Help!! How to do a fast surface descent in a dry suit

[bkbomb123]

Hey guys, just hit my 20th dry suit dive TLS 350. I live in South Florida with rippin currents, so some times it's necessary to do a quick desent on a hot drop to hit the wreck.
I can't seem to get all the air out at the neck area and wind up scewin around on the surface. I tried venting my wing completely, burbing the dry suit, squishing the legs and arms after suiting up, depressing the exaust valve and left arm chicken position on surface. The only thing that works is venting a seal without a glove on, and that's a pain in the ass. Spoke to Faith from DUI at Dog Rally, she said to add more weight for these type of dives but then I'm a little to negitive at the bottom and wind up with a lot of drag. Is this just a newbie problem and will correct it self with a few more dives or just poor tecknique?

 

[HIGHwing]

Once all kitted, except gloves, pull the neck seal away from your skin. Step forward with one foot and then squat down. This action should push an enormous amount of air out of the suit if you go down far enough. (Put yourself on a knee) Then let the neck seal snap back - you should be shrink wrapped.

Generally for a hot drop on say the Captain Dan or whatever I jump in with my hand on the deflator, just to get a head start as I usually have just a small amount of air left in the suit.

BTW - I would recommend against too much weight as you can cross the line of enough to "sink the undergarment", but too much for the wing to lift. A DS failure then becomes a bit more of an experience, and you can start getting issues with the neck seal burping, etc.

 

[tbone1004]

basically what he said. Don't burb from the exhaust valve but from the neck seal. You'll get the same shrink wrapped feeling as you do when you get out of the water after the dive. Next time try burping the way you have been, then after you're done, crack the neck seal while you're squatted down and see how much more air gets out. Weight is not the answer

 

[dbulmer]

Same as the other posters but as you go beneath the surface drop your head and dump from the rear valve and fin downwards.

 

[bkbomb123]

Thanks guys. I havn't tried steppin forward, but do a full squat kneeling on both knees and pulling neck seal away also pressing exaust valve , it feels shrink wrapped until I hit the water. There's just a small amount of air left that finds it way to the neck area just as you, so when I do a surface dive to get down it finds it's way to my feet, then I have to invert and get the air to vent through the exaust valve to then continue. I'll try hitting the valve from the jump and see what happens.

 

[flots am]

Same as the other posters but as you go beneath the surface drop your head and dump from the rear valve and fin downwards.

If you do that in a drysuit, there's a really good chance you'll find yourself upside down on the surface, with your feet out of the boots.

Also, although it's certainly possible that they exist, I've never seen a drysuit with a rear valve.

flots.

 

[tbone1004]

in europe and OZ they will sometimes have ankle dumps on their drysuits. Rather convenient but with the american divers obsession with removing failure points they are not found here. Some still do cave dives with stab jackets too *blasphemy i know* saw a pair of divers diving doubles in stab jackets with ankle exhaust valves at little river last time I was in cave country. From australia.

If you're feeling shrinkwrapped, then you don't have all of the air out of your wing, or you're subconsciously moving your feet, not doing proper entries or taking too large of a breath. I'm betting it's a combination of all of the above. You'd be surprised at how little flotation a drysuit actually provides compared to a wetsuit at the surface.

 

[bkbomb123]

Definitly not kicking on the surface , breath holding or taking deep breath, but not sure what a proper entry is? I'm wearing 4th element Hydrotherm undergarments minamal boyancy, 10Lbs makes me slighty negitive with 500 psi at 15'. Thanks for the input though.

 

[tbone1004]

yeah, if you're slightly negative when you're that empty there is no excuse for not being able to sink. If you're fins are flat hitting the water on a giant stride that will prevent you from sinking as easily. If you feel like you're shrinkwrapped before you jump in, it's not the suit, there is something else going on. I'm betting it's your wing not being empty

 

[dbulmer]

If you do that in a drysuit, there's a really good chance you'll find yourself upside down on the surface, with your feet out of the boots.

Also, although it's certainly possible that they exist, I've never seen a drysuit with a rear valve.

flots.

I should have been clearer. I meant dumping from the rear OPV valve on the wing that the poster uses.