drysuit & horizontal positioning

[VTernovski]

Just started diving dry. I find that a tiny bit of air does wonders in keeping my feet above my knees. This feat was nearly impossible in a wetsuit. Do others use a small bit of air here to help with horizontal positioning? Thank you.

not exactly. I have fixed my trim problems by moving from thin 100gr to thick 400gr (c4) thinsulate undergarments. That did the wonders.

 

[vodolaz]

Was this directed at me?

The point is unless you're wearing something like rock boots there is always air in your shoes. Vodolaz probably wears rockboots and doens't have a good idea how to move the air out of your feet without going vertical. I was just correcting him.

Turbosoles, actually, and I keep them as tight as possible. Going near vertical - when appropriate to the environment - is the fastest way to vent both the boots and the drysuit itself. Venting the boots by gradually lowering them below the level of the knees will work, but is slower and keeps the fins oriented toward the floor longer than I prefer.

Others use fin grippers to keep extra gas out of the turbosoles and I plan on trying them as soon as I find a shop with my size in stock. If that's one less time I have to purge the turbosoles per dive, so much the better.

 

[Soggy]

Bottom line...due to the nature of the laws of physics, if gas gets in your boots (which it will), you will have to drop your legs a bit to get the gas out on ascent. Don't worry about it, breaking trim for a few moments isn't going to kill you. Dump early and dump often is the key, that way you never get that big bubble built up.

 

[Dan Gibson]

You couldn't be farther from the truth on what Vodolaz wears or if he knows how to deal with air in the boots. I have dove with him and I assure you we both know how to handle this non problem. If we didn't, we would never have passed our cave classes with David Rhea.

btw, threre is no such thing as no gas in the feet, even with rock boots. You just limit the amount with those boots. Turbo soles will always permit some gas in if your feet are up. Personally, I don't need any gimmick to prevent excess gas from entering the feet.

Vodolaz probably wears rockboots and doens't have a good idea how to move the air out of your feet without going vertical. I was just correcting him.

R..

 

[Dan Gibson]

Absolutely!

Bottom line...due to the nature of the laws of physics, if gas gets in your boots (which it will), you will have to drop your legs a bit to get the gas out on ascent. Don't worry about it, breaking trim for a few moments isn't going to kill you. Dump early and dump often is the key, that way you never get that big bubble built up.

 

[kazinvan]

I always let a little bit of air into my boots, keeps my feet warmer and it feels more relaxed. As said, you need to deal with that air on the way up, but I don't find it's a big deal.

 

[jrudicel]

I can only comment on my experiences, but I had Rock Boots on a previous suit(years ago) and wore thin booties for insulation. In order to keep all air out of them, you had to have them cinched up really tight, and therefore seemed to make my feet extremely cold. I then started leaving them loose for warmth and air in them. Feet were warm, but the air on ascents made it a mess to handle in the feet. Then, after being taught some basic fundementals, I realized that instead of fixing the problem, I was working around it. I ditched the rock boot suit and went turbo soles with the correct undergarment booties....400g..... and the results were way better. No more cold feet, so that problem was cured, the right way. Now, to fix the air problem in the feet, and how to deal with it, I had to learn how to dive the suit properly WITHOUT the use of "crutches" like gaitors, ankle weights etc. If you have problems with feet down positioning, then you need to work on your trim and weighting. Proper trim and proper weighting and placement is a must. Like others already said, going out of perfect trim momentarily to shift some air isnt a crime. They key is to also vent early before you feel the air bubble and your ascents getting faster. By then its too late.
By the way, I second the comment about Vodolaz. I recently met and dove 3 caves for the first time with him as my buddy and he definately knows how to dive the suit and keep his trim.

 

[SeanQ]

Bottom line...due to the nature of the laws of physics, if gas gets in your boots (which it will), you will have to drop your legs a bit to get the gas out on ascent. Don't worry about it, breaking trim for a few moments isn't going to kill you. Dump early and dump often is the key, that way you never get that big bubble built up.

It would seem to me that breaking trim for a moment to vent your boots would be preferrable to wiggling around trying to vent. In an emergency situation, you want to deal with things as easily and efficiently as possible. Trying to force the air out sounds more difficult then letting it happen automaticly when you go go vertical.

Please correct me if I have missed something. I am still learning about DIR.

 

[Snowbear]

"Breaking" trim..... Since I have to roll sideways to get my stinkin' suit to vent anyhow, no-one seems to notice the lesser sin of straightening my legs

 

[ScubaDadMiami]

It would seem to me that it would be better to re-position weight and to adjust body positioning rather than intentionally adding gas to the dry suit and then putting the gas into the legs. It could also be a question of a proper fitting dry suit possibly.

I put only enough gas in my suit to prevent squeeze.