Buoyancy problem with drysuit when entering shallower water - solution?

[Web Monkey]

title says it all. I'm new in drysuit diving, I've done ~5 dives with a drysuit so far, and pretty much have it all handled except for one thing - buoyancy in shallower water. In depths deeper than 25-30ft, I have no problems at all whatsoever.

Although the OW classes teach using the DS for buoyancy, it's a lot harder to control that way.

I only keep enough air in the suit to eliminate the suit squeeze, and use the BC for buoyancy and leave the exhaust valve open all the way.

An added benifit is that it's much more difficult to end up upside down when there's only a little air in the suit.

Terry

 

[616fun]

I still have the same problem - one thing I'm trying to remember is when ascending I first rather dump air from the suit and then from the wing. And I raise the arm rather high to make sure the air goes out - as the major problem is simple - we both have too much air in the dry suit. I also have been told that this is a matter of practice...
Mania

This solved my problem. Dump until the suit squeezes you, then ascend. The problem I would guess you are having is you are not dumping enough air out the suit prior to your acsent and you become positively bouyant faster than you can dump the air once it begins to expand.
I've got 16 dry dives and I'd have to say practice will make this easier.
Remember - you really have to plan you bouyancy with a drysuit much more than a wetsuit.

 

[yukoneer]

ok guys and gals(if any responded), thanks for the suggestions. the general conseus is that i basically just need more practice.

by the way, i'm self-teaching this - no drysuit classes or any of that money-wasting crap. i find it amazingly simple to use, except a little buoyancy problem in shallow waters.

 

[Canadian_Diver]

title says it all. I'm new in drysuit diving, I've done ~5 dives with a drysuit so far, and pretty much have it all handled except for one thing - buoyancy in shallower water. In depths deeper than 25-30ft, I have no problems at all whatsoever.

Part of it will be practice.

What material is your drysuit made of, and is your purge valve fully open to automatic purge?

Also, are you using your BC or Drysuit for bouyancy?

Diving fresh or saltwater? How much weight are you wearing?

I might be able to give some suggestions if I know the answers to these questions.

I know some of my dive buddies (who have been diving dry for years) have problems coming into the shallows with their neoprene drysuits. As you get shallower, the neoprene decompresses and becomes more bouyant again.... I laugh at them when I see them all trying to get as much air out of their suits as possible. I dive a trilaminate, which elminates this problem for the most part.

 

[yukoneer]

Part of it will be practice.

What material is your drysuit made of, and is your purge valve fully open to automatic purge?

Also, are you using your BC or Drysuit for bouyancy?

Diving fresh or saltwater? How much weight are you wearing?

drysuit's DUI CF200 - crushed neoprene (not same as compressed neoprene)
purge's on automatic
BC for buoyancy
saltwater, 30lbs weight

 

[Canadian_Diver]

drysuit's DUI CF200 - crushed neoprene (not same as compressed neoprene)
purge's on automatic
BC for buoyancy
saltwater, 30lbs weight

I'm not sure how much you weigh, but I'm 250lbs and wear 32lbs in a trilaminate with an aluminum 80 on my back in freshwater. Is there a possibility you might be underweighted? Do you have problems descending? (even the smallest weighting problem descending could be a larger problem ascending).

Also, you mentioned that your feet feel a bit bouyant. Try wearing thicker socks and / or gaiters, this will allow less air to trap in your feet, and when you start your ascent (swimming or vertical), start getting your upper body upright more.

I exclusively use my DS for bouyancy when diving dry. There's a few different schools of though on this subject, and I'm not going to discuss which is better and which isn't, it's totally dependent on personal preference - as long as you only use one or the other for bouyancy and not both, who cares.

I find it easier to just use my DS for bouyancy because I only have one item I have to worry about dumping air out of ...

 

[Web Monkey]

ok guys and gals(if any responded), thanks for the suggestions. the general conseus is that i basically just need more practice.

It's not just practice, it's practice doing the right things.

by the way, i'm self-teaching this - no drysuit classes or any of that money-wasting crap.

Regardless of how you learn it, you need to know what to do in case of a stuck inflator valve, a stuck exhaust valve, how to right yourself and how to vent the suit in an emergency and what to do if it suddenly develops a large hole.

This is stuff you actually need to practice, so you don't have to start figuring it out during an actual emergency. It's also stuff that you get to practice in a pool, with an instructor if you choose to take the class.

In an improperly handled failure, a drysuit can turn into a 300 pound lift bag containing you, and you'll find yourself on the surface before you know what happened.

Drysuits are great (I dive dry way over 95% of the time), but it does take a little training. I beleive the "money-wasting crap" class is also valuable, although nobody can make you take it.

Terry

 

[Canadian_Diver]

Drysuits are great (I dive dry way over 95% of the time), but it does take a little training. I beleive the "money-wasting crap" class is also valuable, although nobody can make you take it.

Hey Terry, I agree with you entirely.

A DS might seem like a simple thing to learn, but really, there's a bit that needs to be learned BEFORE there's an emergency, and practiced. :thumbs-up

 

[pdoege]

Between 30' and the surface the volume of air in the drysuit is going to double. That is a lot of air.

I get a good squeeze going as I get shallow and then use the BC to trim out with full-ish lungs until I get my bouyancy right for my deco stop (or SS, depending) then I inflate the drysuit until I am mid-lung.

Remember to ascend slowly and dump the dry suit early and often. I've blown a few safety stops perfecting this. Once you get used to it you will be able to hover easily in the shallows.

Very rewarding when you get it down!

Good luck,
Peter DOege

 

[MissyP]

I keep the exhaust valve open when ascending (it's actually open 99% of the time anyways).

- the valve may be open, but you're not getting the air in the suit to it. Do you wear a wet belt, or use integrated? A weight belt can restrict (not block) air flow from lower to upper, especially if your swimming horizontally like we should be.

I'd suggest ankle weights for a short-term solution. if you can't get along without them, then gators on your lower legs might help.

I'm going through the same thing- just did my 4th dry suit dive yesterday. I didn't take the dry suit class, but my lds did do a pool orientation class with me to give me basic familiarity with the suit & show me how to get through "emergency" situations.
My first ocean dive, I sank like a rock. My 2nd, I floated like a balloon (thumbed it after 6 min). My second 2nd dive (lol) & my 3rd were awesome- hardly any problems at all.. 4th, I was a little off in buoyancy.... I'm slowly picking up tips & tricks along the way- but, just like the OP, I was having some some rough buoyancy/ascent issues in shallow water (25 ft and less) and once I'd get around 6 ft, I was going up no matter what... On my 4th dive, I found out that getting into a sitting (upright) position and holding your left elbow up seems to help more than *just* holding your elbow up. By getting into the upright position, ALL of the air goes to your upper body... Also practice your breath control when you get into the shallows, that seems to be helping me out also. Make sure your bc straps and belt are loose (you can keep them tightened while walking to and from the water, but before you descend remember to loosen them so air can flow). As much as I didn't want to use ankle weights, I gave up and decided to use them (temporarily, until I feel more comfortable with my ascents), so you may want to consider using them also. Think of them as training wheels...
Like everyone has said, its just practice practice practice...