Drysuit transitioning blues - a lesson in humility

[swimmer_spe]

Welcome to Drysuit diving.

You are learning how to dive all over again. Think of EVERYTHING you knew how to do well. Now, you get to learn it all again.

Good luck.

 

[Randy g]

My wife/dive buddy is 5 yrs into diving and she has become a really good diver in a wetsuit. She has just started diving dry and is going through the teething pains as well. She thought it was just her, even though I told her everyone goes through it. ...then I sent her this link!

 

[maniago]

Thanks for posting!
I'd like to ask a newbie question:
Do you think the learning curve would be easier in something like a Whites with the inner bag and stretchy outer layer? I've read that it's slightly easier and I'm trying to decide between that and something like what you've recently acquired.

I'm gonna assume someone else has chimed on the plus side for the Whites, but I'll add my .02.

I pool dove one - the first dry suit I'd ever put on. Cake. It was cake to manage. For me it was no different, perhaps even a bit easier than my 8/7semi dry, which has no learning curve either. I loved the thing. Flips, backrolls, fins up, fins down 3' of water, 10' of water - super easy to manage the bubble. Its a light suit - basically feels like wearing a Glad trash bag - a bit odd, but then with undergarments, you'd never notice.

Then I dove a DUI TLS350. What an annoying suit. Had a mind of its own - that is to say, a learning curve.

Lets see, recreational diver - learning curve or no learning curve? Frustration or no frustration? Lots of people choose the DUI religion and learning curve and then have a rotten 50 dives.

No thanks, I'll go with the road less traveled - a Whites. (BTW my dry suit instructor is a died in the wool DUI diver - hates the Whites. We agreed to vehemently disagree. Dive what works for you!)

 

[Storker]

Cake. It was cake to manage. For me it was no different, perhaps even a bit easier than my 8/7semi dry, which has no learning curve either. I loved the thing. Flips, backrolls, fins up, fins down 3' of water, 10' of water - super easy to manage the bubble.

Basically the same experience I have from diving a snug compressed neoprene DS. Except the neoprene suit was tons easier to don and doff IMO.

I guess this just shows that different types of gear fits different folks and that any opinion should be taken with at least a grain (or ten) of salt


--
Sent from my Android phone
Typos are a feature, not a bug

 

[maniago]

Basically the same experience I have from diving a snug compressed neoprene DS. Except the neoprene suit was tons easier to don and doff IMO.

I guess this just shows that different types of gear fits different folks and that any opinion should be taken with at least a grain (or ten) of salt

Maybe a block of salt.

Except for the BP/W discussions, I don't think there is a piece of gear like "your preferred dry suit" that gets divers more foamy at the mouth....

 

[kr2y5]

...on the plus side for the Whites, but I'll add my .02. I pool dove one - the first dry suit I'd ever put on. Cake. It was cake to manage.

I'm new to this, but here's my experience... in first couple of dives with Whites, with no undergarments except base layer, it seemed suspiciously easy and almost effortless, to the point I started to wander what all the fuss is about, and decided to strap on doubles to start learning both at the same time. That all still seemed manageable, so I added a thick layer of Fusion undergarments underneath... and with this, I was able to unlock a whole series of achievements: bouncing up and down like a ping pong ball, going feet up, rolling around face up, etc. It seemed to me that the undergarment makes a huge difference with this suit in terms of stability.

 

[Storker]

Update:

After spending some more quality time with Ms. Waterproof, we are definitely on the way to a beautiful friendship. The fin keepers solved every problem I had with boots slipping off, while still having plenty of room to wiggle my toes and keep them from freezing off during winter dives. I'm still working on the buoyancy swing anticipation, since my thick winter undergarments trap a lot of air causing the air to vent really slowly compared to the thin undergarments I was using in my neoprene DS. We've had a bumpy ride, and on one of the dates I had a really humiliating safety stop, going up and down like a yo-yo, giving my buddy quite a bit of entertainment.

On my last date, dive no. 9 in that suit, I finally had it all nailed. Did a lot of drills at 5-6m depth, in near-perfect horizontal trim and holding my depth within a couple of decimeters. And that on my third dive with my new BP/W. Now I just have to start dialing in the correct weigthing for summer undergarments. I foresee a couple more humiliating experiences...

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Wait until you find out how wonderful personal lubricants are for getting the suit on and off! I started using the generic KY you get from the drugstore on my hands and wrists then wipe them on my hair and neck. Then discovered putting some in the cuffs of my XS dry five gloves made them so easy to get on. Plus it feels squishy. I like that.

But jealous of my tech instructor trainer. He got sent a gallon of veterinary lube:shocked2:. That stuff is slick and though water soluble it doesn't rinse off as fast as the KY. Thus it makes getting gloves and seals on and off slicker than snot. I'm going to try and order some. We were calling it bovine anal lube all week. Not the real name but good for laughs!