Cold water diving is a PITA

[TSandM]

Glad to hear things are going better!

There was definitely something wrong with your wife's rig. With two cambands, the tank shouldn't be able to twist at all, and with them tight, it shouldn't slip or roll. The stability you were enjoying is one of the main benefits of that kind of setup!

I'm surprised that the Whites suits you were renting didn't have the user-replaceable seals. That's a great setup for rental or students. You can buy a set of seals, trim them exactly the way you like them, and install them in the suit in about ten minutes.

Anyway, it's great you are spending the time in the pool to iron out these issues, before heading to open water again. I think you'll find it works much better!

 

[billt4sf]

Maybe it's the way I am using it, but I found the DUI suit to be easier to manage -- in the sense that with the White's Fusion, when I added air it went right to the single highest position on my body - ZING! -- and formed a big pocket and set me out of balance. The didn't happen much at all with the DUI.

 

[jIM STEELE]

Maybe it's the way I am using it, but I found the DUI suit to be easier to manage -- in the sense that with the White's Fusion, when I added air it went right to the single highest position on my body - ZING! -- and formed a big pocket and set me out of balance. The didn't happen much at all with the DUI.

for a science teacher you should know that the more wt you have on your belt the more air you need in your bc or suit in fact for each lb your bubble wood be one pint larger. going from salt to fresh if you weigh 300 lbs in ALL your gear thats 9 lbs more than you need your bubble will be the size of a 9 pint container moving around to upset your balance. i dont think its the brand of suit

---------- Post added April 30th, 2013 at 01:07 PM ----------

get what works

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

for a science teacher you should know that the more wt you have on your belt the more air you need in your bc or suit in fact for each lb your bubble wood be one pint larger. going from salt to fresh if you weigh 300 lbs in ALL your gear thats 9 lbs more than you need your bubble will be the size of a 9 pint container moving around to upset your balance. i dont think its the brand of suit

---------- Post added April 30th, 2013 at 01:07 PM ----------

get what works

Not quite. Typical salt water is 1.0256 times denser than fresh water, so a 300 pound diver+gear would take off 300*.0256 = 7.68 pounds wen going from salt water to fresh.

 

[TSandM]

I'm sure you know that no matter WHAT dry suit you use, the bubble is going to go to the highest point, right? If air wasn't accumulating around your neck and shoulders in the DUI suit, the answer wasn't that the suit was better. It was that you were in better trim.

 

[billt4sf]

just got back from scuba night at rossi pool rex has been sick he is back now we had 17 divers in pool tonight great time

---------- Post added April 9th, 2013 at 11:12 AM ----------

rex phone at the sf rec dpt.415 203 2075

I wish I could verify this. Just spent another 30 minutes calling around to no avail. Never got a call back or an email back from Rex. Also called everyone else listed under Rossi pool, including:

[h=3]STAFF[/h]

• Park Section Supervisor: Jon Campo
• Phone: (415) 831-6332
• Email: jon.campo@sfgov.org

• Park Service Manager: Zack Taylor
• Phone: (415) 292-2048
• Email: zack.taylor@sfgov.org

• Senior Swim Instructor: Marlene Evans
• Phone: (415) 666-7014
• Email: marlene.evans@sfgov.org

• Recreation Supervisor: Sean McGrew
• Phone: (415) 666-7013
• Email: sean.mcgrew@sfgov.org

• Recreation Manager: James Wheeler
• Phone: (415) 447-2713
• Email: james.wheeler@sfgov.org

• Park Section Supervisor: Shelley Arnold
• Phone: (415) 666-7002
• Email: shelley.arnold@sfgov.org

---------- Post added April 30th, 2013 at 05:06 PM ----------

I'm sure you know that no matter WHAT dry suit you use, the bubble is going to go to the highest point, right? If air wasn't accumulating around your neck and shoulders in the DUI suit, the answer wasn't that the suit was better. It was that you were in better trim.

Couldn't it be that the suit fits me better?

 

[TravisD]

My recent experience, YMMV:

I decided to buy a Fusion this winter. This past weekend I got to dive it for the first time. The first dive sort of sucked. The change from diving wet was bigger than I expected - The gear was more restrictive, I had to add 26-28 lbs of weight. The neck seal had me sort of freaked out (the dangers of reading about what can happen if the seal is too tight). I had to come back twice for more weight (glad I had someone on shore to help). I even managed to discover what happens when the inflator valve is loose.

Dive #2 the next day was significantly better. Same gear, same weight, but I had that first dive under my belt. Instead of worrying about passing out, I was able to dive, and play with buoyancy, and learn how the suit works for me. I had fun!

All I know for sure is that there's definitely a learning curve, and people aren't kidding when they say it's like learning to dive all over again.

 

[Hepcat62]

Couldn't it be that the suit fits me better?

I would only expect that to matter if the Fusion fit so badly that it was significantly restricting your ability to get into proper trim (which I don't think it was - it was the loose crotch strap). That said, the style of undergarment can account for some difference in how easily/quickly air moves around, or how easy it is to dump air from the suit.

Comfort and posture (trim) in the water make the biggest difference by far, IMO.

 

[billt4sf]

Ready for the Ocean!

Yesterday Emily and I went to the pool at Diver Dan’s and were joined by Doug Simmons. Emily’s rig worked very well with the webbing run through the plate (not just the wing), and she immediately enjoyed her rig and swam without much problem for over an hour in the pool. She did have a giant leak in her drysuit – well not actually a leak – it turned out that “someone” failed to zip the suit all the way!

On my rig, I had tightened the straps a few inches and it seemed to me the whole night that the plate was riding too high on my back. I could easily touch the top of the plate by reaching my hand back, and the bottom of the plate was in the middle of the small of my back. It just seemed too high to me. I don’t want to loosen the straps again but I would love to find another set of slots to run the webbing through.

Another issue I had was that I constantly felt that my feet were riding higher than my torso. Both Doug and Emily said that was not so -- or very minimally so. But I really felt uncomfortable abut this and I think I need to use heavier fins, more weight on the weight belt, some air in the wing, or (God forbid) ankle weights. My back is hurting today from all the arching of my back I had to do last night.

We are both unlearning some things we learned during our drysuit course – specifically, we now use the wing to control buoyancy rather than only the drysuit. This helped both of us to feel more comfortable.

We ended the evening by practicing sharing air with the long hoses. It’s muscle memory now – we have to keep practicing it though.

We feel ready for the ocean, but we would be more comfortable if an experienced diver – esp. an experienced GUE diver – joined us.

Thanks for all your suggestions!

 

[TSandM]

Bill, especially if the feedback you got was that you were NOT feet high, what you may be experiencing is the discomfort many of us felt when we finally got horizontal. It's such an unnatural position for a vertically-oriented animal, we are reluctant to assume it. I was CONVINCED I was swimming downhill for the first couple of months after I finally got into trim. You'll get used to it.

With respect to the back pain, don't arch your back! Use your buttock muscles to bring your knees up. I like to think of trying to make myself as LONG as I can, from shoulders to knees -- that gets me stretched out and flat, without the low back arching that causes the pain.