kwesler
Contributor
on reading your posts over the years, I figgered you guys for dry suit gurus! I am sorry if I sounded arrogant-I was just trying to respond to the questions in the post:embarr:
Ken
Ken
Andy's dry suits
- Thread starter diverrick
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In case you haven't followed the drysuit threads in the past, and not being drysuit divers heretofore that would be understandable, there is a bifurcation in the thinking of how to dive a drysuit.
The thinking falls along two lines: use the BC/wing only at the surface and use the drysuit for buoyancy control during the dive ~ or ~ use the BC/wing for buoyancy control and only add enough gas to the drysuit to eliminate excessive squeeze.
The former is the way I dove drysuits for 15 years... in fact I did not even use a BC with my first drysuit. The later is the way I dive a drysuit these days.
When I say excessive squeeze I am talking about squeeze that would limit mobility or the ability to reach valves, ect. I do like to have my suit snug down on me without a bubble of gas moving to and fro as I change positions.
During the dive I have my exhaust valve open all the way and allow as much gas as will escape to do so. On ascent I am careful to vent as much gas as I can as soon as possible.
The class will most likely not teach your husband to operate the suit in this manner... and for starters I guess it is OK to use the suit for a BC. But he might want to do some post graduate study in how to use the suit with minimal gas... it definitely makes buoyancy control, trim, swimming efficiency and ascent control much better.
Now to a related issue: undergarments. In order to dive a suit with minimal gas in it you need a decent undergarment. In fact I consider the undergarment more important than the suit itself! No matter how great the suit... if you don't have a great undergarment it will not work properly.
A bad undergarment will require extra gas to loft in order to keep you warm. A bad undergarment will trap gas and not allow easy/quick venting. A bad undergarment will restrict movement. A bad undergarment... well... you get the idea.
The thinking falls along two lines: use the BC/wing only at the surface and use the drysuit for buoyancy control during the dive ~ or ~ use the BC/wing for buoyancy control and only add enough gas to the drysuit to eliminate excessive squeeze.
The former is the way I dove drysuits for 15 years... in fact I did not even use a BC with my first drysuit. The later is the way I dive a drysuit these days.
When I say excessive squeeze I am talking about squeeze that would limit mobility or the ability to reach valves, ect. I do like to have my suit snug down on me without a bubble of gas moving to and fro as I change positions.
During the dive I have my exhaust valve open all the way and allow as much gas as will escape to do so. On ascent I am careful to vent as much gas as I can as soon as possible.
The class will most likely not teach your husband to operate the suit in this manner... and for starters I guess it is OK to use the suit for a BC. But he might want to do some post graduate study in how to use the suit with minimal gas... it definitely makes buoyancy control, trim, swimming efficiency and ascent control much better.
Now to a related issue: undergarments. In order to dive a suit with minimal gas in it you need a decent undergarment. In fact I consider the undergarment more important than the suit itself! No matter how great the suit... if you don't have a great undergarment it will not work properly.
A bad undergarment will require extra gas to loft in order to keep you warm. A bad undergarment will trap gas and not allow easy/quick venting. A bad undergarment will restrict movement. A bad undergarment... well... you get the idea.
kwesler
Contributor
I THINK PADI has revised its policy, and now teaches BC for buoyancy and suit for squeeze, but perhaps an instructor on the Board can chime in...
Ken
Ken
Ken...I'm glad you did! You had some good info. Beast will take a class as soon as he finds an instuctor who actually dives in a dry suit, not just using it to teach OW classes...if you see the difference. Down here around Houston, alot of divers have never even seen a dry suit and most of the shops don't bother to carry them. So I'm depending on you guys who use them all the time for the in depth user info that only you can provide. I'm sorry if I didn't sound grateful.
Pug....Most of the info we're reading is leading in the area of using the second method of the BC for bouyancy and the suit for excessive squeeze. You're the first to mention the exhaust valve, which leads me to another question. Do you use a special inflator hose? Beast read somewhere there's one that inflates slowly, does that make sense?
kwesler
Contributor
a hose is a hose...you tap the inflator on the dry suit the same way you tap the inflator on your BC...perhaps UP has knowledge I do not...?
Ken
Ken
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