Drysuits and Trim

[FishDiver]

I dive with a drysuit and a single steel 100 tank, steel BP, and 12 lb. weight belt. I can trim out perfectly with light weight undergarments. When I add thicker undergarments for colder water my legs begin to float.

How does everyone deal with changes in trim that occur when you add or subtract thickness from drysuit undies?

 

[Doc Harry]

Recently I experienced the same problem when donning my 400 gram Thinsulate undergarment.

Several things helped me get over this problem:

1. I got rid of my gaiters. (Gaiters trapped air in my feet instead of preventing air from getting to my feet.)

2. I kept a "13-foot squeeze" on my drysuit. In other words, I didn't add any air to my drysuit until I got to 13 feet. The squeeze that I felt at 13 feet was the squeeze I kept throughout the dive. In effect I was adding much less air to my drysuit that I had been using in the past.

3. I went diving more often. All of my scuba problems (such as trim problems) seem to evaporate with more diving. For instance, I really had a lot of problems with head-down trim when I dove with double steel 130s and my 400 gram Thinsulte undergarment. My legs floated and my head sank. It was a mess. But I went diving this week with the same configuration and I had no problems at all. The problem seems to have evaporated.

4. I use an Aluminum backplate and shift more lead to my weight belt.

5. I kept track of my weight and trim for various configurations until I got it right.

So my advice:
1. Dive more.
2. Less air in the dry suit.

 

[ZzzKing]

I think suggestion #1 is the solution to 95% of scuba problems.