Dry suit air in your leg

[darkpup]

I would give it more time. I've used gators and fin keepers, but over time, just learned how to better manage the bubble in the suit. The gators and keepers will reduce the volume of your dry suit around the legs and feet, which does slow down the bubble as it moves around in the suit.

IMO, both are great tools to help you learn how to feel the bubble and manage it before it causes a problem. Think training wheels that can be used at your discretion as you get more comfortable with the new suit. I no longer use the gators, as I find them to be a pain to put on (or I'm too lazy to put them on), but the fin keepers are still helpful. Been diving without them recently, and they really do slow down the bubble and reduce the overall size of the bubble. Don't really need them, but they do make managing the bubble easier.

~ Jason

 

[victor]

One issue that might help is less weight.
Having a big bubble of air in the suit made it much more likely that the feet would get filled up with the consequence that I would end up doing a handstand.
By expelling all the air before I wend under and only adding enough weight to get down made the bubble much easier to balance.. This felt a little uncomfortable (squeeze) until I was used to adding a touch of air as I descended.
Stick with it, it does get better.

 

[Akimbo]

A small volume of air in drysuit legs and feet is fine to desirable… salvaging an anchor by grabbing it while head-down and inflating the suit to float it to the surface would be a problem.

 

[lowviz]

I think what everyone is saying here is that prevention is better than cure.
After a few dives in her suit she will recognize the symptoms and rectify it before it becomes a problem.
On my first dive I ended up doing a handstand in about 20ft of water holding on to the railing of a yacht with about 20lbs positive. ...................

Nice place to practice! If the OP could find a similar place, dump all air from suit and do a handstand while holding on. Get just slightly buoyant (make mental note of the creepy feeling) by adding air to suit. Fin HARD downwards while trying to end up completing the arc with your head up. DUMP EXCESS at this point. Goes without saying to have a skilled buddy present. This is a skill you just need to have in your arsenal.

..................Now it's all turned to **** with my new suit. .................... I had some pretty horrible dives this weekend and felt an idiot to boot, so any thoughts welcome. .............

BTDT. Practice.

............... Still not as good as a w/s, but I think it will come with some more practice.

You will improve to where you really like what the drysuit allows you, but *sadly* will never be as good as your wetsuit.

 

[lowviz]

I know that everybody is taught how to get the air out if it ever get in you leg and feet. My question is how often did it ever happen to you and did you use what was taught to you or did you use another method to clear the air.

Just noticed that my last post didn't answer your question.

"Happens a lot to me" if you mean starting to get buoyant from too much air in legs.

"Never had an upside-down event" if you mean personally suffering an uncontrolled ascent. I firmly agree with the 'prevention is key' crowd.

On descents, I tend to ignore my suit until I get an uncomfortable crush or feel cold, then a bit of inflation is all I add. I use my wings for buoyancy control. On ascents, I adjust my buoyancy by dumping suit or adding air to wings. I don't like the feeling of buoyant feet to the degree that I tend to be more 'head-up' than I should. -proper trim is something I need to continually work on.

 

[mdb]

There are alternatives. The Apollo dry suits feature both wrist and ankle vent valves that can be set to closed if desired Apollo Sports: Dive Gear: Drysuits: 4.0mm EX Drysuit

 

[InTheDrink]

Thanks again.

Victor - yeah, my weighting was all over the place. I've got a horseshoe wing which I think made me think I needed more weight when I didn't, I just needed to shift the wing bubble to the vent side. I don't wear any weight when wet in twins. Diving dry I've been adding 3. This dive I added 7 plus stage plus refill. I was blasting my wing like crazy to try to stop my descent/plummet. It was the precise opposite to a controlled descent. Add to this that even at a 60degree angle my legs were still intent on flipping me and it must have been quite a sight to behold. One of those moments I would savour, if only I was the observer

I hadn't used an undersuit before so I guess it's just a question of getting used to some new kit. Will do so in controlled env with buddy who promises not to take pictures and hopefully I'll come back here soon with pictures of trim so beautiful that only Aphrodite herself could have sanctioned

J

 

[victor]

Might be best to have a session with an instructor.
What I was told was
1. Ignore your wing, defleate it and keep it deflated.
2. Expell all air from your suit before descending
3. Weoght yourself so you can just descend with empty wing and suit
4. Get your trim straight at this point, Flat to Just feet heavy
5. As you descend add very small amounts of air to your suit, ignore the inflator on the wing.
6. Release air from the suit before you start to ascend so you never get positive
7. If you get positive quickly let air out of the suit
8. Only as a last resort try and swim down, that puts all the air into your feet.

