Drysuit certification really needed?

[Scuba Lawyer]

And my trilam is a lot easier to don and doff than any wetsuit I've rented on vacation.

Agree completely with that. My custom made 5mm JMJ farmer john with hooded jacket goes on and off with super ease. Just step into it and out of it, even when wet. Literally takes me a minute to get it on and another minute to get it off. Love my drysuit under certain conditions, love my wetsuit under other conditions. M

 

[LakeCountyDiver]

I have two drysuit certs. The first was a tag-a-long with the kid. Ho-Hum, how to get overheated in a pool...

The second was a required part of a sidemount class with Sorenson. OMG! Do WHAT??? Really, is that recovery possible?? (yeah, it is.)

Choose your instructor to fit your intended use. No, life isn't so magical that the guy in the shop down the street just happens to be the best on earth. YOU have to do your homework if you want something more than a plastic card.

Sorenson "required" you to take a drysuit class to teach you his sidemount class?

Scuba industry is turning everything into a damn cert now a days.

 

[lowviz]

Sorenson "required" you to take a drysuit class to teach you his sidemount class?

No, he did not REQUIRE it. He strongly suggested it.

I had much previous experience with drysuits on wrecks in the NE USA. He knew immediately what that meant. So coming from Delaware, room, board, travel... The dollar cost of his DS course was insignificant by comparison, false economy. Go full Monte or stay home. What I learned remains valuable to me to this day. In closing, Sorenson and 'scuba industry' are an oxymoron.

Next time I will speak/post with greater precision.

 

[Doby45]

How can you dive in drysuit conditions without gloves?

Not only temperature dictates the need of a drysuit but also exposure time. I dive almost every single dive in a drysuit and I do not use gloves. Hands are fine in 72* water but after 1.5hr-2hr the body is not.

 

[Luciana De Oliveira]

how experienced do you need to be to use a drysuit. I dive in Washington and I've done 4 dives with instructor then 4 after completing my course. I've been renting a 9 mm suit from my shop but would like to buy a dry suit.

 

[Storker]

how experienced do you need to be to use a drysuit.

In some parts of the world (like mine), people certify OW in a drysuit. So by that, not at all.

On the other hand, there are a few more issues with diving dry than diving wet. And those issues are more pronounced if you're using a shell suit with thick undergarments than if you're using a (compressed) neoprene suit with thin underwear.

When OW is taught in a drysuit, they also teach you the basic tricks you need to know to handle one. When OW is taught in a wetsuit, you don't get that info. So if you took your OW wet, either a drysuit primer or a couple of dives with a good mentor is strongly recommended.

Bottom line, if you want to dive dry, learn those tricks somehow. Then go dive and enjoy being warm and dry during your SI while those who dive wet are shivering and struggling to get warm and dry up before donning their wet, cold wetsuit again for the second dive of the day.

 

[CT-Rich]

how experienced do you need to be to use a drysuit. I dive in Washington and I've done 4 dives with instructor then 4 after completing my course. I've been renting a 9 mm suit from my shop but would like to buy a dry suit.

Pay for the class. Someone with a lot of dive experience might get by without it, you should not. You have a lot to learn over all and the drysuit will be just more. You will like the Drysuit if you learn to use it properly from the start.

 

[Storker]

Someone with a lot of dive experience might get by without it,

Or they might not. It depends very much on the diver, and a large number of dives under your weight belt might very well install an unwarranted sense of self-confidence. People have gone and gotten themself killed from that.

If you're in unknown waters, you (generic "you") might well not know what you don't know. Even if you have more than a thousand dives under your weight belt.

 

[Edward3c]

how experienced do you need to be to use a drysuit. I dive in Washington and I've done 4 dives with instructor then 4 after completing my course. I've been renting a 9 mm suit from my shop but would like to buy a dry suit.

Our students learn wearing drysuits from the start, they’re not rocket science.

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

When I bought my orange Poseidon UniSuit in 1976 (for an Antartica trip that failed to materialize) it came with an instruction manual on how to dive with it. That's all I used, but different times now. I wish I had the benefit of some hands on instruction back then. Probably would have kept my fins from blowing off every time I looked under a rock.