Dry Suit

[Jonathan]

"You have to" to "You should" - why? Well that's been thrashed out in those other threads but a good dry suit course will cover the different types and care - many often asked questions on the board as well.

Jonathan

 

[Dectek]

jonnythan once bubbled...
Are there any agencies that teach you to leave buoyancy compensation to the buoyancy compensator when diving in a drysuit?

Padi does now... Or it was just My Padi instructor on Mar27

 

[MikeS]

johnscuba once bubbled...
Is it necessary to take a class on how to use a dry suit when you first buy one?

I recently took a PADI Dry Suit Class that wasn’t worth what I paid and it came free with the suit; this is a reflection on the instructor and not PADI. IMO, whether a formal class or diving with a mentor that can keep an eye on you, training of some type is a good idea. I also recommend pool time before you venture into open water; there’s nothing like being able to stand up if you have a problem.

Mike

 

[TheDarknessLord]

tks for te annotation Jonathan!
I said that because dry suit is not that easy to use, you need to know how to handle it under the water, a little tricky...
And, because you can find a lot of dry suit in the market, they are very differents, and if you take the course first, then you have the capability to find the right dry suit for yourself.

Mikes, sorry about that.... my dry suit course was really good, and was from PADI. Like you said, instructor is the key!

jonnythan, the course is pretty easy. You are going to learn how to handle the dry suit under the water. Buoyancy is one of the most important point, of course! The must difficult part is when your air goes to your feet, but now you can find in the market good dry suit with valves in the feet, like Apolo!

 

[Jonathan]

and well worth the $100 - I learnt a lot. In the pool session I learnt I needed to buy my own suit for a start!!

A couple of months later I went diving with a friend that had just started his DM course. He rented a dry suit from another shop - mine would not let him as he had not done the course - on our first dive as we were coming up the track in Stony I turned round and he was gone - rapid ascent and computer in severe distress!! Me and my other buddy completed 2 more dives without him - we both had less dives than the DM candidate (a lot less) but we had done the course with the same, excellent instructor.....

draw your own conclusions from that one.

Jonathan