Buoynancy issues with new setup, overweight, resulting in failed dive.

[Jack Hammer]

First off, Thank you for having the courage to post your story.

Taking it slow is important. Changing up everything at once can easily overtask people. A few things.

Undergarments. Proper undergarments are needed to keep you warm and dry. Cotton doesn't retain heat when damp and is a bad idea in a drysuit. Wool, capilene, polartech, etc will be much better.

Double cylinders. There is a learning curve. Like any gear you need to become familiar with how they are in the water and how all the knobs relate to each other. Try tightening your waist strap, then tighten a bit more when you get a few feet underwater. This can help with the shifting. Also make sure the nuts attaching it to the plate are tight.

Bouyancy. You are carrying more weight and more lift so you need to make adjustments more frequently than in a shorty in warm water. You really have to stay on top of this.

Environment. Getting caught in line is no joke. Being around it in unfamiliar gear can be a recipe for serious trouble. Diving in cold water is much more involved than warm water. You really need to be aware of a lot more factors.

Mine diving. I won't jump to conclusions here about where you were as it could be a translation issue or perhaps you were in the basin, not the tunnels. I'd like to stress that diving in a mine, cave, or any overhead environment, is not a place to be without very specific training, gear, and high level skill set. A lot of people have died in places like this because they do not understand the dangers or how to avoid simple problems that can cascade into really big problems very quickly. They are an unforgiving environment. Please stay out without proper training through an accredited instructor.

Trust me dive. A dive where someone talks you into going places you shouldn't be, using gear you shouldn't be using, making dives you shouldn't be making, etc. Typically they will use a phrase like, "trust me, you'll be fine. We do this all the time". A lot of people have ended up dead, bent, injured, or just plain lucky to have come out ok from it. I kinda get the feeling from your description of events this applies.

Training. I'm not sure if you are "learning" this from other divers or an instructor. Based on your description of events, I'd recommend finding someone else either way. Training with a proper instructor can help with a lot of these issues. They can see what you are doing and help make effective changes. Many of the issues you describe really are difficult to learn on the internet, we can only offer tips for improvement. A proper reputable instructor will be help resolve most these issues and help you to safely enjoy your diving more.

Safe diving

 

[Bubblesong]

I just failed my drysuit ocean check out dive Saturday, and I had only a bit of your troubles, yet I was already halfway to Panic reaction.
I also went inverted and, (as I have read about), air rushed up my legs, into my neoprene boots with one wimpy Velcro strap, sprung the spring straps and popped my boot and fins off my feet, HOWEVER, my instructor couldn’t tell because fin was still on boot, and boot was still on drysuit sock, and drysuit sock was about three inches south of my foot. Since I was stuck upside down, every breath was a “wet breath, swallowing seawater through my mouth and nose as mask juggling leaked seawater into mask. Eventually fins come off, Instructor saved me and my daughter saved my free-floating-fins.
My Takeaway? Tough Canvas boots with double straps, PLUS a shorter suit PLUS no spring fin straps, should keep my fins on my feet for next attempt.

 

[Frantisek Jelinek]

Thank you all for your comments, they are more then helpful to me. Now I understand there is long way to go to master dry suit and twins setup, and that it really feels different that diving as I knew so far. I stop diving outdoor now, and go back to training pool. First I need to complete dry suit course and make absolutely sure that I am weighted properly. Hope I can handle it, then, when I build up some confidence, (which I lost totally I will try again, hopefully in better way. There is one more thing I have on my mind - I may be lucky in strange way that this happened at early phase, I got good lesson and now I see diving has it's risks and cannot be taken lightly, because it is too late when I am the only one surfaced, I am sure you understand. Thank you again for your support and safe diving to all of you.

 

[stuartv]

PLUS no spring fin straps

That part seems excessive. Not that I'm hugely experienced, but I can't remember ever seeing a drysuit diver with fins that were not spring straps.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I took a drysuit course AND twinset course together. Maybe that is overkill on the training, but it was so much easier having an instructor show me everything, evaluate me, and suggest changes and things to try, than to try to do it myself based on helpful comments from the Internet. Transitioning from a wetsuit and single tank, even if I had gotten it my weighting, etc., objectively "correct," I'm not sure I would have known it immediately, because the whole configuration just did not feel natural. For me, it took an instructor telling me that my setup and weighting was probably good to go and, from that point on, I just needed to practice with it.