Floaty feet

[chs8084]

I got drysuit certified last year and picked up a used bare next gen drysuit over the winter (in fact, it was the suit I took my course in). First drysuit dive since last year, and really the first unsupervised with my buddy-husband. I got scuba pro sport jets fins with spring straps and had a 250g polartech undergarment, wool socks, and 250 gm polartech socks with rock boots. We were mostly practicing buoyancy at the platform at 25 feet. I felt like my feet were floaty-- not filling with air kind of float, but just very light, if that makes sense. I also had a really hard time holding the safety stop. I borrowed some ankle weights for the second dive, which went much better. I am already using 24 lbs of lead (more with the ankle weights, but last year in the drysuit course, I used as much s 26 lbs to stay down). So I could use some advice (I know I need to get more dives in)-- ankle weights, are the extra polartech socks a factor (I was nice and toasty).

 

[JahJahwarrior]

What tank and BC are you diving? 24 is a lot of pounds to me. But, I dive a lighter undergarment, and with steel doubles. I don't need any additional weight beyond the doubles to sink and stay sunk throughout the entire dive.

I think there is something mental about feeling light-feeted. It's the paranoia that comes from not feeling in control of floating up. I think with time that sense will go away some. I dive with much lighter fins than you, and I rarely feet floaty feet. When I do, I know that it's not going to mess me up, until I try to hover perfectly still. It's not a problem to extend my legs straight, and tilt up just a little so the air rises to my shoulder and vents away.

Were you taught to use the drysuit for bouyancy control? Do you dive with the dump valve fully open? The more air you have in the suit, the harder it is... I keep the smallest amount possible to feel comfortable, and manage the rest in my wing, where it is much easier to manage.

 

[chs8084]

I am actually diving a steel backplate and weighted STA that account for 12 of the 24 lbs with an AL 80 tank.

 

[lowviz]

Don just your BP and Harness (no tank). Take your right hand and reach behind you to check if you can easily touch the top of the backplate. If so, fine. If not, you are tall and may be diving a BP that is too small for you.

Get Steve Lewis' book "The Six Skills and Other Discussions". Ignore the "for technical divers" part of the title. It is all about physics and mental preparedness. Read chapter three. Everything you need is in there.

See you on the ocean...

 

[TSandM]

Well, there are several things to think about here.

One is static balance. If you have too much weight up on your back and an Al80 tank, you may get a bit feet-light as the tank empties, because empty Al80s want to go butt-high.

Another is gas distribution in the suit. One of the nice things about a dry suit is that you can move air around inside it, and park it where you need it; it's also one of the annoying things about a dry suit, when the air isn't where you want it. If you get too much air in your feet, all you have to do is drop them and go just a bit head up, and that air will move up into the torso. You can park a bubble of it across the back of your shoulders or even in your arms, if you need to lighten the front of you. You just have to be aware that, when you change position, you may have to sort this out again.

The final issue is posture. If you have your legs out behind you and you drop your head, you're going to tend to go head-down and feet up; the minute your feet go up, they fill with air and get light. Head back, body flat, and you won't have nearly the tendency to get inflated feet.

If ankle weights really help, I'd look at your total weighting again, and I'd use them for a little while, while you sort out how to get the job done without them. I used ankle weights at the beginning, and I was told that, with greater facility with the suit, I wouldn't need them. It annoyed me, because it seemed like an incredible patronizing comment, but it was completely true. Nowadays, for example, I can go back and forth from my Jets (negative) to my Dive Rites (neutral) and I don't notice any difference, because I've learned how to move the air around in the suit without thinking about it.

 

[lowviz]

...//... If ankle weights really help, I'd look at your total weighting again, and I'd use them for a little while, while you sort out how to get the job done without them. ...//...

Yes, maybe even lose them now!

My sympathies, you are starting out with a bucket full of variables and nothing "dialed in". Been there, lived there, until just recently...

I'd still get the book, covers a lot of very important issues that were not discussed here. Lynne nailed managing a drysuit bubble, -not in the book. The only thing lacking is breath control, IMHO, not in the book either. Thalassamania gave me the key to that...

 

[chs8084]

Thanks-- I was trying to minimize gas in my drysuit and mostly work with the wing which worked well, til it didn't.

 

[lowviz]

...//...I was trying to minimize gas in my drysuit and mostly work with the wing which worked well, til it didn't.

Wow. OK instructors, this is the clearest and (having been there) most articulate problem statement that I have ever heard.

Tank location on the STA, which hole in the wing, how much gas in the suit, roll, pitch, static balance, lung volume and "depth" of inhalation, how much lead to sink the diver with given undergarments, what does the kit weigh underwater at 500psi, feet position, hand position...

Keep moving and all is forgiven. --->Be able to hang motionless in trim and you have "dialed" it all in.

Keep fighting for perfection, all this won't seem so hard when you get there. Right now, yes, it is that hard.

There should be a course for this, there isn't. Don't give me "fundies" either...

 

[mahjong]

To add my two cents: In transitioning away from ankle weights you might consider gaitors. Gaitors allow you to get comfortable with coordinating the air in your suit without adding the complication of more weight. They keep (most of) the air out of your lower legs and feet.

To some degree, a proper diagnosis might hinge on how your drysuit fits. Is the Next Gen baggy in the legs even with your undergarment? If it's too baggy, you might have trouble weening off ankle weights or even gaitors. And the problem is compounded if the rest of your suit is too baggy. A 250g Polartec jumpsuit is pretty thin, at least relative to what most of us wear here in NorCal. In a 400g Thinsulate jumpsuit, I don't need gaitors in my TLS. If I switch to a 500g Polartec jumpsuit or even my Bare SB Midlayer, I need to don my gaitors.

 

[flots am]

I got drysuit certified last year and picked up a used bare next gen drysuit over the winter (in fact, it was the suit I took my course in). First drysuit dive since last year, and really the first unsupervised with my buddy-husband. I got scuba pro sport jets fins with spring straps and had a 250g polartech

There are actually two different problems here:

• Amount of weight
• Positioning of weight

Fixing it takes two distinct steps:

First, you need to be correctly weighted, which means that you can just sink with nearly empty tank(s) and an empty BC and a drysuit that's fitting close, but not crushing you or restricting your movement, with an open exhaust valve.

Second, once you're weighted correctly, you need to position your weights and/or equipment in order to allow you to remain slightly head-up (nearly horizontal) while hovering, without a much hand/fin movement.

If you're wearing a weight harness, you can usually adjust it up or down to help with the feet up/down problem. If not you can move your tank up or down, or possibly adjust the thickness of your undergarments to reduce the air in the "floaty" parts.

flots.