Dry Suit?

[haumana ronin]

Is there anyplace in Hawaii that can teach me how to use a dry suit? I know it will probably be hot and uncomfortable, but I would rather get exposed to it someplace close to home rather than using up a day flipping over and bobbing up and down on a mainland trip. Nevermind why I would want to dive in water colder than 75.

Or is it just that easy?

:zen:

 

[Black_3000psi]

check with the guy that sales boat seats out of hawaii kai. on that force boat. think his name is john.he does rebreathers, tech and most likely dry suit.

 

[muddiver]

DUI makes dry suits for warm water diving. It's all about the insullation if you have a shell type suit. So you just thin down what's underneath for teh water temperature. You can still get cold in the (realitively warm) Hawiian water.

 

[TSandM]

Where in the islands are you? I'm quite sure somebody at Hawaii Technical Divers could check you out in a dry suit; also, kidspot is an instructor who has dived drysuits, and could help you with it. Both are Oahu-based.

 

[Red Foreman]

Ocean Concepts trains dry suits. They won't rent you one though, you gotta buy it.

 

[oddible]

You have some extra conditions in a dry suit which will take some futzing around. The biggie is venting through the one shoulder vent, more problematic on a multi level dive where you're coming up along the bottom due to the invariable noobie syndrome of air in your ankles. I say invariable because trying to do a regular frog kick maneuver with a flat profile will send your drysuit air straight up your legs. Just means tucking so it goes back up to your shoulder but can be a source of some bobbing, twitching, and consuming additional air from thrashing around (or even an uncontrolled ascent if the vent is in an awkward position or not open all the way). Some dry divers use ankle weights to help.

 

[TSandM]

I say invariable because trying to do a regular frog kick maneuver with a flat profile will send your drysuit air straight up your legs.

This is not necessarily true. I dive (as much as I can manage) in horizontal trim, knees bent, and I do not have a problem with all the drysuit air going up my legs. It is true that you have to learn to manage the air bubble in a dry suit -- how much to put in, how to get it out, and how to move it around to give you the best comfort and balance. But it is all learnable. (We just trained a whole OW class in dry suits!)

 

[Ramsy]

Contact Joakim (Jo) Hjelm at Oahuscubadiving.com. I don't know Jo personally, but, I just dove with a friend of his from Hawaii this past weekend. He told me that they dive DUI TLS350's all the time in Hawaii. So, this might be a good place to start.

 

[gkndivebum]

FWIW I am a dry suit instructor based on the Big Island, and I dive dry year-round here.

The biggest problem with doing dry suit training here in Hawaii is the lack of a suitable stock of rental dry suits. There is a DUI "dealer" here on the Big Island (and I use that term very loosely) who had (has?) a couple of 30/30s from DUI's Training Program available, but unless you already own a suit your options are pretty limited.

 

[oddible]

This is not necessarily true. I dive (as much as I can manage) in horizontal trim, knees bent, and I do not have a problem with all the drysuit air going up my legs. It is true that you have to learn to manage the air bubble in a dry suit -- how much to put in, how to get it out, and how to move it around to give you the best comfort and balance. But it is all learnable. (We just trained a whole OW class in dry suits!)

Hehe, I of course wasn't talking about an experienced dry suit diver, I was replying to a diver who hasn't dived dry. For a new dry suit diver I suspect this is one of the biggest differences they'll run into - I say invariable because (as you stated more eloquently than I), controlling where you bubble is does take some practice and just doing a flat profile you WILL find it in your feet until you get familiar with how to not have it be there. Either way, it is one of the skill checks that you do for dry suit training anyway - both getting righted after you get your bubble in your feet and maneuvering so that it stays where you want it.