Drysuit and squeeze question

[MrVegas]

Post number 2.

You're effectively vacuum packed by your drysuit and cannot move.

I understand -- and I certainly understand drysuit squeeze can cause movement restriction, discomfort, bruising, etc. I'm not trying to be a pain, so let me try to rephrase my question (and I'd prefer not to experiment on myself).

If I jump in the water in my trilaminate drysuit and never touch the suit inflator button, at what depth will the drysuit squeeze actually prevent me from drawing a breath? Is that an answerable question?

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

I understand -- and I certainly understand drysuit squeeze can cause movement restriction, discomfort, bruising, etc. I'm not trying to be a pain, so let me try to rephrase my question (and I'd prefer not to experiment on myself).

If I jump in the water in my trilaminate drysuit and never touch the suit inflator button, at what depth will the drysuit squeeze actually prevent me from drawing a breath? Is that an answerable question?

I'd say that the answer depends on how much air space is between the suit and the diver. If there is a lot of space, lofty undergarments, etc.... then the squeeze would be intensified. If the drysuit was basically a "2nd skin" with no air space then there would be no squeeze.......and then everything in between...

 

[davehicks]

I'd say that the answer depends on how much air space is between the suit and the diver. If there is a lot of space, lofty undergarments, etc.... then the squeeze would be intensified. If the drysuit was basically a "2nd skin" with no air space then there would be no squeeze.......and then everything in between...

Not possible in this universe. There is no garment that can be a 2nd skin.

 

[crofrog]

Not possible in this universe. There is no garment that can be a 2nd skin.

Have you seen yoga pants?

 

[davehicks]

Have you seen yoga pants?

Not water tight.

This is officially the dumbest thread on SB.

 

[Wibble]

If I jump in the water in my trilaminate drysuit and never touch the suit inflator button, at what depth will the drysuit squeeze actually prevent me from drawing a breath? Is that an answerable question?

Breathing will get tighter as it’ll fight against your chest expanding, but shouldn’t stop you from breathing.

It will prevent you from moving your limbs, especially changing the position of your arms as you scrabble to find the drysuit hose you forgot to connect prior to jumping in.

It’ll get tighter by 10m/30ft. This just gets worse as you descend and could ultimately prevent you from getting to your inflator(s) if your arms are in the wrong position.


My learning experience was being distracted whilst kitting up and omitting to connect the suit inflate. It was a 40ish metre/130ish ft dive and I had a brain fart and opted to sort the drysuit inflate on the wreck.

The drysuit hose was tucked behind my back. Tucked being Cockney rhyming slang that succinctly describes my pre dive check (had covid two weeks before). The drysuit squeeze made moving my left arm from forwards to behind my back nigh-on impossible. Thankfully I could reach the BCD hose on the bailout cylinder, connect this to the drysuit and… instant squeeze release. Then reach behind for the drysuit connector.

It was more of an inconvenience than danger as I could have aborted at any time and ascend to sort the drysuit out. Yes, an idiotic decision to descend to the wreck — main lesson learned. OK, and I now always do the climb into kit check 3 times.

My left shoulder did look like a Stilton cheese! Also suspect my post covid brain was more like a Gouda cheese, full of holes.


And the postscript…. At decompression my sinuses and nose blocked up making exhaling through my nose impossible. I did eventually clear it but had a load of blood and snot to clean up on the boat. Another lesson learned, don’t dive if you’ve a cold/bat flu.

 

[crofrog]

Not water tight.

This is officially the dumbest thread on SB.

You didn’t specify that…

 

[MrVegas]

Breathing will get tighter as it’ll fight against your chest expanding, but shouldn’t stop you from breathing . . .

Thank you for the thoughtful and detailed reponse. I was just thinking that if one could postulate a certain size diver and drysuit, the amount of air in the suit, and maybe what type of undergarments are worn, there might be a way where someone could actually come up with an estimate of the depth at which drysuit squeeze would make it impossible to breathe, or determine if that would happen at all. (Other bad things would happen too, of course.) I don't think I have the math or science chops to do that, but I can't find anyone else who has actually ever tried to come up with a number.

 

[Wibble]

The main issue is as you descend, the drysuit shrink wraps you. As you're breathing on the descent, your chest will expand and shrink, probably keeping sufficient extra girth(?) for you to breathe.

In any case, all you need to do is ascend and connect the hose. At a push you could disconnect your BCD/wing hose and use that to inflate the drysuit enough to relieve the squeeze, then transfer it back to the BCD.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

I'd say that the answer depends on how much air space is between the suit and the diver. If there is a lot of space, lofty undergarments, etc.... then the squeeze would be intensified. If the drysuit was basically a "2nd skin" with no air space then there would be no squeeze.......and then everything in between...

Not possible in this universe. There is no garment that can be a 2nd skin.

It was a hypothetical to illustrate an opinion that the more "air" space between the diver and the suit, the more the affect of the squeeze would be intensified. If a diver had closed cell neoprene drysuit custom made to fit tight.....(like a rash-guard fits) then there would be far less potential for squeeze than a looser fitting shell suit with a lofty undergarment.