Drysuit diving - continual issues with air in legs/feet.

[lexvil]

Suit fit is #1 as mentioned.

#2 weight and distribution, are you moving from a b/c to the back plate? Is a a steel plate?

#3 fins being used?

 

[Searcaigh]

Regarding gaiters, does it need to be a special item, or would something like an elastic knee band (like the type runners might use at the gym) do enough to minimize airflow into the feet?

Something like this

SubGravity Drysuit Gaiters Calf Wraps

Click here and buy SubGravity Gaiters Calf Wraps

divecenter.com

 

[rhwestfall]

There are many who say no to them (surprised it hasn't happened yet here), but gaiters as mentioned upthread are a nice option for addressing a suit not fitting right in the legs. I use them and feel "on the edge" when I don't.

Also, weighting and weight placement are paramount with dry suit use. Even more so than diving wet.

 

[berndo]

It's a very common issue you have.
Make sure you don't have too much air in the suit. Just enough so the undergarment can expand and you're not feeling sqeezed. When there is the right amount of gas in the suit there is not enough gas in the suit to travel into your legs in the first place.
Use your BC rather than your suit for buoyancy control and maybe do another weight check... people who dive with too much weight also tend to overfill their suit and than don't dump enough as they ascent. I've seen this a lot. Problem is that many instructors unfortunately teach to use the suit for buoyancy.
Weight of the fins, trim weight or their placement or fit of the suit (unless way too large) are much less of a factor than what I mentioned above, in my experience.

I would try this before buying gators or mess around with weight placement or ankle weights. If it doesn't get any better at all, gators are better than ankle weights. Heavier fins won't keep any air from going into your legs.

 

[BlueTrin]

Another thing that is not obvious when you start using a drysuit is that you are likely to need a different fin than when you use a wetsuit.

Usually you’d want something heavier like a Hollis F1, a Turtle Fin, a Jet Fin, or another heavier fin. These fins are heavier so it will bring your feet a bit down, also they are stiffer: if you use a fin that is too floppy you will lack propulsion.

It’s definitely recommended to try many different models of fins, and/or possibly wait to be a bit proficient with your drysuit before to commit to buy a model. (Alternatively you can buy second hand a pair from someone and swap them if you want something else as you’d not lose much money in the second hand market if you had bought second hand: be wary of fissures/cracks in the fin or straps being almost broken when you buy them second hand)

 

[Zef]

Before changing anything or investing money in products that may or may not be the solution, know that learning to dive drysuit is almost akin to learning to dive again with regards to controlling buoyancy, body position, and overall corporal-spacial control.

Give yourself time in the water, a pool preferably, and about 6 to 10 sessions where you work on learning the feel of diving a drysuit and begin to develop the nuance necessary to comfortably control your body position and buoyancy with the suit.

Use that time to scope out the suit you wish to purchase and transition to it.

Once you have some experience in a drysuit, particularly the one you purchase, you may find you don't need any of the suggestions previously given in this discussion thread, but keep the info tucked away to address any issues that come up after you have some time and experience in the water in a drysuit, as it is mostly good info.

Diving a wetsuit does little to prepare one to transition to a drysuit, and many people find themselves in the position you are in where they did not realize they have to relearn stuff they had already mastered.

-Z

 

[berndo]

Usually you’d want something heavier like a Hollis F1, a Turtle Fin, a Jet Fin, or another heavier fin. These fins are heavier so it will bring your feet a bit down, also they are stiffer: if you use a fin that is too floppy you will lack propulsion.

I only use light/neutral fins. I like that much better than the SP Jets I also have but never use. Why would the weight of the fin have any impact on whether there is too much air in the legs or not? Not trying to be argumentative, I honestly can't follow your logic here. The feet are supposed to be up when you're trimmed out horizontally, you don't want the feet down.

In the other thread it sounded like you also had some issues with too much air and kicking etchnique. Why not just try what I suggested? There is no downside in trying. Generally, I would not buy other gear before I tried to fix or improve technique with what I already have.

 

[inquis]

I'm doing the PADI drysuit course.

The PADI drysuit e-learning says this:

As discussed shortly, there are two methods for controlling buoyancy underwater with a dry suit – using just the suit, or using your BCD. [...] Your instructor will show you either or both methods, as appropriate for the suit you’re using, local practices and the situation.

Definitely have your instructor cover using the the BCD/wing for primary buoyancy control. As others have said, this approach limits the amount of air that could possibly migrate to the feet. I personally feel it's the safer approach as well, as the suit exhaust vents comparatively SLOWLY. You will learn to anticipate the need to vent and roll a bit right for a second or two to vent the suit.

On that note, the majority of users (my impression from past discussions on this topic) leave the exhaust valve fully or nearly fully open so a slight roll is all that's required to vent. (Some valves will leak a little when fully open, which is fixed by tightening a few clicks.) Good luck in your class!

 

[lexvil]

While we still don’t know your details, it seems we will go down the buoyancy road again, there are indeed two methods, I use the suit.

for me once I have the squeeze off I’m also neutral with the air weight in the tank being the only variable, for the HP 100 that’s about 8 lb (I’m only talking single tank) to have air in my wing I would have to offset that with unnecessary weight. As you descend you’ll be adding air to the suit to offset squeeze and venting as you ascend, for me and my non dogma diving it just works better to use one method of control.

 

[BlueTrin]

I only use light/neutral fins. I like that much better than the SP Jets I also have but never use. Why would the weight of the fin have any impact on whether there is too much air in the legs or not? Not trying to be argumentative, I honestly can't follow your logic here. The feet are supposed to be up when you're trimmed out horizontally, you don't want the feet down.

In the other thread it sounded like you also had some issues with too much air and kicking etchnique. Why not just try what I suggested? There is no downside in trying. Generally, I would not buy other gear before I tried to fix or improve technique with what I already have.

He’s a new drysuit diver, it may be that he feels floaty on his feet but does not have too much air. It’s hard to tell because he does not say if he has tried moving weights to find a neutral position.

Out of curiosity, do you use Quattros or a lighter fin but similar to a jet fin?

My issue in the other thread was that I had difficulties releasing air from my drysuit during a cave class in Mexico because you are sometimes coming up a restriction from 10 or deeper meters to 2m and once at 2m I found myself floaty and was not used to come up floaty so close to the surface and then only be able to release at 2m.

Since then I was ok by:

• Learning to release in heads up trim in a restriction by moving slowly feet extended in a tunnel and alternating dumping from the inflator and drysuit from ascending. This allowed me to dump while ascending a restriction
• I was just not used to do a 1 hour shallow dive with an average depth of 5-7m (leith restricted passages during ascents and descents (which is what many of the Mexico caves are). I usually dive open water where you can dump at any time and just don’t come up floaty at less than 6m normally. I just got better over the second week by doing it more.
• Just extending my legs more just fixed most of the gap I had for efficiency. I still think I could incline more my fins, but I have had no time to practice this since then