Drysuit training day tomorrow

[dv]

Well, I am drysuit certified! We did 2 open water dives, one at a wreck, and another at shallow area near the wreck. I felt pretty good with the buoyancy, but I got behind on the curve a fair amount, because when I stopped to let air out of the DS, I started going up. Nothing I could not correct though, and I did not go to the surface uncontrollably. One thing I noticed though.. When I stop and get my feet down, it takes a few seconds for the bubble to go from my feet to my shoulder, and out the vent. What's the best position to get into to allow the air to work it's way up and out? I felt like it was wrong to be vertical, and I was struggling a bit to find a position to vent.. Should I maybe be face down at a 45 degree angle or something?

We could not stop the boot leak. My leg was wet (and COLD) by the time we were done. Not sure what to do about that... Loved diving dry though!

 

[flots am]

Heading out tomorrow to our local quarry to do my first drysuit dives. I'll be getting the PADI drysuit specialty with my instructor... Back to square one on buoyancy I guess. Any tips?

• Do an actual buoyancy check to determine how much weight you need. Your instructor will probably tell you to use "20% of your body weight" or some such nonsense. This is just a wild-assed-guess and may make everything much more difficult than it needs to be.
  
  Too much weight will mean too much air in the suit and a giant bubble that will be nearly impossible to manage. Too little weight will squeese you like a Stouffers- boil-in-bag dinner and make staying down difficult. "Just right" is awesome.
  
  The amount of weight you require is determined by the amount of drysuit underwear you're using. Thicker (warmer) underwear displaces more water and requires more weight, so knowing how much weight you used in the pool won't be very helpful in the quarry with warmer underwear.
• If you're "round in the middle" and your hips aren't significantly bigger than your waist, see if you can borrow a weight harness. This will keep your weightbelt from falling off.
• Add small amounts of air frequently as you descend to maintain the airspace in the suit, and vent early and often on the way up.

flots

edit: I didn't see that you had already done it. Congratulations!

You should still do the stuff above, though., since it will make your dives happier and easier.

 

[ddmattos]

Well, I am drysuit certified! We did 2 open water dives, one at a wreck, and another at shallow area near the wreck. I felt pretty good with the buoyancy, but I got behind on the curve a fair amount, because when I stopped to let air out of the DS, I started going up. Nothing I could not correct though, and I did not go to the surface uncontrollably. One thing I noticed though.. When I stop and get my feet down, it takes a few seconds for the bubble to go from my feet to my shoulder, and out the vent. What's the best position to get into to allow the air to work it's way up and out? I felt like it was wrong to be vertical, and I was struggling a bit to find a position to vent.. Should I maybe be face down at a 45 degree angle or something?

We could not stop the boot leak. My leg was wet (and COLD) by the time we were done. Not sure what to do about that... Loved diving dry though!

Just extend your legs, let your fins drop and wait a few seconds. It should only take a few degrees. Once the air is out of your feet, fins back up. The bubble will travel to your shoulders for venting. No need to go vertical. Keeping ahead of the air expansion will help. Make sure your shoulder dump is fully open and your not over weighted.

Are you just keeping enough air in the suit to alleviate squeeze or chill? Use your BCD for buoyancy.

 

[Mitchell Teeters]

Ya your weighting will mean a world of difference. I noticed how easy it was to stop my ascents when the weight came down. I'm not an engineer, but it feels like less bubble to start the ascent means less to vent as it expands exponentially.

 

[rhwestfall]

Congrats! So, out of curiosity, did they teach bouyancy with DS or BC (like I had to ask)?

 

[RTee]

I think when you represent an agency, it is pretty hard to teach something that is diametrically opposite to what is written in the book and mentioned in the video...

 

[spectrum]

Congratulations!

As mentioned weighting can help a lot. Be critical of how your configuarion is working in terms of trim and weight amount. Try to tweak it for each dive until you strike gold. I know for me the majority of the curve was redefining my configuration. Once you get that the rest falls into place pretty fast.

When I stop I do tend to extend my legs and let them droop to minimize the stranded air.

Always remember that the vent needs to be the highpoint (if you need to be venting) and that it is much slower than any BC dump valve. You need to anticipate your needs and manage the situation within the capability of the valve. Positioning many shoulder valves is decieving while in the water column. Have a buddy spot you and help you learn wat the best position feels like.

Pete

 

[altaskier]

Make sure you zip your zipper up all the way!

I find this to be good general advice (not just for dry suits).

 

[TSandM]

Is this a brand new suit, or a used one? If the former, send it back and have the manufacturer deal with the boot leak.

If the latter, take the suit home. Put something in the wrist and neck seals to block them -- you can use homemade clamps (so long as they have a large, smooth compression surface) or use something to obturate the seals. I use water or pop bottles for the wrists, and I had a nice cover to an awful antique clock that worked in neck seals, until Peter broke it. Anyway, block the seals and blow the suit up, and then spray a dilute detergent solution all over the boot and all the seams where the boot meets the suit. You should be able to find the leak, and decide whether Aquaseal will deal with it. I've had integrated boots crack where my finkeepers compressed them, and a good coating of Aquaseal solved the problem indefinitely.

 

[XS-NRG]

One of the difficult things to recover from in a dry suit is getting feet up and buoyant. You will be taught a couple of procedures for managing this, but in practice, it's very difficult to execute them before you are hopelessly behind on venting. When you start to feel your feet going up, correct it NOW, even if it means getting feet down for a bit. This will get much easier with time, but at the beginning, you need to overcorrect.

Hmmm. You are always bang on with everything you've said but I have to slightly disagree with this (only based on personal experience). I don't find it that difficult to recover from feet up at all. The main key to this is to really get a "feel" for it in the pool and I was fortunate to do so. I practiced being feet up a lot in the pool and even swam around the bottom doing handstands. If you know what it feels like you can correct it well before anything bad happens. I've had many instances (where I was struggling with weight/trim issues) where my feet have been up and I'm starting to ascend. I find the easiest way to recover is to simply swim head first downward and kick harder. This works best if you notice it right away (and you should) and take preventative action. Obviously everyone is different and results will vary but this is what I find for myself.

Once you are certified as a drysuit diver don't be afraid to go back to the pool (especially during a DSD night or OW class night) to practice some more. I do it regularly. Get a good feel for this in a safe and controlled environment if you don't feel as comfortable even if you hold the card. No one will ever look down on you for doing this and it really is in your best interest to stay on top of it while you are still learning. I say that because 2 OW dives is hardly enough to master your drysuit. I have 10 in now and I wouldn't say I've mastered it quite yet but I now feel VERY confident with it. I'll be taking the PPB class with my suit next to enhance the skills even further.