Drysuit Certification Necessary?

[eclipse785]

Hi guys,
I just purchased a slightly used drysuit from a member on here and it looks to be perfect for me. This weekend I went to several LDS's to check out Drysuit certification courses and the prices varied widely (anywhere from $250 to $140). One shop owner even tried to talk me out of getting a certification and just pay an instructor that he'd hook me up with $80 to take me out on a two-tank "educational" dive. He contends that the books don't teach you anything that you won't learn diving with a credible instructor, and that it's stupid to pay up to $80 more just for a card that you will never use. My only concern about this is that what if I go somewhere on vacation and decide to rent a drysuit for a dive. He assured me that if I had even the slightest plans to dive, that I should just take my suit since I would be familiar with it and that rental suits have their own character and usually are quite abused.

I really trust this guy, but I wanted to get others opinions. Do you think a 'drysuit certification' is necessary? :huh:

 

[*Floater*]

I was in the same boat as you a while back and came to the conclusion that it's not necessary and just went diving in my drysuit without the cert. After a few dives in it I had become very comfortable using it.

I think there are a lot of experienced dry suit divers who started using them even before there was a course for it, and I doubt those guys have trouble renting or using them on vacation. Most resorts would probably either not care about the cert, or let you rent/use the drysuit anyway as long as you tell them, or can show them (log book), that you have experience diving dry.

Good luck.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I don't have a dry suit yet, but from what I've read and heard he's giving you the straight scoop. The course is probably over priced and certainly isn't required. Go out for 2-3 dives with either an experienced buddy (be sure and buy him dinner after!) or 1:1 with an instructor for quite a bit less than the course. You'll probably learn MORE. That's the route I intend to go when I finally have the extra bucks to purchase one.

 

[Tom725]

While I hate to talk you out of a course the answer is really depends on your experience. If you have hundreds of dives and feel comfortable you can get yourself out of trouble then you can take the short course or try it yourself. The drysuit adds sevral degrees of difficulty including possibility of being csught feet up by the air in your suit to rapid accent because you did deflate as you rose.

I know a number of people who made the transition to drysuit with out a class but they were all very good divers before they did it.

 

[J75]

While instruction is a must, certification isn't. There seems to be a "collect them all" c-card mentality among a lot of people in the dive community these days, and as a result, many shops are making money off of it. If you can get instruction for $80, why pay more for a piece of plastic that no one will care about.

 

[TSandM]

I think Tom said it with respect to the class. It was good for me to play with the dry suit for the first time in a pool, but I was a brand new diver at the time. You can get into a lot of trouble in a dry suit if you make mistakes!

Just a comment about taking your own dry suit places . . . As a result of a number of leak issues, I have used both rental and borrowed dry suits in addition to my own. They can be very different in their dumping characteristics depending on where the valve is located and how it has been maintained. There are few situations where I've felt more helpless than being caught in the middle of an ascent with a dry suit that won't vent. If I were going to travel somewhere where I expected to do dry suit diving (as I hope to in Southern California some time soon), I will bring my own.

 

[scubapolly]

The c-card isn't necessary, unless you are going to do something where such a card might be required (for example I volunteer at our local Aq- to dive in one of the tanks you need a drysuit, and in order to do that AZA requires you have the cert, doesn't matter that I have more dives in a drysuit than in a wetsuit... no cert, no dive- but this is a pretty specific example of when you would need one- but might want to check with Monteray Aq if you ever had plans to dive there).

The Drysuit book written by Dick Long is pretty good- don't remember the name of it. I would recomend using your drysuit in a pool, before you head to the open ocean with it (especially around Monteray). Most dive shops offer refresher pool time, fairly cheap. But you might check to see what the cert classes include, and it might not be such a "rip off". Pool time, a good DS book, and a boat dive, plus the cert.... might be worth while.

 

[fdog]

Hi guys,
I just purchased a slightly used drysuit from a member on here and it looks to be perfect for me.

The best way to start! Even better that it fits great.

This weekend I went to several LDS's to check out Drysuit certification courses and the prices varied widely (anywhere from $250 to $140).

I'm not surprised that they would try to push you into yet another high-priced class of marginal real-world utility. That's how they make a profit.

One shop owner even tried to talk me out of getting a certification and just pay an instructor that he'd hook me up with $80 to take me out on a two-tank "educational" dive. He contends that the books don't teach you anything that you won't learn diving with a credible instructor, and that it's stupid to pay up to $80 more just for a card that you will never use.

OMG. A LDS that puts the customer first?!? Hang on to this shop!
He is right, BTW - you don't need a card to dive a dry suit; I'd say that (as a SWAG) about 85% of the divers with dry suits have no card for them.

My only concern about this is that what if I go somewhere on vacation and decide to rent a drysuit for a dive. He assured me that if I had even the slightest plans to dive, that I should just take my suit since I would be familiar with it and that rental suits have their own character and usually are quite abused.

A well rolled up dry suit takes less space than a wet suit, and if you want to rent one anyway, a good shop operator can usually size you up in a glance to know that you really do dive dry. That glance usually including your regulator....the tell tale extra inflator hose.
And yes, rentals, not just limited to dry suits, are pretty abused.
Just go diving with some friends that are very experienced dry suit divers. You'll learn more in one day than you'd learn in a class.

All the best, James

 

[BSea]

I took a course for $130. It included the drysuit rental (which was almost new, and well taken care of). I took the course mainly to get my AOW, and it sounded like fun. I agree that you probably don't need the course if you are an experienced diver. But the price didn't seem out of line, and I was going to have to take some specialty courses anyway, so that was my reason to take the course.

Could you get by with $80 and a couple of dives with an instructor. Absolutely! Sounds like you are getting good advise from your LDS.

 

[shark.byte.usa]

...Sounds like you are getting good advise from your LDS.

I agree, props to them for not trying to sell you another card. 1:1 with an experienced instructor would be the way I'd want it; I'd probably read through the course material anyway, so I could ask questions, etc.