Anybody else have this drysuit venting problem ?

[Tigerman]

Ive had this problem in a DUI suit I used while waiting for my new suit and it seemed to be the undergarments as once I changed undergarments the issue was gone. Never had it in my BARE CD4ProDry, but Ive also never used that annoying underwear again either..

 

[Doc Harry]

...Anybody else have this issue ??

Nope, sorry, you're the only one.

Perhaps I could recommend a PADI dry suit course....

Just kidding. It's a frustrating problem.

 

[boat sju]

dufus,

Just curious. If you cover your mouth with your underwear can you breath through the material? I find the difference between Polartec and Thinsulate garments very different in that respect.

boat

 

[coldwaterdufus]

I'll try it tonight. If I don't respond, you'll know that I can't breath through the material.

 

[Doc Harry]

I even had my Apeks valve switched over to a Si Tech, thinking it was the valve.

It wasn't.

 

[coldwaterdufus]

Boat, yes, I can breath through the material, actually easier than I thought it would be.

Doc, what was your issue / solution ?

 

[boat sju]

I'll try it tonight. If I don't respond, you'll know that I can't breath through the material.

Glad to see you're still with us.

Even though guys who wear it tell me it's not a problem, to me some of the thinsulate shell materials seem to trap air.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

I've used my Nex Gen Pro a few times with not-lofty undergarments. I only seem to have the venting problem at the end of a dive (when I need to vent), as I mainly use my BCD for buoyancy and the drysuit to counter squeeze.

I found that it's effective to stop for a few seconds when you're wanting to release air (or ascending) to tilt the valve up and actually squeeze around the arm area to help release air. After doing that a couple of times, it's fine. It's not too much effort.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I've used my Nex Gen Pro a few times with not-lofty undergarments. I only seem to have the venting problem at the end of a dive (when I need to vent), as I mainly use my BCD for buoyancy and the drysuit to counter squeeze.

I found that it's effective to stop for a few seconds when you're wanting to release air (or ascending) to tilt the valve up and actually squeeze around the arm area to help release air. After doing that a couple of times, it's fine. It's not too much effort.

@Scuba_Noob: Rather than milking out the air in the arm region of your drysuit, you should just consider adding a couple of more pounds of ballast to your setup. This would allow you to run more air inside your suit and make it easy to dump the proper amount during your ascent at the end of the dive.

Reading all of the Scubaboard threads on proper weighting might lead a beginner to believe that being a couple of pounds "heavy" is a no-no. However, in a drysuit, the gas to balance out an extra couple of pounds of ballast can be evenly distributed throughout the suit. As you get better at managing the drysuit bubble, you'll find that, in most recreational open water situations, keeping more air in your suit (beyond just enough to offset squeeze...but not too much) will allow you to have better trim control, assuming that your drysuit fits properly.

FWIW, I'm a single-tank recreational diver who uses a Bare Nex-Gen. I find that for the typical dives I do in the 50-70 fsw range, the amount of drysuit gas needed to offset squeeze is just about the right amount to achieve neutral buoyancy. Essentially, I'm not using my BCD at all underwater. If I were diving doubles or cave diving, I'd almost certainly choose to manage the drysuit bubble differently.

 

[coldwaterdufus]

Scuba Noob; that's basically the same thing that worked for me. I had to make a decision to stop at approx 30-35 ft, " burp / milk " the air out of my suit and continue up. I found it to be quite a pain in the butt. I'm hoping with the duct tape , venting will be easier, but I haven't had a chance to try it yet.