horizontal ascent...

[mikerault]

I do, but that may be because the drysuit hasn't been "tailored" to fit me and the boots are a bit large. They do help with keeping the legs from getting floaty.

Mike

 

[jeckyll]

Speaking of which...

Do any of you drysuit guys wear gaitors?

I don't.

My Fundies instructor had an interesting comment. He said he had used gaitors for years. Then left them off one day and found he didn't need them.

Perhaps it's down to how you learn initially. IMO, if you are conscious of how much air is in your feet, you can adjust as you go. Much depends on your center of buoyancy. If your feet are negative with jets / turtles then you may find that you want a touch of air in the legs to negate this effect. That air has to be adjusted as you change depth of course.



Good luck with the new suit!

Bjorn

 

[Jasonmh]

...
If you have turbo soles, I would suggest getting a pair of fin keepers to go on the soles....they really keep the boot tight to your foot.

I agree, the fin keepers are really nice. I did my first 75ish drysuit dives without gaitors or fin keepers and did fine. I started using the fin keepers a few weeks ago and I do really like them. Don't need them, but if I have a choice I perfer to use them.

 

[limeyx]

The idea that dropping your legs to clear the air in your feet doesn't matter, because you're on ascent, is a great one in open water. But I learned this last week that it may be a little more problematic in a cave. Yes, if the cave is ascending, there's a slope that should allow you to drop your feet a little, but it may not be much, particularly if you're doing a slow, sloping ascent. I was watching Danny (Riordan) managing his buoyancy, and I never did figure out what he was doing about his feet. I saw him do the quick "duck butt" thing to vent his wing from the rear dump, and I saw him roll a shoulder up to vent the suit, but he never, ever changed the position of his knees and feet. 'Tis a mystery . . .

That man is a sea-ghost. I can't begin to put into words how impressed I was with danny. Just absolutely amazing in the water, and exceptionally humble and funny on dry land.