Drysuit Squeeze questions

[Saskia]

Make sure there is NO air at all in the bc, and as mentioned earlier, you want to be nice and horizantal, that way the air will spread around, also down to your legs. As long as it's a comfortable squeeze, there's nothing to worry about, you don't want to much air down there, as you may get floaty feet and go up to the surface feet first (i'm glad to say i haven't had that experience, but i've seen a fair few! amusing to watch if it's not to deep, i have to say )
you def don't want any more weight, it will only make it worse! As you go deeper you can add more air to your suit to counter the squeeze, play with it for a few dives, you'll soon find what works for you.

 

[Daryl Morse]

When I feel feet heavy when I'm horizontal, I go a little head down and let some of the air in my suit migrate down to my legs and feet to fix my trim. I also do that to distribute the air around my suit so my whole body keeps warm.

Be very cautious if you're using your suit (and not your BC) for buoyancy because you could end up in a foot first ascent if too much air migrates.

YMMV.

 

[Dive1Dennis]

Hi Mel, You said the top of the suit felt nice and comfy but that the suit was squeezing your legs. That indicates trim, I alway feel a greater squeeze in my legs when located head up, especially when hanging on the line. I don't think about it now, but I recall being very aware of it when I first started diving dry.

It was mentioned by Boogie711 already, but don't overlook the underwear you are wearing. Tracksuit pants don't sound too substantial. I have worn my DS with jeans and a sweatshirt in warm water in place of my DS undies and the difference in squeeze is very noticeable. The undies should cushion the creases in the DS, thin underwear won't do that and you will feel a lot more squeeze.

Enjoy your warm, dry dives!

 

[Onda]

you should learn how to use the equipment before using it. You don't use your BC to control your buoyancy but the suit. That's what I felt was the most challenging in learning how to dive in a dry suit, using the suit and not the BC to control the buoyancy.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

But how much of a squeeze should I be feeling? I didn't come out all splotchy like mentioned in one of the posts above:11: , but my legs definately felt tighter than my upper body which makes me feel like its not right. Also my legs were a tad cool and I think I had read that it's the layer of air that helps keep you warm - I felt like I had no layer of air down on my legs to do that.

Uncle Pug gave a great description of what the squeeze should feel like in a post long ago. He called it the "20 foot squeeze". Vent all the air from your suit and drop to 20 feet, that is what the squeeze should feel like the entire dive. You add air to maintain that level of squeeze and you do get used to it after a while. Why would you want your feet down where they have a better chance of stirring up silt or finning the reef to bits? Get horizontal or slightly head down and the air will move to your legs. Actual drysuit underwear makes a difference, you are correct in your belief that the layer of air is what keeps you warm.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Ber Rabbit]

you should learn how to use the equipment before using it. You don't use your BC to control your buoyancy but the suit. That's what I felt was the most challenging in learning how to dive in a dry suit, using the suit and not the BC to control the buoyancy.

Actually there are two schools of thought on this. Some people are trained to use the BC for buoyancy and the air in the suit to relieve squeeze. Others are trained to use the suit for buoyancy. Once you dive a drysuit for a while you will develop a preference and its easier to use the BC for buoyancy rather than the suit. You aren't committing any kind of crime by doing so. Personally I don't use the suit for buoyancy.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[grf88]

you should learn how to use the equipment before using it. You don't use your BC to control your buoyancy but the suit. That's what I felt was the most challenging in learning how to dive in a dry suit, using the suit and not the BC to control the buoyancy.

There are two distinct schools of thought on this, many like myself will recommend that you use the suit for exposure protection and the BC for buoyancy control using just enough air in the suit to control squeeze.

 

[grf88]

Almost duplicate posts at exactly the same time.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Almost duplicate posts at exactly the same time.

LOL! Must be riding the same mental wave
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[TSandM]

The answers here are simple physics. The total amount of air you can carry between your wing and your suit is determined by how negative you are. If you need to be able to carry more air, you need more weight . . . This is why dry suit diving is heavy weight diving, because a dry suit obligates you to carry a certain amount of air down with you.

Air goes to the highest point in whatever contains it, so unless you are horizontal, you cannot keep air in your legs and feet. The more vertical you are, the more noticeable the difference between your shoulders and your legs will be.

A dry suit bubble is a big bubble and potentially pretty unstable, which is why dry suit classes teach you methods for redistributing the air in the suit to avoid feet-first ascents. The smaller the amount of air you carry in the suit, the less risk there is of that kind of problem. But less air means less warmth AND less mobility, and there is a point where it's too much squeeze.

I found it was much easier to learn to manage the suit by using the "20 foot squeeze" idea, but now that I'm much more comfortable with my dry suit, I run it looser than that, which has increased my cold-limited time underwater and made it much easier to reach my valves.

A final note: Ideal weighting is determined with the wing AND the suit empty, but many people decide to carry one or two extra pounds to allow a little more suit air for comfort and warmth.