Drysuit class

[Diver0001]

So, after reading the various threads regarding the merits of taking a drysuit class, I signed up for mine (PADI) at the LDS. During the signup ....snip....

That sounds like a very poor pool session. I'd say you got swindled.

At the shop where I assist it goes like this:

Students watch the video on their own time. They can buy it if they want or watch it at the shop.

On the evening of the pool session the student(s) come at 7pm for a 2 hour theory session. This involves, materials and insulation, buoyancy and weight, trim and body position, d.s. features, mobility, effect on other bits of gear (fins, BCD, weights etc), finning technique, care and maintenance, risks (uncontrolled ascents, tight seals etc) and risk mitigation etc and a tour through the shop to get familiar with what the shop has to offer and the prices.

Then we go to the rental area to pick out a suit. This takes about 30 min and we explain donning and doffing at that point. Some instructors allow students to go with a minimal jumpsuit on and some make them wear the same gear they'll have on the OW dives.

Then we head to the pool. At the pool the usual set of skills involves donning, buddy check (important, many people forget the d.s. hose). deep water entry, buoyancy check, descents/ascents, fin pivot or hovering, swimming, including the introduction to frog kicking for students who don't already know it, several inflator excercises involving uncoupling freeflows and reattaching under water. Then we do hovering, somersaults, barrel rolls, hand stands on the bottom and all kinds of weird stuff you hope never happens. The thinking is that it's better to have this experience in the pool and it's good for confidence when the student realizes tht he/she can get out of anything you throw at them. For students who look good towards the end of the session we'll also throw a surprise at them by swimming along side and pressing the inflator button and holding it in and pushing their feet up. They're expected to unclip the hose, somersault out of it and regain neutral buoyancy without touching the bottom or the surface in 3 meters of water. At the end of the dive we do kit removal and donning on the surface.

Needless to say this is quite a lot to throw at students in the 75min we have in the water so we limit class size to two students.

If the student is doing the specialty then they will also go on the weekend and make two dives in which they'll more or less go diving with a few excercises thrown in and practice with frog kicking. If the student is just doing the orientation then they don't get a specialty card but the theory and pool session is the same. Many experienced divers just do the orientation and not the whole specialty (40 euros instead of 125).

We also have a variation on this that we do to prepare OW students for doing their checkout dives in a drysuit. In that case the focus is heavy on buoyancy control.

So....to my way of thinking, any drysuit specialty that doesn't look somewhat like what I just described is shooting short of the mark.

R..

 

[Diver0001]

There are very specific standards for any PADI class.

Here is the list of the required excercises for the confined water dive:

1. Put on and remove a dry suit with the aid of another diver if necessary for
that model dry suit.

2. Demonstrate how to conduct a buoyancy check at the surface while
wearing a dry suit with undergarments (when needed) and full scuba
equipment.
3. Demonstrate neutral buoyancy by pivoting on the fin tips, or when
appropriate, another point of contact for one minute.

4. Demonstrate neutral buoyancy by hovering (without kicking or sculling)
near the bottom for one minute.

5. Disconnect and reconnect the low-pressure hose from the dry suit inflator
valve while underwater.

6. Demonstrate the ability to maintain neutral buoyancy, near the bottom,
while both the inflator and deflator mechanisms of the dry suit are
depressed (opened).

7. Perform a neutrally buoyant ascent from the bottom, at a rate no faster
then 18 metres/60 feet per minute.

8. Demonstrate one technique for recovering from excess gas in the feet.

9. Remove and replace both the scuba unit and weight system while on the
surface.

R..

 

[JustinW]

What you described was not a class at all. If this was indeed the complete course, I would contact the instructor first to ask when you will be completing the rest of the drysuit only portion of the course - not in combination with anything else. Ask him when he plans to cover drysuit donning tips, venting air before you suit up, runaway ascent drills, connecting/disconnecting the inflator hose, etc., etc. If he immediately replies to say "this will be part of the course at the quarry in shallow water" or such then wait it out. If not - I would contact the shop and contact PADI.

--Matt

Agreed, PADI takes very seriously reports of instructors violating standards and procedures. Even a complaint that doesn't violate standards or procedures (someone just whining for example) gets a letter sent to the instructor and documentation put in the personal file of each instructor or divemaster, write one for both if you need to. But give them the chance first, this action is not reversible.

 

[mossym]

thanks for the info Diver0001, i'm taking my drysuit class in 2 weeks, finally switched from a wetsuit. interesting to see what i will be doing

 

[ScubaSarus]

You deserve the best training and may be in your rights to ask for another pool session to practice all the drills listed above.

 

[Diver0001]

You deserve the best training and may be in your rights to ask for another pool session to practice all the drills listed above.

If the course was really a drysuit "specialty" that results in a specialty card or the adventure dive from the AOW then the instructor is required to teach the skills in the list. If it's just an orientation that doesn't result in a card and doesn't count toward the AOW card then you're in a grey area.

If it *is* a specialty (with card) then I think it would give off a more appropriate signal to ask for a refund based on the list of required skills that you don't believe you were shown. A QA report to PADI would also be appropriate in this situation.

