pacificgal
Rest in Peace...
I got my Christmas bonus today, now there's only time and scheduling keeping me from Essentials 
Diving the 12/13th?
- Thread starter janeothejungle
- Start date
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mikemill
Contributor
My problem was that I didn't have the familiarity with the drysuit as I did with the wetsuit.
Things I recall (no no particular order)
Weighting - still playing with the weighting to figure out what I needed. That was exasperated by:
Undergarments - During the class I found I was fighting my buoyancy all the time and would have to squeeze almost all the air out in order to have good control of it at which point I was cold. Thinking about it (actually came to me while in the water) I figured out I wasn't wearing enough undergarments to keep me warm with minimal air in the suit. I have since added some base layers and am now warm and I don't have a big bubble of air to manage.
Venting - Heck I'm still working on that. Just knowing how your suit vents, how much it vents, etc. I remember a funny video from the class that Don got of me venting the suit. Without going into detail I thought I was venting the suit for a second or two out of the 20ish seconds of the video. In reality I was venting the entire time except the time I thought I was venting.
Fine buoyancy control - One of the things I learned how to do with my wetsuit was to adjust up and down a foot or two solely with my lungs. I tried doing that with the drysuit and it just didn't work at those depths.
I think the biggest problem was that I was getting annoyed by my lack of control. If this was just a pleasure dive I would have been ok. But this was a class I paid for, to learn and practice, and I felt I was letting Mike and Kathy down. This lead to over working which gave me a couple headaches. It also killed some of the enjoyment.
Things I recall (no no particular order)
Weighting - still playing with the weighting to figure out what I needed. That was exasperated by:
Undergarments - During the class I found I was fighting my buoyancy all the time and would have to squeeze almost all the air out in order to have good control of it at which point I was cold. Thinking about it (actually came to me while in the water) I figured out I wasn't wearing enough undergarments to keep me warm with minimal air in the suit. I have since added some base layers and am now warm and I don't have a big bubble of air to manage.
Venting - Heck I'm still working on that. Just knowing how your suit vents, how much it vents, etc. I remember a funny video from the class that Don got of me venting the suit. Without going into detail I thought I was venting the suit for a second or two out of the 20ish seconds of the video. In reality I was venting the entire time except the time I thought I was venting.
Fine buoyancy control - One of the things I learned how to do with my wetsuit was to adjust up and down a foot or two solely with my lungs. I tried doing that with the drysuit and it just didn't work at those depths.
I think the biggest problem was that I was getting annoyed by my lack of control. If this was just a pleasure dive I would have been ok. But this was a class I paid for, to learn and practice, and I felt I was letting Mike and Kathy down. This lead to over working which gave me a couple headaches. It also killed some of the enjoyment.
This is getting into religious territory for some people, but I'd say that the easiest way for you to manage your drysuit without disrupting your training is to manage your drysuit as little as possible.
I can only imagine that your training dives will be relatively shallow, all things considered. Make sure you purge your suit as completely as possible after sealing everything up, and put only enough air into the suit on descent as required to be "comfortable" with the amount of squeeze. Use the BC for the rest. If your suit fits reasonably well, this will result in a small amount of air in your suit. If you begin to ascend unexpectedly, kick down and vent from your BC. Much as I'd ordinarily be loathe to suggest it, you could consider diving 2'ish pounds heavy to get more air in your BC relative to your suit.
This potentially gets you to a place where you don't have to learn the particulars of getting your drysuit and undergarment combination to dump effectively while you're also stressed out over skills. It's not ideal, but you'll still be warmer over the surface interval than you would be diving wet.
I didn't know you already had several drysuit dives under your belt. If these are all recent dives, from your description of your skills/comfort I'd change my answer and suggest that you absolutely should use your drysuit in Essentials if you feel comfortable doing so. You're going to be diving your drysuit from now on and you'll get invaluable feedback on using it during class.
eric gundrum
Contributor
Well, I have only five; Mike had six when he took Essentials.
And, I don't own the suit. I'd be renting just for the class. I'd like to own the suit, but it'll be a year before I can save up for the one I really want, I think. On the other hand, if I enjoy taking the class in the Fusion, maybe I'll find a way to buy one sooner.I'm used to diving wet. It's cold, and I don't like that part, but I still enjoy the dives enough for it to be worthwhile. Or put another way, it hasn't been cold enough to push me over the edge to renting the drysuit regularly (because of cost and hassle). But I also haven't had to deal with air temps around 54F during my SI.
It's the cold I feel when walking the dog that's got me thinking seriously about renting a suit for the weekend. I might even rent just to have it with me if I feel the wetsuit is too cold.
