Drysuit vs BCD bouyancy control

[Tampico_ED]

Hi,

I did my best to find a similar post with poll and nothing. I personally only use the drysuit for bouyancy. But, I was wondering how many people do?

Thanks

 

[H2Andy]

i don't, but there's a few around here that do, from what i've read

maybe you should start a poll? that'd be neat to know

 

[aquaoren]

Drysuit to keep me dry and warm, BC to control buoyancy.

 

[CALI68]

Yea, bad idea. Dry Suits are for warmth not buoyancy compensation (unless thing get really REALLY bad). Dive it with just enough air or argon to ease the squeeze. Use your BC for buoyancy control NOT the Dry Suit.

Too much air in your dry suit causes dynamic instability and it's much harder to manage the "bubble" in the Dry Suit vs. the on one in the BC.

-Chris

 

[Rick Inman]

Dry Suits are for warmth not buoyancy compensation .... Use your BC for Bouncy control NOT the Dry Suit.

I agree with Chris... in principal. But in practice, if I'm weighted correctly, taking the squeeze out puts me pretty much neutral. But if I need more air, I use the BC (wing).

In the winter I cheat and put more air/argon in the DS for the extra insulation and find I rarely need any in the BC to get neutral.

Still, in principal I agree with Chris.

 

[CALI68]

I agree with Chris... in principal. But in practice, if I'm weighted correctly, taking the squeeze out puts me pretty much neutral. But if I need more air, I use the BC (wing).

In the winter I cheat and put more air/argon in the DS for the extra insulation and find I rarely need any in the BC to get neutral.

Still, in principal I agree with Chris.

Yea I sorta split the difference if it's really cold but I dive doubles so it's a bit different anyway. My profile picture is an example of the "cheating" Rick mentioned. As you can see I'm not shrink wraped but I am nice and warm.

-Chris

 

[Sideband]

i have a trilam suit and with my steel 95 I use 28lbs of lead with my jacket BCD. If I add any more than enough air to relieve squeeze I become positive. I REALLY don't want to add any more lead to be able to add air to my BC too. I'm usually neutral with a "comfortable" amount of air in the suit.

Joe

 

[matt_unique]

Anytime you add air into a closed space in your dive system it affects buoyancy. So adding just enough air to make the suit comfortable adds to positive buoyancy. Some people do this more so than others. Some people of course use only their drysuit.

It also depends a bit on what kind of suit you have and your weighting. A neoprene suit squeezes all the way down so I am adding air several times to reduce the squeeze for example. I am also adding air to my wing for primary buoyancy concerns. If I used my suit only I would have a large air bubble to manage in my suit, it burps out more easily, etc. At 50' it's not terribly significant. At 150' I would look like the Stay Puff Marshmallow man if using only my suit for buoyancy.

What kind of suit do you use? What depths are you diving?

--Matt

 

[Tampico_ED]

Hi,

That's a good point let's keep it to Recreational Diving (<130). Also if you have a firt hand experience to illustrate one versus the other. I personally find difficult to dump ALL the air from my backwing. There is always air trap somewhere. I have only heard guys complaining about their drysuits not dumping air when they are new to drysuit diving.

 

[wcl]

I second this opinion.

I am new to drysuit diving, but have already found my conservatism regarding weight and acceptance of squeeze mean I need do nothing more for buoyancy than I have already done for managing the drysuit comfort and function.

One thing to add to the principle (drysuit gas for squeeze & warmth; BC gas for buoyancy tuning), though: At the very initial learning stages, it is instructive to use only the drysuit in order to fully understand and internalize the buoyancy characteristics of the drysuit.

Cheers,
Walter

I agree with Chris... in principal. But in practice, if I'm weighted correctly, taking the squeeze out puts me pretty much neutral. But if I need more air, I use the BC (wing).

In the winter I cheat and put more air/argon in the DS for the extra insulation and find I rarely need any in the BC to get neutral.

Still, in principal I agree with Chris.