All I can say is I hate drysuits!

[SubMariner]

Perhaps taking the course would have helped.

I took a course, and one of my practice skills was to hang on to a heavy weight belt at the bottom of the 12' pool and overinflate my suit to the point where I was almost lifting the 16 (or so) pound belt (this was in addition to my normal weighting). Then I had to let go and invert and vent before hitting the surface. We also did "valve failure" drills, where the venting had to be from the neck or wrist seal. It was all doable, and the flips and somersaults are not just theory - they work.

Exactly!

To address other points:

Yes, I've done it with thick gloves and both a drysuit hood &/or a dive beanie.

Yes (again), the course DOES teach proper buoyancy control.

As for tailgate diving, it is very good. Except in those instances when you have too much gear for the gate; that's where the tarp comes in.

Take care, eh?!

 

[WreckedDiver]

Well, yeah. And I certainly don't mean to minimalize the need to know the desperate measures. They're quite appropriate, once you get desperate.

In a pinch I once pulled off a glove and vented through a wrist seal. Could you grab your neck seal and hood while wearing thick gloves and create an air path by pulling your neck seal and hood (just don't choke yourself!)? Has no one ever had a fellow diver kick off a mask or reg? That's about as real world as it gets. If you want to "train" at this skill just swim with your face on the divers fins in front of you. Adding a laugh to a serious topic.

 

[doole]

In a pinch I once pulled off a glove and vented through a wrist seal. Could you grab your neck seal and hood while wearing thick gloves and create an air path by pulling your neck seal and hood (just don't choke yourself!)? Has no one ever had a fellow diver kick off a mask or reg? That's about as real world as it gets. If you want to "train" at this skill just swim with your face on the divers fins in front of you. Adding a laugh to a serious topic.

Hm. I must be a bit dim again, this morning.

No, the hood's a tighter fit than that. Mask or reg? Explain.

 

[String]

I know theres absolutely no way i could vent from wrist or neck in the suit.

The wet gloves i have fit over the latex seal and theres a neoprene wrist warmer of the top of that - 2 layers above the seal. The neck is latex with a 5mm hood pulled over it and a neoprene neck warmer in front of that. The hood is tight fitting to the extent that after a dive i have dry patches in my hair.

It would be far quicker for me to unscrew my dump or knife the suit!

That said, i do have 2 dumps on my suit at the moment, a lovely simple cuff dump and a irritating pile of crap "auto" dump which i havent yet got round to removing from the suit. (Words cant describe how much i hate auto/shoulder dumps)/

 

[WreckedDiver]

Hm. I must be a bit dim again, this morning.

No, the hood's a tighter fit than that. Mask or reg? Explain.

Mask or reg was just regarding combining skills. So to combine neutral boyancy with mask and/or reg R&R. Do you use a neoprene or latex neck seal?

 

[WreckedDiver]

I know theres absolutely no way i could vent from wrist or neck in the suit.

The wet gloves i have fit over the latex seal and theres a neoprene wrist warmer of the top of that - 2 layers above the seal. The neck is latex with a 5mm hood pulled over it and a neoprene neck warmer in front of that. The hood is tight fitting to the extent that after a dive i have dry patches in my hair.

(Words cant describe how much i hate auto/shoulder dumps)/

That's a snug hood! Cool! My hood is somewhat looser. I wear Bare 5mil gloves that go up well over my wrists and have that velco strap tightener. But I have found that it's super easy to ditch and don gloves underwater especially easier than trying to don gloves for a second dive on shore when there wet and seem to develope into a cat's tongue for putting them on. Of course smart people use a little bit of soapy water on there gloves and hood for the second dive.

As far as dump valves I hate shoulder dump valves and have mine on the left fore arm.

Why do some people turn stuff 1/4 turn back? It seems like a bad idea to me. I turn everything either all the way on or totally off. Tank valves, dump valves and light switches! That way there is no doubt as to if it's on or off in a crisis.

 

[doole]

Mask or reg was just regarding combining skills. So to combine neutral boyancy with mask and/or reg R&R. Do you use a neoprene or latex neck seal?

Neoprene. Warmer.

Also less likely to tear. (In fact pretty much impossible to tear.)

 

[doole]

Why do some people turn stuff 1/4 turn back? It seems like a bad idea to me. I turn everything either all the way on or totally off. Tank valves, dump valves and light switches! That way there is no doubt as to if it's on or off in a crisis.

The theory is that if you want to check whether it's on - and you've turned it all the way on - when you check, it won't move. Then, you don't know if it's all the way on or seized off.

If there's a 1/4 turn play, you turn it out a 1/4 turn and back in. You know immediately that it was on in the first place.

Not my theory mind you, but not totally without merit. We still teach that with tank valves.

 

[WreckedDiver]

Anybody ever hear of the neck burn line from a latex neck seal? I've worn both latex and neoprene and like both. Just not at the same time. Latex you just pull it over your head and your ready for a pool party, neoprene you have to preen and tuck in for the seal. My neoprene wrist seals were replaced twice in a year while my latex ones are two years old now and still going strong (knock on head), but I know of a DM that has gone through latex wrist seals like they were meant for a signle use.

 

[doole]

Anybody ever hear of the neck burn line from a latex neck seal? I've worn both latex and neoprene and like both. Just not at the same time. Latex you just pull it over your head and your ready for a pool party, neoprene you have to preen and tuck in for the seal. My neoprene wrist seals were replaced twice in a year while my latex ones are two years old now and still going strong (knock on head), but I know of a DM that has gone through latex wrist seals like they were meant for a signle use.

OTOH I've had two drysuits with neo wrist seals and haven't had a problem there - yet. The current one has like 300 dives on it.

Why did you have to replace yours? My friends with latex often complain that they're cold.