Mike, your comments are exactly the info I was looking for. It seems like getting the undergarments right is the key. I'll be talking with the LDS about that a bit. And this maybe something that isn't quite as easy to fix during a surface interval.
Hepcat, a lot of what this class is about is peak buoyancy performance. I don't want the drysuit to get in the way of learning that. I think Mike's comments about his experience cover it quite well. I won't have had chance to dial in the undergarments to optimum, so I'll likely be dealing with a bigger bubble than I should. And, I won't know the suit controls all that well, either. Do I trust that I can fix those things quickly enough that they aren't an issue during the class? I have to think about that a bit.
Thanks much for your comments.
Right - that's why I was suggesting that if you DO dive the dry suit, you should try to minimize the amount of air in it as much as possible - even beyond what you might ordinarily do as you get used to it.
I think the key piece of new info here is that this is not YOUR dry suit and undergarment combo, but rather one you're considering renting. I think that devalues completing the class in it significantly. Don may disagree though, and obviously I'd defer to him.
mikemill
Contributor
Don's right.
Kat, Did you find a dive partner for diving this weekend?
Eric, you could rent the suit and keep it on stand-by incase you freeze. Or you could just dive the drysuit and bring your wetsuit along if you feel a bit overwhelmed with controling it.
And I totally miss Don's Essentials class so much - I'm really excited to join him again for this weekend!! See you there Eric!
Kat, Did you find a dive partner for diving this weekend?
Eric, you could rent the suit and keep it on stand-by incase you freeze. Or you could just dive the drysuit and bring your wetsuit along if you feel a bit overwhelmed with controling it.
Congratulations Kristina!I got my Christmas bonus today, now there's only time and scheduling keeping me from Essentials
And I totally miss Don's Essentials class so much - I'm really excited to join him again for this weekend!! See you there Eric!
eric gundrum
Contributor
Kat,
Sorry for hijacking your thread. :hijackedthread: I sure hope you find someone to dive with you or I'll feel guilty.
Hepcat, thanks for all the input. I think your comment about the value of training in a rental suit is perfect. But, the rental suit is pretty close to what I think I might be buying (a Fusion), so it's not a total waste.
Kathy, I had been thinking I might rent the suit and have it along just in case (with my wetsuit). In that case I'd probably use it for the pool session Thursday to see how well I did with it, then decide about it Friday. Maybe I'll still do that. But, then I go back to Mike's comments and think of what I might not learn because I'm dealing with the drysuit. There is so much to learn. Overall, I think the cost of renting the suit ($50-$100) is insurance to help me get the most out of training (which is much more valuable in terms of time as well as dollars). Even if I don't wear it, I wouldn't be upset about it.
I found out my Essentials teammate (Greg) is diving wet. He's from Hawaii; I've got to be able to out-last him. :devious: Anyway, Don says he's bringing lots of quarters to feed the hot shower. I sure hope it's working.
Kristina, do drop buy and say hi if you are around. Maybe you can watch us flop around on the wall as we practice our skills.
I mean, you can get a preview of what you'll be doing soon. 
And Kathy, I'm looking forward to finally getting to dive with you. Hopefully it will be the first of many. There is so much to see at Pt. Lobos. I can't wait to dive with the wider UTD community.
Sorry for hijacking your thread. :hijackedthread: I sure hope you find someone to dive with you or I'll feel guilty.
Hepcat, thanks for all the input. I think your comment about the value of training in a rental suit is perfect. But, the rental suit is pretty close to what I think I might be buying (a Fusion), so it's not a total waste.
Kathy, I had been thinking I might rent the suit and have it along just in case (with my wetsuit). In that case I'd probably use it for the pool session Thursday to see how well I did with it, then decide about it Friday. Maybe I'll still do that. But, then I go back to Mike's comments and think of what I might not learn because I'm dealing with the drysuit. There is so much to learn. Overall, I think the cost of renting the suit ($50-$100) is insurance to help me get the most out of training (which is much more valuable in terms of time as well as dollars). Even if I don't wear it, I wouldn't be upset about it.
I found out my Essentials teammate (Greg) is diving wet. He's from Hawaii; I've got to be able to out-last him. :devious: Anyway, Don says he's bringing lots of quarters to feed the hot shower. I sure hope it's working.
Kristina, do drop buy and say hi if you are around. Maybe you can watch us flop around on the wall as we practice our skills.
I mean, you can get a preview of what you'll be doing soon. And Kathy, I'm looking forward to finally getting to dive with you. Hopefully it will be the first of many. There is so much to see at Pt. Lobos. I can't wait to dive with the wider UTD community.
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