flooded drysuit

[do it easy]

as i was gearing up for the second dive today, i ripped my latex neckseal on my drysuit. suddenly, i had to make the choice of whether to dive in my newly converted wetsuit or not. on one hand, it was the last dive of the day, and i brought my backup clothes and backup towel, so i wouldn't be uncomfortable after the dive. on the other hand, the water temp was below forty and we were planning a 40 min deco dive, and with steel doubles, i would lose my redundant lift.

i decided to thumb the dive (no brainer) and let my other two buddies go, but i was wondering how warm i would have been? i have a 2mm crushed neoprene DCI suit. does anyone have any experience with how how cold/how quickly convertible drysuits get when they are completely flooded?

 

[ScubaSarus]

They actually becom dangerous weights that can sink you if they take on a lot of water. Ide say you would have been real cold. You made a real good decision. I applaud that.

 

[Canadian_Diver]

They actually becom dangerous weights that can sink you if they take on a lot of water. Ide say you would have been real cold. You made a real good decision. I applaud that.

What?? I'm sorry, I disagree completely with these statements.

How do they become dangerous weights that can sink you if there is a complete flood? Last time I checked, water weighs the same amount, both inside and outside the suit. This would mean that you still remain neutral.

The only time you might have a problem, is when you actually try to get OUT of the water, or if you're using a rediculous amount of air (or have major air trapping) in your drysuit.

Also, if your thermals are done properly, they should keep you warm, wet or dry.

 

[jonnythan]

What kind of undies were you wearing?

In any case, you made the right choice.. it's *never* a good idea to get into the water with such severely comprimised gear.

 

[oxyhacker]

Huh? Water weighs the same inside or outside of the suit, but the entry of water is usually accompanied by the escape of air, a blown neck seal being probably the worst in this regard.

So while the suits may not physically tranform themselves into weights, they stop being being able to counter the weight you have elsewhere, which amounts to the same thing if you are trying to get to the surface. So I wouldn't count on remaining neutral in the even of a serious flood.

What?? I'm sorry, I disagree completely with these statements.

How do they become dangerous weights that can sink you if there is a complete flood? Last time I checked, water weighs the same amount, both inside and outside the suit. This would mean that you still remain neutral.

The only time you might have a problem, is when you actually try to get OUT of the water, or if you're using a rediculous amount of air (or have major air trapping) in your drysuit.

Also, if your thermals are done properly, they should keep you warm, wet or dry.

 

[Canadian_Diver]

Huh? Water weighs the same inside or outside of the suit, but the entry of water is usually accompanied by the escape of air, a blown neck seal being probably the worst in this regard.

So while the suits may not physically tranform themselves into weights, they stop being being able to counter the weight you have elsewhere, which amounts to the same thing if you are trying to get to the surface. So I wouldn't count on remaining neutral in the even of a serious flood.

Oxy, I agree with your statements. I did mention in my post a displacement of air within the suit could potentially cause something similar, but most rec divers would have to be either grossly overweighted or have a severe amount of air trapped in their suit to not be able to compensate. I suppose the crux of my statement, "This would mean that you still remain neutral.", would indeed be a false statement on my part. Poor wording and late night on my part.

I do agree with Jonnythan as well, it is never good to continue a dive with compromised equipment.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

I agree with both y'all - good decision.

OTOH, a buddy of mine who is equally old and grouchy used duct tape on his latex neck seal when it ripped, inside and out on the neckseal, and it worked well enough that it kept him completely dry for the next five dives that weekend. But maybe it only worked because he was old and grouchy. It's tough to tell...

 

[jonnythan]

I've used the ol duct-tape fix on kayaking drysuits before. Worked surprisingly well, but I was only submerged *part* of the time

 

[Canadian_Diver]

OTOH, a buddy of mine who is equally old and grouchy used duct tape on his latex neck seal when it ripped, inside and out on the neckseal, and it worked well enough that it kept him completely dry for the next five dives that weekend. But maybe it only worked because he was old and grouchy. It's tough to tell...

:11:

His name wasn't RED GREEN was it?

 

[ScubaSarus]

Ahh right you are. Lets say you lose the positive bouyancy your drysuit provides if it gets flooded. Water weighs the same as water. You may have a tough ascent or exit from the water. I was technically wrong.