drysuit inexperience

[fisherdvm]

Yeh, I wonder if it is not only the boot size, but the suit size as well. Imagine trying to fit a short 5 ft woman into a small suit that was meant for a 5 ft 5 man. You can probably store about 2 gallons of air in the baggy extra leg and foot.

And the second problem could be over weighting. Using the BC as the buoyancy control device might be the solution if you might be overweighted or using a poorly fitted drysuit.

Redundancy is not a bad thing having 2 sites to dump air - but might get a little confusing to know which to dump first.

 

[ClayJar]

Okay, one little nit first: *NEOPRENE* socks, not latex! (I've neither seen nor read of anyone ever having a drysuit with latex socks, likely due to the fact that most people have toenails.)

Anyway, my drysuit has neoprene socks. I quite appreciate that, as I can switch my footgear based on the dive. If it's just a little, relaxing boat dive, I can put wetsuit booties over the socks (the zippered kind work well). If it's a rocky shore entry, I can wear the "rockboot"-style lace-up drysuit boots. If it's something in between, I can get style points for some nice hand-dyed Chuck Taylors (well, as soon as I make some... gotta have a mismatched set!).

On the buoyancy note, I dive with just enough air for squeeze abatement and warmth retention, and the rest of the air I need goes in my BC. It's much easier to maintain trim that way, and I've never been in a inverted runaway condition. (I've intentionally gone feet-up many times, but it's trivial to recover.)

Incidentally, people say to do a somersault to recover, but I generally do something like an inverted Immelmann turn, i.e. you start going feet up/head down, so you just continue it around a partial somersault until you're on your back, and then a quick 180-degree roll along your body gets you back to straight-and-level diving. (I suppose it could be considered an Immelmann turn with the Z-axis inverted, i.e. thinking in terms of depth instead of altitude.)

 

[TimK]

The instructor provides the initial, basic "education" on how things should be done but your not under an instructors care for a long enough period to be really "trained". Training comes from watching and diving with more experienced partners. They are the ones who will actually teach you how to do things right and what to avoid in the real world. Of course, the mistakes each of us makes along the way are also great learning tools. In fact, I just about tooled the heck out of myself in my last four dives.
And a hearty thanks to all the experienced divers who are willing to help us newbies out and show us the way!

 

[vablackwater]

Okay, one little nit first: *NEOPRENE* socks, not latex! (I've neither seen nor read of anyone ever having a drysuit with latex socks, likely due to the fact that most people have toenails.)

Time for a pair of toenail clippers...

http://www.ossystems.com/diving/nauhc.htm (open the flier)
OS Systems has used latex socks for years and years.

 

[vablackwater]

BC's are for buoyancy, drysuits inflators are for luffing. If you lost BC lift functionality (from tank and oral), a drysuit is a backup.

 

[ClayJar]

OS Systems has used latex socks for years and years.

Ah, but those are the *special* latex.

Um... would you believe that I was thinking about people with latex allergies?

Er... how about... um...

 

[DameDykker]

The answer is training, training, training. Once you can do a shore dive and stay submerged until there's only 3 feet water you can do anything. However, you need to be properly weighted. And I found that curling up is the best way to force air out of the boots and legs and move in towards the exhaust valve. Have fun

 

[diverbob]

My .02 worth.

All dry suit classes I have ever seen and put a part of, the students are shown at least 3 different ways to get out of the air in the feet condition, and is practiced in a pool like setting, and again in OW during the class. I dont believe that classes teach people to be experts in any class. They give you the basics, and teach you how to do it safely. Its up to you the diver to gain experience in conditions similiar to those in which you have trained.

As mentioned earlier, most agencies teach to control the bouyancy with dry suit, but I dont know anybody that dives this way. If you have the majority of your air in the dry suit, and only one way to vent, you could get in trouble in a hurry. The BC/Wing usually has more that one way to vent air.

 

[g2]

As mentioned earlier, most agencies teach to control the bouyancy with dry suit, but I dont know anybody that dives this way.

I dive this way, and it's the way I was taught. However, I expect to start using my BC for additional buoyancy control in the future. The reason I don't do it now is because of task loading: I'm still learning drysuit diving, and having two independent methods of controlling buoyancy is more than I want to deal with at the moment.

It works okay for me to just use the drysuit for buoyancy control, but that means I have a little extra air in it at the beginning of the dive to compensate for the full tank weight, and a little less air (perhaps less than I would like) at the end of the dive when the tank is almost empty. Ideally, I'd add a few pounds and use the BC as well. Someday soon...


glenn

 

[ralawrence]

While I don't have a great deal of experience, I would not trade my ankle weights for anything. I often carry a lot of weight (35# in salt) and 4# on the ankles make that much less on the BC/Harness. Forgot ankles (oops ankles attached weights not) on a dive so ended up light with feet up most of the dive. Really sucked.

My booties are latex (USIA now and OS before that). I am allergic to neoprene. When diving around here (Oregon Washington) I all ways wear socks. Water too cold on feet otherwise. If you choose to wear socks, instead of bare foot, too, we'll call it our dirty little secret and be comfortable.

Get comfortable with your gear practice, practice, practice and dive safe