Arete
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I recently accepted a position in Adelaide, which means moving from Sydney there. A bit of research indicates that the winter water temps in Adelaide get down to around 8(46F) degrees celcius in winter, as opposed to 14 (58F) degrees here, and apparently "some people dive all year wet..." as I find 14 degrees cold enough, I am definitely not one of those people.
So I recently got a Bare Nex Gen drysuit, and dove it for the first time yesterday. We dove a Sydney site I dove a lot when I was learning (Shelly Beach) which is pretty shallow and rarly prone to current and big swell. The water temp was 22 degrees C (72F). So all I wore undereath was a lycra vest and board shorts.
We did a 78 min dive to a max of 9m (30ft) and by the end I was chilled, but not really cold. In fact I was chilled not too far into the dive, which when I'm diving wet is relatively quickly followed by "cold" then "I've lost my sense of humour cold", however in the drysuit I didn't get much colder than the inital chill. In future I'd wear something more.
I stayed pretty dry, except a user at fault leak. When I initially got in the water, there was a tonne of air in the suit and I was a bit michelin man esque. I didn't realise how much slower the suit would dump, so in a moment of impatience I stuck a couple of fingers into the neck seal and "woosh-sploosh!" did my best impression of a rock swimming, getting a little water in as a result. in future, I won't open my neck seal to let air out. Bouyancy was easy to control with a combination of the BC and the drysuit, but I much prefer using the BC as the contortion required and rate of flow through the drysuit valve are nowhere near as quick and easy as dumping from the BC.
Being the first time I have experienced drysuit sqeeze I found it strange and uncomfortable. Even with enough air in the suit to make we positively bouyant, I found the squeeze in my legs and crotch uncomfortable. Any tips here? I'm thinking the minimal undergarments probably played a part, plus a little more weight so I can add a bit more air to the suit would help, but it's probably just something to get used to. I got a bit of a drysuit hickie in my armpit...
I played a bit with over-inflating the suit, somesaults to vent and disconnecting the inflator hose, to end up in an uncontrolled, panic-riddled feet first ascent, you'd need a pretty catasrophic failure of gear or diver, however I definitely need a bit more practice before the emergency procedure becomes second nature.
All in all, when I can I think I'd prefer diving wet, but the drysuit is a useful and necessary tool for diving in my soon to be home town... looking forward to seeing those Great whites and leafy sea dragons!
So I recently got a Bare Nex Gen drysuit, and dove it for the first time yesterday. We dove a Sydney site I dove a lot when I was learning (Shelly Beach) which is pretty shallow and rarly prone to current and big swell. The water temp was 22 degrees C (72F). So all I wore undereath was a lycra vest and board shorts.
We did a 78 min dive to a max of 9m (30ft) and by the end I was chilled, but not really cold. In fact I was chilled not too far into the dive, which when I'm diving wet is relatively quickly followed by "cold" then "I've lost my sense of humour cold", however in the drysuit I didn't get much colder than the inital chill. In future I'd wear something more.
I stayed pretty dry, except a user at fault leak. When I initially got in the water, there was a tonne of air in the suit and I was a bit michelin man esque. I didn't realise how much slower the suit would dump, so in a moment of impatience I stuck a couple of fingers into the neck seal and "woosh-sploosh!" did my best impression of a rock swimming, getting a little water in as a result. in future, I won't open my neck seal to let air out. Bouyancy was easy to control with a combination of the BC and the drysuit, but I much prefer using the BC as the contortion required and rate of flow through the drysuit valve are nowhere near as quick and easy as dumping from the BC.
Being the first time I have experienced drysuit sqeeze I found it strange and uncomfortable. Even with enough air in the suit to make we positively bouyant, I found the squeeze in my legs and crotch uncomfortable. Any tips here? I'm thinking the minimal undergarments probably played a part, plus a little more weight so I can add a bit more air to the suit would help, but it's probably just something to get used to. I got a bit of a drysuit hickie in my armpit...
I played a bit with over-inflating the suit, somesaults to vent and disconnecting the inflator hose, to end up in an uncontrolled, panic-riddled feet first ascent, you'd need a pretty catasrophic failure of gear or diver, however I definitely need a bit more practice before the emergency procedure becomes second nature.
All in all, when I can I think I'd prefer diving wet, but the drysuit is a useful and necessary tool for diving in my soon to be home town... looking forward to seeing those Great whites and leafy sea dragons!
I think the only cure is adding extra air, extra led, and dealing with the extra drag. In my case I don't like this so much, so my preference has been to shift to diving wet for shorter dives. On boats where I MUST do three long dives I suck it up and deal with the extra weight and drag and plan dives that don't involve long swims in heavy current. I think the problem could be solved with a less buoyant dry suit (i.e., one not made of buoyant neoprene) but I have also heard of guys wearing a cup! Crazy. Either way, I think this is one you mostly have to experiment with to find your comfort zone. I will say this, when you're doing 2+ dives a day, the warmth factor of a dry suit plays a HUGE role in fatigue and general well being. Diving wet in cold conditions would usually knock me out after dive #3 (i.e., nap required!), but diving dry I have TONS of energy left and am generally way more comfortable at the end of the day. I'm sure you'll find the same.
