Do I NEED the drysuit class?
- Thread starter djhall
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Dryglove
Contributor
Why spend a 100.00 bucks for a piece of plastic that he wont need.He is gonna buy his own drysuit so he wont need a card to rent a drysuit.He has stated that he dives with a few instructors that can teach him the needed skills.As long as they are willing to teach him properly i say go for it and save the money for something else.
We all know diving a drysuit isnt rocket science but there are some very important skills that need to be developed.I know a lot of people that aught themsleves to dive in a drysuit.A lot of it is common sense.Most of the training revolves around run away ascents such as a stuck inflator valve,feet first ascent,exhaust valve wont vent,etc.It is very important that a person know what to do if any of those happen or it could lead to a very serious situation if not controlled in a quick and efficient manner.
wb416
Contributor
What style of drysuit did you find?
There may be people here that can give product specific tips that can help your adjustment period, or help properly maintain your equipment.
regards,
wb
Dear lal7176
Tell me who give a proper course with out getting paid, if u told me they are going to brief him how to dive with it I will understand. Anyway dont get me wrong your fist paragraph was fine the second one was like a paradox.
We know that is not rocket science but
Anyway u know better than me that the drysuit need some skills in the pool first and so on, so why dont we do our courses properly ,,dont u think so.
Its like I am a good driver but do I need a driving license , or some thing like this ????
Again dont get me wrong .
Tell me who give a proper course with out getting paid, if u told me they are going to brief him how to dive with it I will understand. Anyway dont get me wrong your fist paragraph was fine the second one was like a paradox.
We know that is not rocket science but
Anyway u know better than me that the drysuit need some skills in the pool first and so on, so why dont we do our courses properly ,,dont u think so.
Its like I am a good driver but do I need a driving license , or some thing like this ????
Again dont get me wrong .
wb416
Contributor
We all now people with driver's licenses that shouldn't have one, right?
Likewise, some that I've seen offer drysuit classes could only read the course outline to the students, but only had a handful of personal dives in a drysuit. No credibility, in my opinion.
wb
Dryglove
Contributor
Your right the skills should be done in a pool.But why cant you do them in a shallow spot near shore where your diving with good conditon and vis.I dont think i would want to do the flood my suit portion in the ocean but other than that i cant think of any reason.
I have learned more from the people i dive with than i have in any class so far.Dont get me wrong my so called continuing education classes have been great.But i learn a great deal more with the more experienced divers that i dive with.And guess what they didnt charge me a dime.They arent driven by a profit and take their time to show me things.There are a lot of people that i know that love to dive and are willing to help out new divers without charging them(even instructors).Of course a dive shop isnt going to teach him for free.They are a bussiness and thats how they make their living.
Bottom line is if you feel comfortable with them teaching you go for it.If not go take the class through the dive shop.just because your paying a dive shop doesnt mean your gonna get better quality instruction. Whats the difference if an instructor teaches you through a dive shop or on his own time....a plastic card?
Ok I cant agree with u more but what I am trying to say is :
1. Its doesnt matter if u r doing the course in the pool or in a shallow water spot, what I mean that u need to experience it first in the pool or any where u want, this is not a big deal.
2. And true u will learn a lot for scuba divers friends or not, arent we all learning a lot like this dont go far ( ex: the scuba board ) .
3. What I really meant to take the course is u will have an instructor with u and he will be patient with u when he is giving u the skills and taking your time with him and asking him more questions u know what I mean. It will be more efficient this way, anyway this is my point of view.
4. And its not about the plastic card at all, I did not even thought about it this way .
And of course I agree with cwb .
But for me I love to give every thing its time and training and to feel that I did what I have to do its a matter of opinion or u can say personality, we are all not alike right..
In the end I would like to know that I respect every ones point of views even it wont work with me .
Good luck with your suit
1. Its doesnt matter if u r doing the course in the pool or in a shallow water spot, what I mean that u need to experience it first in the pool or any where u want, this is not a big deal.
2. And true u will learn a lot for scuba divers friends or not, arent we all learning a lot like this dont go far ( ex: the scuba board ) .
3. What I really meant to take the course is u will have an instructor with u and he will be patient with u when he is giving u the skills and taking your time with him and asking him more questions u know what I mean. It will be more efficient this way, anyway this is my point of view.
4. And its not about the plastic card at all, I did not even thought about it this way .
And of course I agree with cwb .
But for me I love to give every thing its time and training and to feel that I did what I have to do its a matter of opinion or u can say personality, we are all not alike right..
In the end I would like to know that I respect every ones point of views even it wont work with me .
Good luck with your suit
Wreck/Tec
Contributor
Djhall
NO, NO, NO..................Get a pencil.......See if you can get this book........
Dry Suit Diving
Third Edition
A Guide To Diving Dry
Published by Hammerhead Press, Santa Barbara,Ca
http://www.marinemkt.com
Authors-Steve Barsky, Dick Long-Bob Stinton
When I got my dry suit I refused to pay that kind of money for a class. This book was wonderful for explaining all the essentials of how and why. $20.00. Take that knowledge and invest some time in drilling yourself with the suit. Wax the zipper often, clean the debris out of the teeth with a tooth brush. Lube the seals and your hands with Pure Talc going on and off to reduce the chance of tearing ( latex ), keep it clean and out of the sun.
Wreck/Tec
NO, NO, NO..................Get a pencil.......See if you can get this book........
