First Dry Dive...air in legs......

[TSandM]

I agree with the recommendation for finkeepers, too. I've had two incidents of kicking out of my boots when I didn't have them, and there is no more helpless feeling than being in a drysuit with air in the feet and unable to kick to right yourself.

As I said, dry suits take practice. You have to learn to control the air in the suit and keep it where you want it. Once you're good at it, you can run a LOT more air in the suit if you want to. But in the beginning, the important thing is to be safe. If gaiters or ankle weights help you maintain a horizontal posture and avoid feet-up ascents, I don't think it's heinous to use them. Most people eventually discard them, because there really ARE technique things that avoid the necessity of them.

 

[igotag!]

Wow so much good advice, I can't wait to get back into the water. I will keep you guys updated on my results!

 

[Matt S.]

Having to manually vent your suit is also a symptom either of bad trim, a improper adjustment of the vent valve, a vent valve that dont function properly or a combination of the before mentioned.

I use manual venting all the time. If I anticipate rising, say while moving up over a wreck, I'll vent manually BEFORE the air in the suit has expanded enough to trip the automatic vent. It's one less thing to worry about.

Manual venting is just one more tool in the toolbox... Don't throw it out.

 

[Tigerman]

I use manual venting all the time. If I anticipate rising, say while moving up over a wreck, I'll vent manually BEFORE the air in the suit has expanded enough to trip the automatic vent. It's one less thing to worry about.

Manual venting is just one more tool in the toolbox... Don't throw it out.

Its definetly not thrown out, but its normally not a tool you should need to use. That is not saying that I havent manually vented eihter out of convenience or out of necessity, I have done both. Playing with the venting pressure and manually venting is also something that should be done to make yourself comfortable with it.

 

[chipwd]

I am a very new drysuit diver (10 drysuit dives to date) and I dive (for now) a older neoprene drysuit that I picked up for a song. It works great!

I found that using a balance between the drysuit and the bc has helped me so far. I don't depend on just one or the other for my bouyancy. I keep just enough air in the suit to avoid squeeze and then any additional if needed in the bc. It has worked for me so far. I have gotten pretty good at being aware of how much air is in either and which to vent or add if needed. I'm also diving cold FW usually fairly deep.

 

[igotag!]

So I have made 2 more dives in my drysuit and have improved drastically. I spent the entirety of both dives right side up. I followed closely behind the person I was diving with (years of drysuit experience) and paid close attention to all his manuevers and such, helped me a lot! I have found keeping the bubble in the arms helps alot too!