Close call in the dressing room

[KateAus]

I can't beleive I haven't been busted reading this. It is really hard to stifle a laugh in an open office

I sympathise with everyone else who has done the wetsuit dance which always draws a crowd in a carpark and I have nearly been that girl who loses her bikini top several times (How the hell does a knot get undone in a 5mm semi dry?) but I had a completely different wet suit incident

My buddy and I decided to get certified in August at Bondi, water temp bout 16c. Was only one problem, our dive instructor. It was one of those dive schools that turns out back packer divers en mass and he was one of those Hero dive instructor tools that gives the industry a bad name and was a blatent pervert.

He was so busy chatting up a couple of girls in the deep end of the pool that he didn't notice a girl (not so blonde and well proportioned) who obviously couldn't swim. She swallowed about a galon of water before my male buddy rescued her.

Anyway, back to the point, Sir Grope-a-lot as we started calling him, always seemed to manage to give the girls wetsuits with 20cm cuts in them up near the top of the thigh, fine for the heated pool - not so good in the ocean. I may as well not have been wearing a wetsuit when I jumped in. Should I report this to DAN as a near Hyperthermia incident?

Luckily, by dive 3 and 4 I was able to borrow a friends semi dry - that of course was another barrel of fun as it is one of those ones which has two neck holes (front and back) which you have to squeeze your head into twice which resulted in me choking on the surface and with my arms stuck straight out It also had the added benefit of being hot pink.

Keep the posts coming - I don't wanna work

 

[cavedivingwoman]

Those suits with the attached hoods and tight zippers can be lethal. It' s a good idea to take a "safety diver" when trying them on. 'Very embarrassing to die in the dressing room. Seriously, I once thought I was stuck forever. 'Glad all is well!
Barbara/San Francisco

 

[Brian Sharpe]

You can say that again!

I was at my LDS today getting fitted for my upcoming OW dives. Suffice it to say I needn't worry about a career in modeling but my ego certainly took a blow when I needed an XXL. By the time I wrestled it on I was drenched in perspiration, the (young & thin) staff member helping me seemed to be enjoying my newbie thrashings.

Does it get easier with practice or should I just move to someplace warm where a 7mm suit is not needed? LOL

 

[goodformeto]

I got in and out of wetsuits just enough times to get complacent. How do you get complacent in a wetsuit? I was about 15 when I tried a backzip one piece for the first time. Getting out was interesting.
I have a hand that resembles a bear paw and compliments my size 15 feet well. When I pulled down the weak arm and didn't get it over my hand I didn't worry too much. I just wiggled the other shoulder loose untill I stood there with both wrists caught in the sleeves and the chest staring at me like a perfect point of leverage.
Let me make this instruction clear. No matter how good you think you balance is, Do Not try to jump up into the air, swing your arms under you like a jump rope, get your feet above the wetsuit neck and extend your legs upon landing into what can best be described as a pulling yourself up by the bootstraps of wetsuit removal. You can not break your fall with your hands effectively tied behind your back and the full force of you leg muscles accelerating your face toward the floor.

also: your wrists free up much better if your not still wearing a watch over your wetsuit.

 

[peanut1964]

Thanks for the laughs everyone... I think we've all had similar experiences and was happy to laugh at someone else's for a change.

 

[peanut1964]

Watch this lithesome, young lady shed her wetsuit like a pro. Please concentrate on her technique.

YouTube - Karena Dawn Wetsuit Demo

I think I hate her.

 

[Isaac-1]

I think the closest I have ever came to dying while scuba diving happened while putting on a wetsuit. It was a hot early summer day at a local cold water quarry, I was there with a group of OW students between dives. The wesuit was a 2 piece farmer john with step in shorty, I had taken the shorty off to cool down while alone out of the water on the training entry platform. I was getting hot standing around in the farmer john bottoms so I decided to get into the water to cool off for a minute before the students got back from their break, as I said it was early summer and not many people had been using the entry platform yet that season, so the entry ledge was very slippery. As I entered the water my feet went out from under me, the shoulder velcro popped loose, and the whole farmer john suit ended up around my legs, and I ended up bobbing around feet up in 30 feet of water, trying to do in water sit ups to gasp for air, while peeling the rest of the wetsuit off. The whole time I was thinking what an embarassing way for a scuba instuctor to die, as it would certainly make the news.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

I'm not exactly sure which one of my staff members took this video of my husband helping me out of my 5mm hooded vest at Devil's Den in March. The two guys in the background are my students. I'm not sure who says "Keep it G Please" near the beginning of the video but it's one of my group. Remember, I am an experienced wetsuit diver and I was trapped....PLEASE don't try this alone

[Click and enjoy!]
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Kateroo]

I was at a dive shop trying on a 7mm farmer john type wet suit. The guy helping me brought out a suit and was very insistent that it would fit. I took a look at it and knew it would not fit as it had skinny legs and i have larger thighs due to soccer. Low and behold i could not get the thing on. He kept saying i needed to work it up my legs and said maybe i wasnt strong enough. My brother couldn't even do it. Anyways after 20 or so min of trying to get the thing on and off with the appropriate dances (luckily there was a door!) I ended up by blisters/peeling skin on my fingers!! I asked if i could take a bigger size and try it on at home. Low and behold the size bigger went on with ease.

From now on i refuse to try and get into a wetsuit that i struggle to get over my legs. I also find the hood with a zipper at the bag a lot easier to get on then the Bare ones with no zipper.

 

[MattC007]

(you scared me, I thought this would be another guy traumatized by a breastfeeding woman in the fitting room....)

LOL