Dry Suit - Learning to dive dry

[peter_dorset]

Has anyone had any experience of the DVD Dry Suit Diving in Depth by Hammerhead?

http://www.hammerheadpress.com/pages/drysuitDVD.html

It looks like it should cover all the basics that a PADI Specialty would give us and we would practice with the suits in confined diving conditions one of us in a SEMI dry (Safety backup) whilst the other is doing the skills and only progress when our buoyancy is under control etc.

My wife and I are both Advanced Open Water with 50 logged dives and are considering learning the techniques for Dry Suit diving from this DVD rather than doing yet another PADI course.

Is this a foolish approach to learning or do you think we should be able to master the techniques from the DVD?

I would appreciate any comments on the DVD and would welcome comments from anyone with Drysuit experience.

 

[DutchDown]

Hi Peter, I can't comment on the dvd, or the PADI Dry Suit Specialty. I did it the hard way. Bought a suit then went diving with an experienced buddy. We remained in shallow water and over a series of 4 or 5 dives, I gradually became comfortable. I found it a steep learning curve. Perhaps the course would've been a good idea. But I would strongly suggest that you have someone with drysuit experience in the water with you when you start. You'll need to experiment using your suit for bouyancy, then using your bc for bouyancy to discover which method works best for you. Do this before you consider going deeper. It's a new piece of equipment and as with any other new item, you'll need to learn to operate it and be comfortable with it.

All the best!

Phil

 

[pilot fish]

Has anyone had any experience of the DVD Dry Suit Diving in Depth by Hammerhead?

http://www.hammerheadpress.com/pages/drysuitDVD.html

It looks like it should cover all the basics that a PADI Specialty would give us and we would practice with the suits in confined diving conditions one of us in a SEMI dry (Safety backup) whilst the other is doing the skills and only progress when our buoyancy is under control etc.

My wife and I are both Advanced Open Water with 50 logged dives and are considering learning the techniques for Dry Suit diving from this DVD rather than doing yet another PADI course.

Is this a foolish approach to learning or do you think we should be able to master the techniques from the DVD?

I would appreciate any comments on the DVD and would welcome comments from anyone with Drysuit experience.

Not sure, since I've never dove with a drysuit, but from what I'm told it is a totally different set of buoyancy rules. I would not try it without proper training. I have an interest in trying a drysuit dive [who wants to dive in a two piece 7 mil?] but I will not do it till I take a course in it. You don't want to hit the wrong thing and pop to the surface like a missle. Wait to hear from some drysuit divers here before you think about trying it alone.

 

[Jafo123]

Peter; Take the course, don't deny yourself anything that might have to do with your safety. I have had my drisuite in the pool allready but had an instructor in the pool also. He was doing my son's open water training. I will be taking the class sometime in the next couple of weeks. I didn't have the CD to watch but did have a book that I read from siging up for the class.

Happy Diving
jafo

 

[NauticalbutNice]

As a drysuit diver I would recommend the training. Diving with a drysuit is a whole different ballgame from diving with a BC, and there's little hints and tips an instructor could give you that you might not get from a DVD.

There's also the fact that it's probably safest to try it out in a pool first. Any mistakes you make in a pool aren't that bad.

Good luck and have fun

Nauticalbutnice :fruit:

 

[Desa]

The video is well done. I watched it last year when my son was taking his drysuit class. It is not however, a substitute for proper training. Its kinda like having a video that says to learn to drive, start the car, put it in gear, and step on the gas pedal, when you get done step on the brake pedal. While those are the key elements, we all know there are a lot of other important issues to learning to drive.

I would recomend that you watch the video to get an overall idea of what diving with a dry suit is all about, but it is not enough to teach you to all yo need to know to dive dry safely.

 

[daval]

The video is well done. I watched it last year when my son was taking his drysuit class. It is not however, a substitute for proper training. Its kinda like having a video that says to learn to drive, start the car, put it in gear, and step on the gas pedal, when you get done step on the brake pedal. While those are the key elements, we all know there are a lot of other important issues to learning to drive.

I would recomend that you watch the video to get an overall idea of what diving with a dry suit is all about, but it is not enough to teach you to all yo need to know to dive dry safely.

Great Analogy, I like that.

 

[Squalus]

Ok, now as not too make anyone on here upset.
Repeat after me..... "I will take a dry suit class from an instructor or certified agency".
To just go out and a DVD and read a book and think you understand the concept of dry suit diving is pure suicidal. I am glad that you have an interest in using a dry suit. It is better to pick the brain of an instructor who is a certified instructor and is able to show you what to do, pass her/his vast wealth of knowledge to you and your wife. Than end up shooting like a rocket to the surface and getting bent(worse case scenario). BTW, what do you do if your inflator button is stuck open and your exhaust valve won't dump the excess air in your dry suit? As for the bouyancy remark, the BC is used for bouyancy, dry suits are for exposure protection. My .02

Do us all a favor take the class with an instructor, you will be glad you did.

 

[TekDiveGirl]

Ok, now as not too make anyone on here upset.
Repeat after me..... "I will take a dry suit class from an instructor or certified agency".
To just go out and a DVD and read a book and think you understand the concept of dry suit diving is pure suicidal. I am glad that you have an interest in using a dry suit. It is better to pick the brain of an instructor who is a certified instructor and is able to show you what to do, pass her/his vast wealth of knowledge to you and your wife. Than end up shooting like a rocket to the surface and getting bent(worse case scenario). BTW, what do you do if your inflator button is stuck open and your exhaust valve won't dump the excess air in your dry suit? As for the bouyancy remark, the BC is used for bouyancy, dry suits are for exposure protection. My .02

Do us all a favor take the class with an instructor, you will be glad you did.

Ok - now we are getting a little overboard here.

I agree just watching a DVD and going for it is not a really good idea. But if you can watch your DVD then find an experienced buddy who dives a drysuit and pick his brain. After that go out with experienced drysuit buddy - not inexperienced drysuit wife - and do some easy peasie dives in it to get it down. I see no issues with that.

Unless of course you have money burning a hole in your pocket or want to collect cards... then by all means go take another course.

 

[diverbrian]

...that often gets to dive with people new to drysuits that didn't listen to an instructor, I have to advise for the class as well. The difference in my response is that a drysuit class will try to teach you to control your buoyancy with the drysuit (depending on the instructor). I recommend against this.

I was fortunate enough to have two different instructors that taught two different ways of controlling buoyancy. One is a photographer and uses the drysuit as all he has to do to vent is to shrug his shoulder. The other feels that a BC costs good money... use it!

I follow the second school. The BC works far better for buoyancy control. Drysuit air is for comort (warmth or suit squeeze). Remembering this minimizes your incidents of air bubbles traveling in the drysuit and causing issues with your ascent.

A class will give you the chance to pick the brain of an instructor and let the instructor work you through a couple of bad scenarios in drysuit diving (ie. plugged vent due to improper insulation... let's just say that the solution to this one gets cold as I have actually witnessed this in real life) and give you practice righting yourself on a feet-first ascent.

More training and information never hurt anyone. Enjoy your drysuit!