SteveR1952
Registered
I finally got my drysuit and got a very seasoned instructor to do my cert. We did it all by the book and I am not certified to dive dry suits by PADI.
The problem is that I recently did some ocean dives on a live a board towards my AOW. I had a different instructor, also PADI, along with several other PADI instructors and very long term dry suit divers on the trip. Most of our dives were less than 20 feet. Using the dry suit for buoyancy, as REQUIRED by PADI, led to nearly failing my Buoyancy dive. Once I got back on the boat I asked each of the other instructors and the long term divers what they did....nobody used the suit for buoyancy. They all said they taught the PADI way but then advised their students to only eliminate suit squeeze with gas and use the BC or wing for buoyancy.
It really pisses me off to be told this by a different set of instructors and to be told that PADI is creating more problems than they are solving for dry suit divers. PADI, and any other agencies that teach only dry suit buoyancy need to re-evaluate what they teach or also teach the "better" way by using the BC/wing for basic buoyancy control. I feel like I wasted several dives fighting like crazy to get some type of control during these dives. It should be noted my drysuit class was done mostly in deeper water so the bubble I had to control was smaller which was much easier at depth. Shallow water is a major issue with a dry suit bubble if that is the only buoyancy device you are using.
The problem is that I recently did some ocean dives on a live a board towards my AOW. I had a different instructor, also PADI, along with several other PADI instructors and very long term dry suit divers on the trip. Most of our dives were less than 20 feet. Using the dry suit for buoyancy, as REQUIRED by PADI, led to nearly failing my Buoyancy dive. Once I got back on the boat I asked each of the other instructors and the long term divers what they did....nobody used the suit for buoyancy. They all said they taught the PADI way but then advised their students to only eliminate suit squeeze with gas and use the BC or wing for buoyancy.
It really pisses me off to be told this by a different set of instructors and to be told that PADI is creating more problems than they are solving for dry suit divers. PADI, and any other agencies that teach only dry suit buoyancy need to re-evaluate what they teach or also teach the "better" way by using the BC/wing for basic buoyancy control. I feel like I wasted several dives fighting like crazy to get some type of control during these dives. It should be noted my drysuit class was done mostly in deeper water so the bubble I had to control was smaller which was much easier at depth. Shallow water is a major issue with a dry suit bubble if that is the only buoyancy device you are using.