Drysuit Gator Ideas?

[jackass]

Thanks for the link... I should have put a smilie on there... I was joking about the "H", the main reason I don't buy one is because of the high cost for something that seems so basic. Sorry to strike a nerve.

Cheers,
John

However, as a person just getting into the more technical aspects of the sport, I made that comment because it does seem like Halcyon is a bit snooty? I guess it has to do with the whole DIR thing?

 

[dok407]

Perhaps with more dive time you can work on your trim. I found doing sumersaults help me get a good feel for how the air moved throughout my suit. I do miss the flexibility of neoprene, but I enjoy being dry too. Needless to say I won't be throwing away my neoprene yet! Good luck with the cankles! Cheers!

 

[PerroneFord]

However, as a person just getting into the more technical aspects of the sport, I made that comment because it does seem like Halcyon is a bit snooty? I guess it has to do with the whole DIR thing?

Perhaps your opinion will change over time. Maybe not. Many people do not like Halycon gear for political reasons. Frankly, I just like good gear. Each of the larger cave companies seems to make one or two KILLER products that they simply do better than anyone else. I buy those products when I can, and really don't care too much about the politics.

The Halcyon guys spend a LOT of R&D time on their products and often they are well thought out. This is not to say they don't produce some duds, because they do. But much of their line is simply excellent.

 

[piikki]

If you only have 7 dives in the suit, how do you know you're not inflating the suit to much? With a good fitting suit and proper technique, you won't need the gaiters. If you HAVE to buy them, keep an eye out or post a "wanted" ad here or on TDS. There seem to be alot of slightly used "H" gaiters floating around that people aren't using.

How do people who dive in cold conditions with thick underwear find it when they go, say, cave diving? Do they toss away gaiters after awhile too or do they actually resort to them?

I hate the feeling of air traveling to my cankles too but it is in control in cold water. I am slightly intimidated thinking what will happen with very thin underwear and more room on my legs for air to puff about. Especially if this would be in a place like cavern/cave... And I don't have a cave cut or "warm water" 2nd suit option in mind at this point

 

[oxyhacker]

Get a cheap grommet tool and some cloth (something slightly stretch is nice), and make yourself a set of lace up gaitors. They won't be a slick as a set of Golums or Hs, but they'll make learning the suit a bit easier, and you'll probably find you don't need them anyhow once you get used to diving dry.

Oh, for those who have made comments about socks or underwear reducing the total buoyancy by reducing the available space for air, they don't really. The total bouyancy of the suit is the result of the amount of water the suit displaces minus the weight of everything in it. Since the weight of the underwear or socks is neglible, they have very little effect on buoyancy, and what effect they have is usually in the other direction - by limiting how much you can "squeeze" the suit, and trapping more air, they increase the buoyancy.

 

[matt t.]

How do people who dive in cold conditions with thick underwear find it when they go, say, cave diving? Do they toss away gaiters after awhile too or do they actually resort to them?

I hate the feeling of air traveling to my cankles too but it is in control in cold water. I am slightly intimidated thinking what will happen with very thin underwear and more room on my legs for air to puff about. Especially if this would be in a place like cavern/cave... And I don't have a cave cut or "warm water" 2nd suit option in mind at this point

I just dive cold water, but I do know a few divers that dive the Great Lakes and the Fla. caves. They change to thinner underwear and dive with no additional stuff like gaiters or ankle weights. Again, if you have inflation gas "puffing" (your description, not mine ) around in your suit. It's either way to big, or you're using to much gas. As posted above by another, I buy good gear. I don't care who makes it, as long as it's top quality, and priced in line with the competition. YMMV.

 

[engdiver]

I made myself a pair of gators from some ankle weights that I bought at a a sports good store. These were basically a piece of neoprene about 8" wide that wrapped around your calf with two velcro straps. That had 4 sleeves of weight in them filled with some sort of metal fillings. I removed the fillings and added a piece of nylon webbing through the top slot were the weight was along with a snap type buckle.
They seem to work fine as long as I make sure I bring my drysuit legs and boots up tight before I strap them since they mostly prevent air from entering or leaving the legs later.
Cost me about $25.

 

[do it easy]

Before you get too crazy with the gators, try shifting weight around to adjust your trim. Without the details of your setup, I can't specifically tell you how to do this, but you might try moving weight towards your feet or removing weight from your upper body.

The advantages of a drysuit, besides the dryness, drygloves, and p-valve, are that you can control your trim to some extent by putting air into your feet. My feet tend to be negative, so I add air to them to bring them up.

 

[JEScholz]

What's wrong with ankle weights?

 

[hollywood703]

I didnt like the idea of gaitors myself, so i went with ankle weights wo keep my feet down a little bit below horizontal. I had to get my drysuit a little bigger as I need heavy thermals for Ice diving....when im diving in the summer with a light fleece it leaves a bit of room. I am trying to get an extension clasp for my ankle weights as they are the smaller size band and with the heavier thermals on its actually a bit tight. I thought about making some neoprene strips with velcro, and squeezing the air out of the leg, then just under the knee wrapping them so air couldnt get into the legs. I have a bunch of old wetsuits laying around to cut up, so will start messing with this in the spring.....

now that I think about this more, some older wetsuits that are 1 size larger, could cut the legs off above the knee and use them as makeshift gaitors as well as extra knee protection