Another UK diver - you'll find the drysuit a HUGE improvment, even in the summer months like now.
Pros and cons...
Pros:- Its warmer. MUCH warmer. It'll make the dives and surface intervals much more comfortable.
Cons:- It'll take a little while to get used to driving the thing, the first few times will feel clumsy.
Are you BSAC or PADI ? If its the former, they have a dry suit training scheme (free) that your branch can show you. If its PADI afaik they have a dry suit speciality which is sometimes included in suit price. The 3rd method is what i did and had 2 pool sessions with an experienced club member followed by a few "hand holding" dives buddied with them.
Whatever method you choose, some form of training is highly recommended.
I had the opposite to you, until i went abroad this year id NEVER dived wet. I learnt in the UK in a dry suit and have done all my dives dry. Putting on a 5mm wet suit abroad felt strangely restrictive although MUCH easier to dive in when i got used to it.
Get some pool practice in dealing with inversions, simulate jammed inflator valves, experiment with trim and so on. If needed, practice the tuck rolls without the suit first to get the hang of them. Practice these many times (at least an hour preferably longer) and then ask an experienced diver to buddy you on some simple shallow open water dives initially.
You'll need to do some weight checks as im guessing you're moving from a 7mm+7mm semi dry so your weight requirements will be different.
It maybe wise to re-visit controlled buoyant lifts as both victim and rescuer as the dry suit complicates matters slightly, especially if the "victim" has a cuff dump on their suit. It pays to be familiar with the equipment of the person that may need rescuing.
For example here, a rescuer could have to deal with 4 sources of expanding air, their own dry suit and BC and the victims BC and dry suit.
Try and avoid ankle weights unless you absolutely have to. After a while you'll instictively notice the floaty feet sensation and deal with it before it results in an inversion.
Is your suit neoprene or membrane ? Does it have an auto dump or a cuff dump ?
The BSAC drysuit course notes are online (2 lectures, 1 handout and instructor notes). I found them here:
http://www.diveinstruct.org.uk/downloads3/Drysuit Course.zip
If nothing else, it'll give you an idea of what to expect but DONT just read these and do it yourself...
Regarding buoyancy, BSAC and PADI both teach for a standard single setup using the suit exclusively for buoyancy control and the BC purely as a backup and surface flotation aid. Provided the diver is correctly weighted there is no problem with this method and for a beginning it means less juggling with 2 different expanding air sources in an ascent - KISS etc etc.
You should find with correct weighting, just enough to take the squeeze off should put you about neutral anyway - you should have no air bubbles visible and moving in the suit - if there are, you're over weighted.
The alternative is to use the suit to remove squeeze and the BC for buoyancy control. I suggest you try both several times and decide which you feel happier with and stick to it - there is no right or wrong in this. You'll only get problems if you regulary use both methods and get confused one day.
There was good advice about the neck seal, if it feels too tight and restrictive, it probably IS too tight and needs adjusting. The same goes for wrist seals, ive seen a diver with swollen hands as a result of a wrist seal being too tight - they dont HAVE to be that tight to stop water entry !
Pros and cons...
Pros:- Its warmer. MUCH warmer. It'll make the dives and surface intervals much more comfortable.
Cons:- It'll take a little while to get used to driving the thing, the first few times will feel clumsy.
Are you BSAC or PADI ? If its the former, they have a dry suit training scheme (free) that your branch can show you. If its PADI afaik they have a dry suit speciality which is sometimes included in suit price. The 3rd method is what i did and had 2 pool sessions with an experienced club member followed by a few "hand holding" dives buddied with them.
Whatever method you choose, some form of training is highly recommended.
I had the opposite to you, until i went abroad this year id NEVER dived wet. I learnt in the UK in a dry suit and have done all my dives dry. Putting on a 5mm wet suit abroad felt strangely restrictive although MUCH easier to dive in when i got used to it.
Get some pool practice in dealing with inversions, simulate jammed inflator valves, experiment with trim and so on. If needed, practice the tuck rolls without the suit first to get the hang of them. Practice these many times (at least an hour preferably longer) and then ask an experienced diver to buddy you on some simple shallow open water dives initially.
You'll need to do some weight checks as im guessing you're moving from a 7mm+7mm semi dry so your weight requirements will be different.
It maybe wise to re-visit controlled buoyant lifts as both victim and rescuer as the dry suit complicates matters slightly, especially if the "victim" has a cuff dump on their suit. It pays to be familiar with the equipment of the person that may need rescuing.
For example here, a rescuer could have to deal with 4 sources of expanding air, their own dry suit and BC and the victims BC and dry suit.
Try and avoid ankle weights unless you absolutely have to. After a while you'll instictively notice the floaty feet sensation and deal with it before it results in an inversion.
Is your suit neoprene or membrane ? Does it have an auto dump or a cuff dump ?
The BSAC drysuit course notes are online (2 lectures, 1 handout and instructor notes). I found them here:
http://www.diveinstruct.org.uk/downloads3/Drysuit Course.zip
If nothing else, it'll give you an idea of what to expect but DONT just read these and do it yourself...
Regarding buoyancy, BSAC and PADI both teach for a standard single setup using the suit exclusively for buoyancy control and the BC purely as a backup and surface flotation aid. Provided the diver is correctly weighted there is no problem with this method and for a beginning it means less juggling with 2 different expanding air sources in an ascent - KISS etc etc.
You should find with correct weighting, just enough to take the squeeze off should put you about neutral anyway - you should have no air bubbles visible and moving in the suit - if there are, you're over weighted.
The alternative is to use the suit to remove squeeze and the BC for buoyancy control. I suggest you try both several times and decide which you feel happier with and stick to it - there is no right or wrong in this. You'll only get problems if you regulary use both methods and get confused one day.
There was good advice about the neck seal, if it feels too tight and restrictive, it probably IS too tight and needs adjusting. The same goes for wrist seals, ive seen a diver with swollen hands as a result of a wrist seal being too tight - they dont HAVE to be that tight to stop water entry !
