Gidds v. The Drysuit Round II

[Gidds]

Ummmm no, don't you recall Ray's previous post about not rescuing me due to my penchant for knives and not wanting to be touched? Same goes for his drysuit zipper :yuck: No dude YOU go unzip him!:yuck:
I'm not a MAN, the suit doesn't need a name. If it is referred to anything other than "the suit" it is the LBD aka Little Black Drysuit. PM me the vulgar suggestions anyway, I don't want to do my homework and laughing supposedly releives stress.

 

[Diesel298]

yeah pm me those suggestions too

 

[dbg40]

:11: Me thinks you read TOO MUCH into that reply!!

 

[Gidds]

:11: Me thinks you read TOO MUCH into that reply!!

Whom were you addressing sir?

This thread better not be running parallel to the "drysuit bouyancy" thread :shakehead

 

[JohnL]

I always sit my gasket about level with my adams apple. I want it as high as possible to keep my neck warm and get more contact area. Basically I go just below the bottom of the spot where you can feel your carotid pulse. Too much pressure over the artery can cause your BP to drop and feel woosy (I forget what that is called, but you'll know it if it's in the wrong spot). It also varies person to person depending apon gag reflex.

 

[do it easy]

carotid sinus reflex- good point- I didn't think about this. I guess my seals are pretty loose or I have no pulse!

 

[JohnL]

Yeah that's it. I used to do quite a few gaskets for a local paddling club and would bring them back brand new and untrimmed before a paddle. Got to see it a few time and have done it to myself once. You need to have them in JUST the right spot to do it with a gasket.

 

[Gidds]

Since I seem to spend all my free time discussing latex and undies with a bunch of old guys I have a practical/logistical question (or two):

When donning a drysuit at a dive site do you stand in the parking lot (or the bed of your truck) when it's bloody cold?

As for undies: do you wear them to the dive site and if so how do you do that without sweating to death in the car then getting chilled when you get in the
water?

How do you prevent the mask from freezing to your face when you get out?

How do I go about rinsing my drysuit when I get home? Does it matter that there is a lot of crap like chlorine and iron in my water (please don't tell me I have to start filtering water for the suit!)?

 

[do it easy]

I change from my regular clothes into my undies and drysuit standing by the side of the truck behind the door, depending on the divesite and how many non-divers are around. I try to be discrete if there are people around that I don't know, but it's hard to be discreet with anything that involves a p-valve. I think that I broke Wisconsin state laws once when I briefly exposed myself to a woman I didn't notice who was sitting across the road. It does get pretty cold stripping down in the elements, but I don't stand around and chat while I'm doing that.

Most women I know who dive dry manage to change very discreetly since I've never seen them running around in their skivies. They probably put their undies on before or in the car/dive vehicle. For the modest diver, there are towels or little changing tents that collapse flat.

There is a cave in Missouri that I've been to that is in a quiet park. At least the park is quiet until I start to strip down or attach the p-valve. Then it seems that the whole town parades by to chat us up and see what is going on. I guess they misunderstood the idea of the 7' hose.

As for the mask freezing, just take it off as soon as you can after you exit. I've had water freeze on my gear before. It will usually melt in the water, but can make getting geared up harder for the second dive, although most people stick to one dive when it's that cold.

Rinsing the drysuit? I don't do that- simply rinse the dirt off the feet right after I get out of it and then hang/lay it out to dry. Then again, I dive fresh, so salt is not an issue. I don't think that there would be anything wrong with using municipal tap water to rinse your suit, but I'm not a rinse expert.

 

[SadiesMom]

Since I seem to spend all my free time discussing latex and undies with a bunch of old guys I have a practical/logistical question (or two):

When donning a drysuit at a dive site do you stand in the parking lot (or the bed of your truck) when it's bloody cold?

As for undies: do you wear them to the dive site and if so how do you do that without sweating to death in the car then getting chilled when you get in the
water?

How do you prevent the mask from freezing to your face when you get out?

How do I go about rinsing my drysuit when I get home? Does it matter that there is a lot of crap like chlorine and iron in my water (please don't tell me I have to start filtering water for the suit!)?

OK - haven't done any "dead of winter" diving yet, but here's how I've done it so far.

Since I wear polypro long undies under my fleece undies, I don't feel like I'm really "exposing" myself when I change into my DS undies. I wear those under my clothes when I drive to the dive site - they're not *that* warm by themselves that I sweat to death in the car. I just change really quickly into my DS undies (quickly because of the cold) while standing at the trunk of my car. I always put down a tarp to stand on to protect my DS soft soles from dirt and stuff. I also usually bring a folding chair to make putting my DS on easier . Once in the DS undies, the DS goes on.

Don't know about the mask freezing up - haven't dived in weather that cold yet.

I rinse my DS under the shower at home. There's not *that* much cholorine or iron in my water to worry about that - they really don't expect you to rinse your DS in distilled water . I have the luck of having an additional jacuzzi tub in my bathroom in addition to my regular tub (honestly, I don't even use it because it's so big, it uses the entire contents of my 50 gallon hot water heater, plus some!), so I've installed a hanging rod above it that's strong enough to support all my scuba gear. I just hang my DS on a DS hanger over that tub to dry - as well as my rinsed BC, hood and gloves. When it's dry, I wax the zipper, fold it as directed in the manual and store it away from any ozone producing stuff (those really huge new Ziploc bags are quite cool ).

Hope that helps at least a little...