water, the drysuit is just so much more comfortable in my opinion, both in the water and after the dive.

ETA: Brett posted while I was typing so additional comments
Brett's weighting is very similar to mine when plate-weight is accounted for.

Fully agree on the hood - poke some holes. Also, be sure the rim of your hood is pulled out from under your mask.

I somewhat disagree on the boat diving. You may be good suiting up and getting in since it pretty much stand up and drop in. Doffing or handing up weights before coming up the ladder is where I see the most benefit.

 

[Marie13]

Shore diving? One of the collapsible folding carts to get your tank and BC as close to the water as possible. Put your tank on in the water. Ask for help schlepping your gear. I’m serious. Then buy your buddy lunch after diving.

@Brett Hatch

SM is not an option for Mr Ed. Last thing he needs is something more complicated. I dive SM and use a cart to haul tanks and gear around.

 

[Gone for diving]

I have to decide whether to continue dry suit diving or trade it for a wetsuit.

Don't trade anything, This buying gear everytime you want to try something different is not a great solution..

Rent a wetsuit for a few dives, but go diving, try for once or twice a week now that the weather is nicer and get experience... sounds like that's your biggest problem.
Keep the drysuit for after you get like 30 dives minimum,
keep it up and you'll be ready to try it by the winter.

 

[Jonn]

If your hood was making your mask leak you were doing it wrong. The mask skirt should be entirely inside the hoods face hole, then the edge of the hood rolls outside of it.
A reasonably trim drysuit doesn’t have much buoyancy itself, it’s all about the undergarment. A gigantic 12mm wetsuit that can do the job of a drysuit will need just as much lead to sink it on the surface and will not work as well at depth! Warmth = Lead one way or another, even if you use electric heat.
If you can’t hump your rig on land and want to gear up in the weightless water, consider sidemount. Your buddies will hate you for taking forever to get on and off the boat but it does solve the problem. If shore diving I make two trips anyway: tanks and weights first then everything else.

 

[TMHeimer]

Hi Ed. What water temps are you diving in, and what sort of undergarments are you using? If it's warm enough to dive without a hood, then maybe a wetsuit would be a better choice, or thinner undergarments.

And if you don't mind, what is your height, weight, and build? The reason I ask is, 32 lbs is a lot for people of small or medium build. But for some divers of a larger build, or in colder water it might be appropriate. As a point of reference, I am 6'0", about 185 lbs, medium build with some extra flub here and there. With an HP100 tank, stainless backplate (approx 5 lbs negative), I need about 14 lbs of lead in a trilam suit with 250gsm undies (suitable for my local temps in the 46F-56F range).

I don't quite understand the hood issue, and how it caused a mask leak. But I will say, if you had air trapped inside your hood, you might want to poke a few holes in it. My hood came with a few 1/8" or so little holes in it (one near the forehead, one on the back) for the purpose of venting air. I also added a little hole on each side where my earholes are, to help avoid trapping an air bubble between my outer ear and the hood.

If you are shore diving, you can try assembling your gear, carrying it out to the beach, and leaving it there. Then return to your car, don your exposure gear, weight belt, etc, and then go back to the beach. You can either don your scuba gear on the shore, or wade in past the surf zone and don it in shallow water. Some folks who have knee or back issues have reported that sidemount diving is easier for them, since you don the tanks at the last minute -- I haven't tried this, so will let others comment further on it, but it is an option.

If you are boat diving, yeah, I think donning in the water will help a lot. You'll want to let your dive op know beforehand, they'll probably be fine with that and offer a hand. If not, find a more accommodating dive op, they're out there.

Best of luck.

Some good ideas here. I think I've tried all sorts of ways with gear to make shore diving easier (that was in my 50s...). Now I only dive at sites where it is a hop skip & a jump from car to shore. Do keep in mind that putting the scuba unit down in sand can result in sand in the reg and other places that could cost money to fix. I've tried the "blanket in the sand idea", which really didn't work well. If you don gear in the water will you take it off in water after the dive and carry the heavy thing out & over the sand?

 

[rick00001967]

i would suggest that a wet suit that provides comparable insulation to a dry suit with undies, may still require aprox the same amount of added lead.
i will echo what someone said above.....if you were diving without a hood then the water was not very cold.
so perhaps the undies you are using with the dry suit are too thick for the conditions you are diving in.
as also stated somewhere above, i am also confused how a mask leaks due to your hood.
i think we need some more details on your dive conditions, the undies you wear, and you your hood affects your mask.
as far as donning gear in the water.....absolutely you can do this. it may take some practice to sort out the best way that works for you but whatever makes your day easier and less stressful the better.

 

[Rizbit]

A lot of good comments here.
A few add-ons from me:
Mask and hood
As commented above, your mask should sit inside your hood (unless using full face mask).
It is not uncommon to get a litte leak when some of the hood gets stuck under the sealing of the mask. You will soon learn to avoid this (and fix when it happens)
That said: The air in hour hood is very likely caused by trying to clear the mask. I've seen a few balloon heads from early tries of mask clearing. If not done correctly, the air will travel upwards from your mask and into your hood. Most hoods will have some holes in them to get rid of air, but those are small (and not all are well placed -depending on your trim).
The alternative reason for air in your hood is a combination of slightly loose neck seal and a lot of gas in your suit. With 32 pounds of lead... not unlikely. The "right" amount of lead varies, but that is a lot when in temperatures that will work with a wetsuit.

As for wetsuit: I would not go that way, but then again I am diving 95% drysuits.
For me, I use the same or slightly less weight with my drysuit compared to a 7 mm wetsuit (in equal temperature waters). I guess the slightly less part is caused by being way more comfortable in my drysuits, so I would say that the weight is about equal. With two dives in a drysuit, you are brobably way over- weighted. That is perfectly normal, and will fix itself after 20+ dives.
As of carrying stuff: Be smart, and do not walk long distances with your gear. Unfortunately, diving needs a lot of gear - going wetsuit will not help a lot with that, but experience will reduce weighting and it will also get you into good routines that will help.

 

[doctormike]

Obviously hard to comment without knowing the water temperatures that you are diving in where this question came up, and what your prior experience was. But I will tell you this.

I dive dry when doing ocean dives off a boat, have been for years, absolutely love my dry suit. But that's with a gear configuration that's negatively buoyant enough that I don't need additional weight (JJ rebreather, with tube weights and a second backplate).

I hate adding huge amounts of weight on a harness or weight belt. So when I dive open circuit, single tank, for a shore dive, I dive wet to avoid the need to do that.

And finding the right wetsuit is a big part of that. I LOVE my Seac Komodo 5mm suit, by far the best I have ever used. Unlike a 7 mm suit (which I have always found miserable to put on and very uncomfortable), this thing slips on like a pair of pajamas. Was in it yesterday on a shore dive in 60 degree water, I was very comfortable, not even a little chilly. I have used it in even colder water, it's awesome.

As far as the mask issue, not sure what's going on there. I always wear my mask strap under my hood, makes it less likely to be dislodged. Did you have it over your hood? Maybe that's why the hood was interfering with the seal?