Frog kick, drysuit, suit squeeze.

[fisherdvm]

Before I blame it on my cheap neoprene drysuit. I was really letting my suit squeeze me a bit. At first, the frog kicks were comfortable, but after 4 dives, they started to hurt. So I went back to flutter kicks. I got rug burns behind both knees. Of course, I am not a very competent drysuit diver, as I have only about 10 dives on it. Half of it today.

Will it go away if I keep more air in it? Is it the suit, or is it just my lack of experience. Of course, flutter kicks are fine. I've seen tonnes of people doing frog kick with their drysuit. Is trilaminate/membrane suit better than neoprene.

 

[ppo2_diver]

If I wear my suit too tight, I develop blisters. Perhaps these "rug burns" are the beginning of blisters? I would try adding more air to the suit, but not to much. I would also take a look at your frog kick. There could be something wrong there as well.

 

[tangfish]

One type of suit isn't inherently "better" than the other (shell vs. neoprene), but they do have advantages and disadvantages. It all depends on what type of diving you plan to do, as well as personal preference. I have a basic description of the differences between the suit types on my review of a crushed neoprene suit, the DUI CF200.

If you're getting rug burns behind the knees you probably aren't inflating your suit enough to get the squeeze off. Or, you suit doesn't fit you properly. Also, what type of undergarment are you wearing? Most undergarments put quite a bit of padding between you and the suit. It could be the undergarment itself that is being abrasive, though I don't know of any undergarment models that have rough stitching behind the knees.

Cheers,

Calvin

 

[fisherdvm]

I think I was just too worry of floaty feet and out of control ascent. Not yet happened to me, but I witnessed it happening to a new drysuit diver today, twice. So the fear made me dive my suit on the tight side. The jetfins are heavy, and it seem to keep my feet under good control, and I felt air going up their only once. Next time, I will try more air, and perhaps add a calf gaiter.

 

[scblade27]

Disclaimer: I am still fairly new to drysuit diving.

I noticed some of the same problems you are experiencing. I origonally started diving dry with my Avanti Quatros. If any air went to my feet I went head down feet up every time. I switched to the SP jet fins and this completely fixed my problem. I can now put some air in my suit, feel it move to my feet, and still maintain control and feel comfortable because of the weight of the fin.

Keeping a little additional air in the suit basically fixed all the comfort and abrasive issues I was having. I, like you, was afraid of having too much air in the suit. After my dive I ended up with purple marks all over my back and shoulders. My drysuit basically gave me a bunch of huge hickies.

Try keeping a little more air in the suit and see if you are able to maintain control even when you go into a head down position. If your feet are too floaty, try spring straps if you dont have them. Trident fin keepers also make my suit more comfortable and helps limit air flow to the feet. Try to find a safe dive site, maybe one with stuff to hold onto in case you get out of control. Play with the air in your suit, and I will bet you will notice a huge difference in comfort.

 

[jtivat]

I think I was just too worry of floaty feet and out of control ascent. Not yet happened to me, but I witnessed it happening to a new drysuit diver today, twice. So the fear made me dive my suit on the tight side. The jetfins are heavy, and it seem to keep my feet under good control, and I felt air going up their only once. Next time, I will try more air, and perhaps add a calf gaiter.

Don't do the gaiter it is just a crutch. I get a little sore behind the knees after my first few dives of the year but it goes away.

 

[ucfdiver]

Don't do the gaiter it is just a crutch. I get a little sore behind the knees after my first few dives of the year but it goes away.

They're not ALWAYS a crutch. If used for streamlining, I can understand wanting them. Just don't do it when you're new.

 

[rawls]

I am a new drysuit diver also. All of my Winter diving in the past has been in a 7mm. I recently went diving in the Cooper River in South Carolina. The dives, needless to say, involved strong currents, but they were not deep dives...Most were in the 30 foot range. So...I did not put much air in my suit. My problem was that my new DUI TLS350 leaked around the wrist seals. I tried shaving my arms and it still leaked. My question is would the lack of air in the drysuit predispose it to leaking around the wrists. We were searching for Megladon shark's teeth, so we were using our arms and hands alot, both using a pick to keep us from drifting and using the other arm to dig for the teeth. How probable would it be that the lack of air caused the leaking. I plan on checking it out in a pool but have not had the chance yet...Just wanted to get some input from those who have experience with drysuit diving.
Don't mean to hijack the thread fisherdvm...Hope it is ok with you to add this question to yours...

 

[contender]

I am a new drysuit diver also. All of my Winter diving in the past has been in a 7mm. I recently went diving in the Cooper River in South Carolina. The dives, needless to say, involved strong currents, but they were not deep dives...Most were in the 30 foot range. So...I did not put much air in my suit. My problem was that my new DUI TLS350 leaked around the wrist seals. I tried shaving my arms and it still leaked. My question is would the lack of air in the drysuit predispose it to leaking around the wrists. We were searching for Megladon shark's teeth, so we were using our arms and hands alot, both using a pick to keep us from drifting and using the other arm to dig for the teeth. How probable would it be that the lack of air caused the leaking. I plan on checking it out in a pool but have not had the chance yet...Just wanted to get some input from those who have experience with drysuit diving.
Don't mean to hijack the thread fisherdvm...Hope it is ok with you to add this question to yours...

No, Your wrist seals are probably trimmed to short and this is the cause of the leak. You also may have a large tendon in your wrist that when flexed can cause the suit to leak some as well.

 

[TSandM]

You know, ankle weights, gaiters and the like ARE crutches. But we put people on crutches when they can't walk normally. And such things are helpful for beginners. Especially if you have a poorly fitted dry suit that's generous in the calves, gaiters can help moderate the dynamic instability. If you are diving wet with positive fins, ankle weights can help balance you out. DIR divers scoff at ankle weights, but use Jet fins, which are negative, and spring straps, which are negative; the net result is the same.

I used a gaiter equivalent when I was new to a dry suit, and after 20 or 30 dives, I gave them up because they weren't needed any more.

We were all new once, and people forget that.

fisherdvm, my guess is that, after reading everything on this board, you are trying to dive with too much dry suit squeeze. Loosen up the suit and see what happens. You WILL have to be more clever with managing your airspaces to maintain neutral buoyancy.