Dry Suit Diving
Third Edition
A Guide To Diving Dry
Published by Hammerhead Press, Santa Barbara,Ca
http://www.marinemkt.com
Authors-Steve Barsky, Dick Long-Bob Stinton
When I got my dry suit I refused to pay that kind of money for a class. This book was wonderful for explaining all the essentials of how and why. $20.00. Take that knowledge and invest some time in drilling yourself with the suit. Wax the zipper often, clean the debris out of the teeth with a tooth brush. Lube the seals and your hands with Pure Talc going on and off to reduce the chance of tearing ( latex ), keep it clean and out of the sun.
Wreck/Tec
Sigh. I know, but it is ALWAYS just $100. Just $100 for this, and $100 for that, and $100 for something else. Each and every individual $100 item is reasonable. But before you know it you're out $500. Something else brings you to $1,000. Eventually you're out there with $1,000 in your drysuit, another $1,000 worth of regulators and gauges, $500 in your computer, $500 in your BC/BP & Wings, and $1,000 worth of certifications and classes. Add in another $1,000 for miscellaneous fins, masks, gloves, lights, bags, repair kits, knives, reels, floats, manuals, slates, etc. and you have $5,000 invested in the ABILITY to dive! Not diving, just stuff to dive with! And all of it perfectly reasonable on its own. I just can't do that. I've spent the last four years putting myself through full-time college without grants, scholarships, fee waivers, or any other form of financial aid. I'm 30 years old, live alone, and have all the normal living expenses, but only part-time work for the past four years. Graduation was on the 21st, and it will probably be awhile before I finally land full-time employment again. I probably shouldn't dive at all, but I've been certified for ten years and never dove before this year because it was too expensive. I could wait until later, but what happens when I add a mortgage payment (rent now). What happens when I start working on my masters degree? I could be retired if I wait until the time and money are right. The other option is to say that I want to dive, but I have to say no to whatever expenses aren't really. The only reason I am even considering going dry is because I think I can eventually find a steal of a deal on eBay one of these days.
I haven't purchased yet. I need to find a steal of a deal, and the most likely place to find that is eBay. (Except for the guy who posted that his friend's wife found a DUI drysuit that fit him perfectly and was in excellent condition at the goodwill store for $12!) O'Neill 7000X drysuits seem to be available for $150-$250 once or twice a month. A Henderson Arctic drysuit sells new for around the same price, so I imagine I may be able to find one of those for a similar price. DUI, Harvey, and other brands seem to be a long shot since they usually sell for $500+, though I like what I have seen of the DUI CF200.
Thank you for the useful book recommendation. I will definitely order it.
Also, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my question and post responses. It has helped significantly to obtain the opinions of those who have taken the class and who have experience with diving dry.
I just went through this dj.
The LDSs around here all wanted to teach me to dive with the suit as my BC. No thanks. I believe that is a dangerous practice, in that you are INTENTIONALLY putting a nice big slug of air in there that can move around and cause trouble if you start up unexpectedly in a funny orientation.
Besides, I have a BC and know how to use it
My solution was to first, play in my pool with the suit (I have one at my home) and get used to it - how it works, how the inflator works, how fast it is, how it feels when you decend, ascend, feet-up recovery, etc.
The next step was a "test dive" in open water, but with nothing else going on and in nice conditions. It was a bit more stressful than normal, but I deleted one of my usual tasks (spearfishing) and just dove.
On the second dive of the day I was comfortable in the suit and back to the usual stuff.
And thus it has been.
I've only done a half-dozen dives in it thus far, but I don't find anything difficult about it. It is DIFFERENT though, particularly in how buoyancy shifts (or rather, DOESN'T shift) with depth changes as it does when diving wet in the top 60' or so of the water column. I dive with my dump completely open and put only enough air in the suit to take the discomfort off the squeeze. (A side benefit of not trying to use the suit as a BC is that I don't have "floaty feet" problems.)
The class would have been a complete waste of money and, since I don't want to rent a suit from someone, I don't care about the card. In the future, with plenty logged in a suit, I can't imagine that a shop would garf about me renting one anyway....
But DO either take the time to learn the basics in a pool or other confined water, or find someone who dives in one (you said you had the latter) to show you the basics. Its not difficult, but it is one more thing to manage underwater.
Welcome to being warm and dry. You'll like it when the water (or air!) is less than warm. I know I do.
The LDSs around here all wanted to teach me to dive with the suit as my BC. No thanks. I believe that is a dangerous practice, in that you are INTENTIONALLY putting a nice big slug of air in there that can move around and cause trouble if you start up unexpectedly in a funny orientation.
Besides, I have a BC and know how to use it
My solution was to first, play in my pool with the suit (I have one at my home) and get used to it - how it works, how the inflator works, how fast it is, how it feels when you decend, ascend, feet-up recovery, etc.
The next step was a "test dive" in open water, but with nothing else going on and in nice conditions. It was a bit more stressful than normal, but I deleted one of my usual tasks (spearfishing) and just dove.
On the second dive of the day I was comfortable in the suit and back to the usual stuff.
And thus it has been.
I've only done a half-dozen dives in it thus far, but I don't find anything difficult about it. It is DIFFERENT though, particularly in how buoyancy shifts (or rather, DOESN'T shift) with depth changes as it does when diving wet in the top 60' or so of the water column. I dive with my dump completely open and put only enough air in the suit to take the discomfort off the squeeze. (A side benefit of not trying to use the suit as a BC is that I don't have "floaty feet" problems.)
The class would have been a complete waste of money and, since I don't want to rent a suit from someone, I don't care about the card. In the future, with plenty logged in a suit, I can't imagine that a shop would garf about me renting one anyway....
But DO either take the time to learn the basics in a pool or other confined water, or find someone who dives in one (you said you had the latter) to show you the basics. Its not difficult, but it is one more thing to manage underwater.
Welcome to being warm and dry. You'll like it when the water (or air!) is less than warm. I know I do.
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