R..

 

[hardhat]

So, after reading the various threads regarding the merits of taking a drysuit class, I signed up for mine (PADI) at the LDS. During the signup process, I was told that I had to purchase the video ($42) and the book ($42). I watched the video 2x , read the book and did the knowledge review. Next step . . . to the LDS for the "pool session". At the commencement of the pool session, we were told to get into our drysuits. Out of the 4 people in the class, only 1 person (me) had any experience even getting into a drysuit. The instructor and his DM wife, offered no help or suggestions regarding donning the suit. After everyone had their suit on, it was in the pool for all. (Hey, what about some instruction on venting air from the suit before getting into the water???? No such instruction and almost everyone looked like the michelin man floating around.) Once in the pool, we were told to swim around a little. This was very hard because the pool is very small and the "well" portion of the pool (where it was 12' deep) is only about 4' x 6'. Can you imagine 4 new drysuit divers trying to squeeze into this area? What a joke! Next, we were told to remove our rigs at the surface and put them back on again. CLASS OVER! "See everyone at the quarry in 2 weeks", say's the instructor. Huh???????? This class is for the Drysuit cert and I thought there would be more instruction than that. It ought to be REAL interesting at the quarry. I was charged a $95 upcharge for this class because I was taking it in conjunction with my AOW. If I was paying the full $170, I would've been really steaming. If it wasn't for the fact that I've practiced by myself in the pool at my gym a few times before the class session and have done a couple of dry dives already (with my brother in law, who dives dry), I'd be a little nervous. I'm hoping that my fellow drysuit classmates have no problems with air in the feet, because there was no class instruction on how to deal with that. It ought to be a real interesting quarry day!!
My advice to anyone else looking to dive dry and deciding on the pro's and con's of taking a class . . . find a mentor and go dive.

When I started diving (along time ago), I did my O/W then got into a drysuit, and started to dive with a little bit of instruction from the guys that I worked with. The rest was history. I learnt a lot on my own ( something that I wouldn't recomend to any-one), to say the least it was a learning curve and there were a lot of laughs to be had by my buddies. The only thing that I've run into sence was on a trip down to Washington one day, we had stopped into a shop, they rented drysuits (DUI) so I wanted to rent one for the day, because I'd never dove a CF200 which at the time I was thinking of buying. They said no problem, then they needed to see a cert card,for dry suit diving, which I have never had. You see in the U.S.A., shops are very awear of liabilities and the fact that they could be sued by some-one renting gear from them without the proper certification even though they may have been diving dry for ever. So the moral of the story boys and girls, get that little piece of plastic, cause it saves a bunch of headaches down the road.

 

[scubamate]

When I started diving (along time ago), I did my O/W then got into a drysuit, and started to dive with a little bit of instruction from the guys that I worked with. The rest was history. I learnt a lot on my own ( something that I wouldn't recomend to any-one), to say the least it was a learning curve and there were a lot of laughs to be had by my buddies. The only thing that I've run into sence was on a trip down to Washington one day, we had stopped into a shop, they rented drysuits (DUI) so I wanted to rent one for the day, because I'd never dove a CF200 which at the time I was thinking of buying. They said no problem, then they needed to see a cert card,for dry suit diving, which I have never had. You see in the U.S.A., shops are very awear of liabilities and the fact that they could be sued by some-one renting gear from them without the proper certification even though they may have been diving dry for ever. So the moral of the story boys and girls, get that little piece of plastic, cause it saves a bunch of headaches down the road.

You do not need a drysuit certification to buy a dry suit! Is it recommended? Absolutley! I said earlier, the LDS I instruct for throws in the dry suit specialty when you buy your suit from them. If an LDS will not sell you a dry suit go somewhere else as it seems they have enough business already and don't need yours.

 

[francousteau]

If the course was really a drysuit "specialty" that results in a specialty card . . . .
A QA report to PADI would also be appropriate in this situation.
R..

Yep, this course is for the "drysuit specialty" and results in a C card. My original post is exactly the training we received with no exageration. I didn't think this type of training was that unusual and only reported it to say that I should've saved my money and continued to learn on my own with my brother in law. I'll wait and see what happens at the quarry on Saturday, because I could be totally wrong (although I believe not). I'm not thinking of reporting them to PADI or asking for a refund. Rather, as I've already started to do, use a different dive shop and different organization (like my Nitrox is with TDI). Like I said earlier, I have a couple of drysuit dives in, but am hoping that the other 6 people who took this class with no dives at all will be ok. For them, I'm hoping that the 1st dive will be a surface swim out to the platforms and then a 20' - 25' descent.

 

[Goose75]

I took my drysuit specialty in combination with my AOW as well. My instructor was short handed and had a big class doing different things. Even so, I had skill instruction and a check in the pool. If you can get a portion of your money back and finish elsewhere, I would do it. If not, ask a better instructor for an orientation dive to help find what you are weak in. At least you have a brother to watch and help. I feel sorry for the rest. They may not even know what they are missing.