Once I learned to predict the bubble then I no problems, I also had a lot less weight.

Thanks again.

Victor - yeah, my weighting was all over the place. I've got a horseshoe wing which I think made me think I needed more weight when I didn't, I just needed to shift the wing bubble to the vent side. I don't wear any weight when wet in twins. Diving dry I've been adding 3. This dive I added 7 plus stage plus refill. I was blasting my wing like crazy to try to stop my descent/plummet. It was the precise opposite to a controlled descent. Add to this that even at a 60degree angle my legs were still intent on flipping me and it must have been quite a sight to behold. One of those moments I would savour, if only I was the observer

I hadn't used an undersuit before so I guess it's just a question of getting used to some new kit. Will do so in controlled env with buddy who promises not to take pictures and hopefully I'll come back here soon with pictures of trim so beautiful that only Aphrodite herself could have sanctioned

J

 

[BabyDuck]

yes, it has happened to me.

it was at madison, at the end of a fairly long cave dive. there's a slope you have to go up, with fierce flow, that starts at about 40ft & ends at about 20. i worked myself around to get the bubble up, & thought i had vented my suit well, but going up the slope (holding on to rocks as best i could), my fins caught the flow & went up over my head & my legs filled with air & my turbosoles and fins came off my feet. so there i was, holding a log upside down in wicked flow without fins. couldn't let go, deco obligation. and believe me, 'i'm fine but i've lost my fins and can't get right side up again' is a difficult concept to get across without using your hands since you're holding on to a log with them.

larry finally understood the problem & tackled my legs & got them down & partly got my feet in my turbosoles again. the good thing was i'd satisfied my deco obligation by then.

i really don't know what i could have done better once it was all happening. i can make even more sure the air is out of my suit and i can keep my fins plastered down to keep the water from flipping me to prevent it from starting. i *did* use an 'ok' sign instead of a 'something's wrong' sign at larry & that was a mistake since he thought i was goofing off, so i'd do that differently next time i have an issue, too. but this is a classic 'failure cascade' type of thing.

 

[InTheDrink]

yes, it has happened to me.

it was at madison, at the end of a fairly long cave dive. there's a slope you have to go up, with fierce flow, that starts at about 40ft & ends at about 20. i worked myself around to get the bubble up, & thought i had vented my suit well, but going up the slope (holding on to rocks as best i could), my fins caught the flow & went up over my head & my legs filled with air & my turbosoles and fins came off my feet. so there i was, holding a log upside down in wicked flow without fins. couldn't let go, deco obligation. and believe me, 'i'm fine but i've lost my fins and can't get right side up again' is a difficult concept to get across without using your hands since you're holding on to a log with them.

larry finally understood the problem & tackled my legs & got them down & partly got my feet in my turbosoles again. the good thing was i'd satisfied my deco obligation by then.

i really don't know what i could have done better once it was all happening. i can make even more sure the air is out of my suit and i can keep my fins plastered down to keep the water from flipping me to prevent it from starting. i *did* use an 'ok' sign instead of a 'something's wrong' sign at larry & that was a mistake since he thought i was goofing off, so i'd do that differently next time i have an issue, too. but this is a classic 'failure cascade' type of thing.

Awesome, this sounds like a good dive. I'm not sure what I wound have done with fins removed and deco to serve. Probably given the 'ok' signal too. I'd hate to think I was a bother.

And thanks for the cascade reference, cos I think you're right, it can make a simple situation quickly less than ideal.

I'm looking forward to a couple of dives in the warm water of Brisbane next week. Diving wet will be a pleasant relaxant. I'll be diving wet and warm again in the Maldives the following month but with a rebreather on my back this time (training) so doubtless I find all sorts of new ways to look stupid yet again. I'm considering writing a book. But at least I won't have floaty legs to contend with!

Cheers everyone for thoughts and tips.

J