Drysuit Training

[zslnk]

Well I bit the bullet and purchased a new dry-suit, a Bare ATR-HD. I was going to get the DUI but given the money difference and the fact that I'm a perfect fit to one of the Bare sizes it made good sense.

I haven't asked the shop to tell me how to use this thing yet but when it comes in I'm going to take it to the pool, my question is will I be damaging the suit by taking it into a chlorine pool? I've seen what the chlorine can do to a BC in a few days use and I don't want the latex / nylon etc. to be damaged, am I better off jumping into 10" of water behind my house with my buddy? Are there any good books on the subject? I'm not interested in a PADI card, I just want to safely dive dry.

Thanks,
Craig.

 

[maximdim]

Hi Craig,

Congratulations on your new dry suit! I just got mine couple weeks ago (Bare NexGen). I went in the pool couple times and so far no visible damage on the suit ;-)
There are usually somebody diving dry in pool all the time, so I don't think that's the big concern. Certainly good idea to get comfortable in confined water before going for a real dive IMHO.

 

[Tom R]

Your suit may fade that's about it. It is actually the sun that will do more damage drying out your suit than the pool. So limit the sun drying and your latex seals will last a while.

 

[DPVDiver]

It may be a good Idea to ask the shop you bought it from if they will give you an orientation to the suit in their pool, especially before you go into water with the temps this time of year. This will also give you an idea of how much weight to use too. Many shops give an orientation free when you buy a suit.

 

[nalfein]

I'll second that, several shops down this way offer a dry suit orientation when you purchase a suit, you should ask them, I'm sure they'd be happy to help you. Congrats on the new suit, the ATR is a nice piece of gear, enjoy....

chris

 

[zslnk]

It may be a good Idea to ask the shop you bought it from if they will give you an orientation to the suit in their pool, especially before you go into water with the temps this time of year. This will also give you an idea of how much weight to use too. Many shops give an orientation free when you buy a suit.

Yes,
I'm sure that the shop will give me the info / lesson that I need, I just live 1.5hours from them and that makes it a little less convient. Wish my bathtub was bigger!

With a 7mil 2 piece I was using about 24lbs + 6lbs BP, I need to work out the weight issue with the new suit, anyone wear a Trilam with Weezle Undies that uses a similar amount of weight with the wet suit? AL80.


Craig.

 

[wetbehindtheear]

Yes,
I'm sure that the shop will give me the info / lesson that I need, I just live 1.5hours from them and that makes it a little less convient. Wish my bathtub was bigger!

With a 7mil 2 piece I was using about 24lbs + 6lbs BP, I need to work out the weight issue with the new suit, anyone wear a Trilam with Weezle Undies that uses a similar amount of weight with the wet suit? AL80.


Craig.

In general terms, when i went from a 7 mil 2 pc to a trilam suit, i dropped about 4-6lbs.

Your first few times you'll likely have a hard time getting all the air out for the descent, so don't worry about being a little overweighted - that's what training dives are for (and, that's what practice in a pool is Perfect for - drain your tank to under 500 psi and see what weight you need to keep you at 10' - that'll be your ideal weight)

 

[nalfein]

I usually dive twins, but the last time I had an Al80 out I used about 30lbs(salt water) .... that's with a Bare trilam and Weezle Extremes, plus I had long underwear under the Weezle's, the ocean is cold this time of year....brrrr

 

[SoScuba]

Hi Craig.
I own the same suit and have been diving it for over a year. Its a great suit and I have had no problems with it. I actually had a hard time putting a hole in it this weekend. I had a sharpened piece of copper pipe that I was trying to punch through the suit and it took several attempts of hard pounding to get through. I was impressed with its strength. I have used the suit in a pool on several occasions for personal practice and have never noticed any fading. Just rinse the suit after you are done with it.
I also wear the Weezles extreme. Two things about the suit I didnt like are the pocket and the leg gators. The standard pocket is lousy for holding anything large like an extra mask. The bottom of the pocket is sewn tight to the leg and that just seems to "push" things up to the top of the pocket. It actually pushes the velcro pocket tab open. I am going to replace this pocket soon. Another problem was the zippered leg gators. These were loose and did absolutely nothing for me and left alot of room in the lower leg for air to flow. I took the suit to a local tailor and had him take the gators in by two inches on either side of the zippers and I now have perfectly working gators.
As far as the PADI card goes....its not the card you need, its the training. Diving a drysuit is much different than diving wet. You are using a new piece of gear and adding potential failure points that you wouldnt find on a wet suit. You need to know how to handle a failure should it arise. You could jump in 10 feet of water behind your house and get used to the bouyancy characteristics and then go diving with it. But what happens when a failure occurs at depth and you havent a clue how to handle it? Card or no card, find someone who can teach you all aspects of diving dry. Play safe. Enjoy the new suit. I love mine.

Sean

 

[blacklatexozdiver]

I endorse the last comments - get the training. It's the only way to dive dry and, more importantly, dive SAFE. (By the way, I have a Viking Pro-1000 Military and it's brilliant even if the boots are size 12 and I'm size 9/9½.)