Dry Suit Cert.

[lbussell]

My LDS in Cincinnati doesn't offer this specialty course. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[tstormdiver]

Not sure if there is anything closer, but the Louisville area has several dive shops, I'm sure one of them probably has the course available.

 

[stairman]

You could find someone with DS experience that will help you out for the price of fuel, lunch and air fills. Its not that complicated and most people do not take a formal course.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

If you're willing to come to me for a few days I'll do the course for you.

 

[porgyhunter]

You could find someone with DS experience that will help you out for the price of fuel, lunch and air fills. Its not that complicated and most people do not take a formal course.

HE's right , Got my first dry suit in 1981, just dove it and tweeked the weights. p.s. ankle weights really help

 

[whodunit68]

with the right instructor, DrySuit course is well worth the tiny investment. You can find instructors on Padi's web site by distance, specialty, etc. See Find a dive shop, scuba diving shop, dive resort or scuba dive shop. Frankly, visiting Jim in PA could make it fun like a little weekend vacation if you can get to him.
I did a search from Cincinatti and got 3 shops within 20 miles that do the DrySuit Diver course:

entral Coast Dive Center S-19534
913 Dudley Road
Edgewood, KY 41017

postmaster@centralcoastdivecenter.com
Central Coast Dive Center - Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Scuba Diving PADI
Ph: (859) 426-0020
Fax: (859) 426-0023

Sign Up for a PADI Online Course

approx: 12.9km / 8mi from Cincinattie, Oh
Store LevelScuba Unlimited S-333
8966 Blue Ash Road
Cincinnati, OH 45242

info@2dive4.com
Scuba Unlimited
Ph: (513) 793-4747

Sign Up for a PADI Online Course

approx: 14km / 8.7mi from Cincinattie, Oh
Store LevelUnderwater World, Inc. S-17776
8837 Columbia Road
Maineville, OH 45039

scuba@underwaterworldinc.com
Underwater World Scuba Center
Ph: (513) 697-1111
Fax: (513) 697-1157

Sign Up for a PADI Online Course

approx: 31.1km / 19.3mi from Cincinatti, Oh.

I've been diving for a couple years now, have trimix and full cave, and I maintain that one of the best courses I took was a DrySuit course with an amazing instructor. Good luck!

 

[lbussell]

Hi Jim,

I appreciate your offer. I hope that I can find someone closer than PA, but I will certainly keep you in mind.

Lon

 

[Gdon]

It seems that very few people around here take a drysuit class and they do OK (myself included)
H O W E V E R a good DS class would be invaluable if you were to have a problem you had not prepared for. More or less on their own, most people here master the tuck and roll, swim down, etc. to deal with floatie feet and as long as they are careful on their dives and take good care of the suit (so there are no equipment problems) then chances are they will be OK.
H O W E V E R are they (and me) prepared to deal with a stuck inflater? How about a blockage at the vent? Do they know the emergency vent methods? Have they practiced removing and/or attaching the hose with dry gloves? These are serious considerations.

So if you can find an instructor that will really teach the important drysuit skills then you should take it. If the class is one of those mostly "how to take care of the suit" classes, then you will have a suit in good shape even if you end up with DCS, Arterial Gas Embolism, pneumothorax, etc.

Whether you take the class or not there are a number of resources available, online, other divers, etc. For example my drysuit manual is at: http://www.whitesdiving.com/images/PDF/drysuit_manual.pdf