first dive dry

[H2Andy]

i'm a newbie dry suit diver, but i discovered that the air that you take down with you
will inevitably end at your feet and make you feet-light (go figure)

so... i would recommend burping the suit real good, then getting in the water,
and, vertically, purging your suit really good to make sure all that air is out
of your feet.

then, put as little air as you can in the suit

and keep your valve open the whole time

this really helped me with my "light feet" problem. i am very reluctant to use
ankle weights.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Don't over do it in the squeeze department folks. You don't want the suit getting loose but too much squeeze isn't healthy as it will cut down on circulation.

 

[H2Andy]

i did overdo it on one dive, and got welts on my shoulders. but now i know
what that level of "hurt" is (i have a high pain treshhold... i was going...
is this pain? i can dive like this...)

quite surprisingly, i need very little air to avoid squeeze and be very comfortable

 

[Uncle Pug]

It is a little more than just avoiding bloodshed. Decreased level of circulation can increase the risk of DCS as well as make you colder which can increase the...

 

[H2Andy]

... risk of narcosis? (I have DCS on the brain now)

you know, i have a very thick undergarment (it's a Dive Concepts Thinsulate Extreme)
and i have heard that normally, thicker garments will require less air for normal
circulation.

but i will keep this in mind

 

[jepuskar]

What I have done so far is to get vertical for just a second, I then feel the slight squeeze on my feet..at this point I go back to being horizontal and whatever air was in there is now gone and moved out. Works for me and is not a big deal since I only have to do it maybe once or twice on a dive.

 

[Sideband]

I just did my first 2 dry dives last Saturday. On the first dive I had one really bad moment which caused an "unscheduled ascent". I just couldn't dump air from the suit fast enough. Looking back, I should have just turned and finned back down, and will do so if it ever happens again but at the time all I could think was "got to dump air". The second dive I switched to an aluminum tank instead of my steel 95 and didn't add enough weight. I could get down and get neutral but I was squeezed the entire time. At one point I said the heck with it and added air even though I knew I would have to work to stay down but it felt sooooo good. I'm going back out this weekend to Gilboa to get some more dry time in and party with the other board members there. Wheeee

Joe

 

[mempilot]

Make sure you are weighted properly so that when you add enough air to the suit to eliminate squeeze, you don't do the uncontrolled ascent. If this happens and your exhaust valve can't keep up, you should burp the neck or wrist seal to exhaust air. You'll get wet, but you won't get bent. Be careful. If it was at the begining of a shallow dive, not too big of a deal, but if at the end of a deeper dive, you'll find yourself in a bit of a predicament. Practice in a pool. If you can hover at 8 to 10 feet with a little air in the suit with an almost empty tank, then you should be fine at depth.

I just did my first 2 dry dives last Saturday. On the first dive I had one really bad moment which caused an "unscheduled ascent". I just couldn't dump air from the suit fast enough. Looking back, I should have just turned and finned back down, and will do so if it ever happens again but at the time all I could think was "got to dump air". The second dive I switched to an aluminum tank instead of my steel 95 and didn't add enough weight. I could get down and get neutral but I was squeezed the entire time. At one point I said the heck with it and added air even though I knew I would have to work to stay down but it felt sooooo good. I'm going back out this weekend to Gilboa to get some more dry time in and party with the other board members there. Wheeee

Joe

 

[jagfish]

For my first 60 dives or so in my drysuit, I was really conservative with air, kept a good squeeze.

I suppose now I am feeling more confident with trim and buoyancy control in the suit now (deserved or not) and so I have been keeping more air. I find that a little more air keeps me warmer, but does require greater discipline/vigilance with air control (more sensitive to changes in depth upward) and trim (have to keep that air out of your feet). One poster mentioned going slightly vertical once in a while to clear out the feet. This works well, and I found that the amount I have to stray from horizontal to accomplish this task has become less over time.

I have found that my recent change to the forearm dump has increased the speed of venting air, which has also allowed me to deal with a little extra.

On deco stops now, I frequently empty my wing completely and pump up my suit as much as I can control. This is warmer for me on longish hangs in what I consider cold water (though not cold for many of you out there...)

I also find that sometimes I need to add a bit of air to do valve drills easily. Can't reach with too much squeeze.

 

[alpenadiver]

Originally posted by Mitten Diver:
Bouancy will be detemined by your undies.

A very good point to remember, Thanks.

Originally posted by H2Andy:
i would recommend burping the suit real good, then getting in the water,
and, vertically, purging your suit really good to make sure all that air is out
of your feet.

Before we went into the water we squated down to remove as much air as possible, then again once we were in the water, I know that the suit was very tight after burping the air, next dive I'm going to start to get familiar with the suit and the tank setup, now that I can keep myself horizontal.