Buoyancy Drysuit vs BC

[spectrum]

I only have 3 real dry dives under my belt but don't see the logic of having any more air in the drysuit than needed for comfort.

As mentioned, the BC is optimized for it's job and the drysuit is not nearly as capable of controling buoyancy.

If you don't have a lot of air in the suit it won't shoot you to the surface just because you go head down to peek under a rock.

I have a neoprene suit and have been challenging myself on every dive. I have been alternating puffs into the BC and suit on descent to control drop and squeeze and it works out nice. As I dive I add or dump as needed never letting the suit get that air bubble feeling. If the suit does get light I vent the suit and add to the BC to stay neutral and in control. As in any buoyancy control scenario carrying no more than your needed weight is very important.

I actually considered taking a drysuit course but the instructor I was considerig is PADI and I didn't want to dive the suit per PADI. Re-establishing trim has been the biggest challenge and I'd say I'm better than 80% home on that.

Searching is great since you can sometimes get a lot of info without waiting. Somtimes the phrasing of existing questions does not quite ask your question so re-ask. Sometimes when you are still new you don't have the idiom down well enough to strike gold in the archives. If we can't revist questions then lets shut down the board and make it an archive because at least 90% of the questions are repeats.

 

[The Kraken]

I'm really, really new to dry suit diving, but I've found that for the most part the amount of air I need to offset the squeeze pretty much compensates for loss of buoyancy once I start to descend.

When I get to the bottom I'll put what seems to be the normal amount of air in my B/C to acommodate for the depth.

I must be really lucky because on the ascent, my valve works beautifully and maintains a pretty even amount of dry suit loft throughout the ascent to the surface.

I think this is pretty much like which is the better truck, Ford or Chevy . . .

Who cares as long as you can safely control your ascents and descents.

the K

 

[RonFrank]

Paitence is one thing but in any vocation youd expect people to actually check things and not repeatedly ask the same thing over and over again. With literally hundreds of posts answering an idential question why would this thread by any different to those?

Hey String,

While I agree with part of what you are saying, the reality is that if we limited discussions to ONLY new subject material, this board would become useless for all but new technology, techniques, and current event discussions.

I certainly have the same gripe about most boards (photography comes to mind). How many times can one discuss basic topics. What I do is tend to ignore discussions that I don't feel like getting involved in.. again... I'd suggest the same applies here.

At LEAST this board is not plastered with speculations about product features on yet to be announced gear, and flame wars about what is better, brand X or Y. Take a gander at the dpreview Canon or Nikon forums if you want to see an example of a forum that has become almost useless due to rehashing of pointless speculation about products. At least these guy are TRYING to learn scuba techniques even if too lazy to do searches :11doh:

 

[Bottom Scratcher]

String.... Dude, try something new and give it up! I would have figured that as an instructor maybe, just maybe patience and consideration were something you were taught. Maybe not.

Depends which agency taught him -

 

[TSandM]

I have to say that sometimes searches aren't that easy. Search on "drysuit buoyancy" and you'll get every thread on this board that mentions either or both. Even using the Boolean option hasn't helped me much. Sometimes you just give up and ask the same question.

 

[spectrum]

What is nifty is that I have seen the posters rotate over time and I know personally I have cemented a lot of my learnings my boiling them down to text here. We all learn by participating.

Pete

 

[ththooft]

I have also just started dry suit diving, and I think I'm going to go the BC route. I find the air in the dry suit to be so uneven. I'm sure a lot of this is due to my being new to the suit. When I put a little shot of air in my BC, I feel like I gain all of my control back.
I was just having this conversation the other day with another diver who started using her dry suit last year. She said she's now switching over to her BC because she has trouble fine tuning her bouyancy with the suit.
All in all, I think you just have to use whatever works best for you.