Dry suit help in socal

[vetdiver]

She's not in the market for a brand new shiny custom cut DUI suit.

Just wanted to say....I logged 200 dives in my (relatively) cheap neoprene drysuit before I ever went for a custom. My post was simply meant to reassure her that there isn't a woman on the planet who feels like stock drysuit (wetsuit, clothing, NAME IT!) sizes are made for them.

Robyn - good luck with your class. Have a blast.

 

[HBDiveGirl]

PM sent.

Dry is good.


~~~~~~
Claudette

P.S. 500+ dives on a stock BARE XCD2 Crushed Neo men's suit, ordered from BARE with excellent assistance from SeaDSea in Redondo Beach. Modified and repaired as needed by the brilliant Mark Owens at Superior Drysuit Repair in Brainerd.

P.P.S. There are key questions you must answer about how YOU dive that will absolutely determine the best type of suit for YOU. PM sent...

 

[orangelion03]

I would think going through DIR-F in a "new to you" drysuit would be tough. Is the class a few months away? Some folks take naturally to diving dry, others ( ahem) not so much and take some practice to get the hang of it. I had planned to take DIR-F myself about this time, but opted to go dry first and will postpone the class until dryving is second nature. Again, if you are planning DIR-F soon, stick to what you know (add a layer and some lead) and minimize the task loading...from what I hear, you'll be plenty busy.

The Scuba show is only a few weeks away and just about every drysuit manufacturer will be there.

 

[OCdiving Deb]

Hi Robin!

I am also 5' 4" (well, almost!) and I bought a used Diving Concepts tri-lam drysuit in size Medium. I love the suit but the legs are just a bit too short and it is noticable when I put on my fins or take them off. And believe me, it is NOT because I have long legs!

Moral of the story: a little extra length in the legs is good. A little extra length in the torso is good.

Let me know if you need any more info!

 

[Rainer]

Robyn and I have over 40 dives planned before her GUE-F course in Sept. She froze this past weekend diving Anacapa and SC, so waiting till after the class just isn't an option. Hopefully she can get something worked out before then!

 

[HBDiveGirl]

Robyn and I have over 40 dives planned before her GUE-F course in Sept. She froze this past weekend diving Anacapa and SC, so waiting till after the class just isn't an option. Hopefully she can get something worked out before then!

IMNSHO... 40 dives will be more than adequate to learn the basics of drysuit buoyancy management and successfully dive it during fundies. Whatever buoyancy skill level you will be at when class begins, fundies will offer you:

• a realistic assessment of your current skill set and situational awareness,
• a stack of new skills to learn,
• a vision of the level of situational awareness you will work towards,
• understanding of why the new skills are necessary,
• a systematic approach for precise practice of the skills while diving.

If you put in the work during and, (most importantly,) after the class... you can develop the skills.

~~~~~~
Claudette

 

[akscuba]

As Chris and Kalani said, I have 40-50 dives planned before Fundies, and I am SO cold that I think I want to try to get a suit before then. Also, I'll be diving in Maine this summer, so a dry suit will be necessary if I don't want to be a popsicle.

That said, I would love drysuit DIR advice, especially since I can't afford to buy another, compliant suit in September.

Thanks for the advice! If anyone hears of a solid starter drysuit which I can use for a couple of years before I have enough money to buy a better one (grad student budget, ouch...) let me know!

I'm going to go pm a bunch of people

-Robyn

 

[orangelion03]

Looks like you have plenty of time to get a drysuit and learn to dive with it before fundies! Claudette is right, 40 or so dives should be enough to get it down. You may want to think about taking a drysuit specialty course, though I know plenty (including me) that didnt (I did read a book, "borrowed" the PADI video and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express once, as well as get expert advice and tutoring from felow boarders). I now have 8 dives on mine and still working at it (drama is easy, shallow is HARD), and I make every dive with it a training dive (been leaving the camera at home). Taking a dry break though as I've been nursing my seals (bought the suit used) and have been fortunate not to fail one, so it's packed and ready to ship to Gamble for seal replacement. It's not cold, it's temperate....it's not cold, it's temperate...it's not cold, it's temperate...