Horizontal trim with drysuit--suggestions?

[Jaeger45]

Soooo....

I'm taking an Intro to Tech class, have a few dives on my drysuit (still pretty green to it, though) and I'm trying to achieve something like horizontal trim.

Unfortunately, air tends to rise to the highest point--my legs/feet. I've searched a few threads on this problem, and discovered that most people think this will work itself out over time with minimal gas in the suit, a few people like gaiters as a preliminary step, and a small minority like ankle weights (controversial).

Beyond gaiters, anyone have any concrete tips for bubble management and buoyancy? It may be one of those "feel" things, but anything I can do to get the hang of how to keep the gas where I want it would be appreciated!

 

[Tigerman]

Lower your knees a tiny bit lower than your waist, keep the body horizontal and your feet highter than the knees. Your inlet is on your torso, which means with a level body and knees slightly lower, it wont get to your feet even if you keep your shins vertical..

 

[Saudi-Diver]

I have about 30 dives in a dry suit now and used to have problems with air migrating to my boots as I normally dive in tropical waters in a slightly head down trim. I find that if I arch my back and keep my head looking forward it keeps the air in my dry suit across the back of my shoulders and then its just a case of rolling to get the shoulder dump to the highest point to dump air. It will come with time and practice. I have now started using a Backplate and Wing with a single tank adapter and that seems to help with weight distribution. I used to dive 28lb with a 4mm compressed neoprene dry suit and Jacket BCD. I now have 16 lbs on my weight harness and may be able to loose a couple more pounds as I get more comfortable with my new setup.

 

[RJP]

Soooo....

I'm taking an Intro to Tech class, have a few dives on my drysuit (still pretty green to it, though) and I'm trying to achieve something like horizontal trim.

Unfortunately, air tends to rise to the highest point--my legs/feet. I've searched a few threads on this problem, and discovered that most people think this will work itself out over time with minimal gas in the suit, a few people like gaiters as a preliminary step, and a small minority like ankle weights (controversial).

Beyond gaiters, anyone have any concrete tips for bubble management and buoyancy? It may be one of those "feel" things, but anything I can do to get the hang of how to keep the gas where I want it would be appreciated!

You might want to wait until you've got dry suit management dialed in before taking the tech course. Buoyancy and trim control are key to everything else in tech training. Task loading goes way up, and if managing the suit is still a significant task you're going to get very frustrated very fast.

The main way to manage the suit it to keep as little air in it as possible; just enough to keep the squeeze off. (Which requires thick enough undergarments to actually keep you warm.) Manage buoyancy with your BCD, not your suit.

Gaiters are useful for some folks, and would be my recommendation over ankle weights. Gaiters keep the problem from happening (minimizing air in legs/feet) while weights do nothing but counteract the problem once it has already occurred.

 

[RJP]

Lower your knees a tiny bit lower than your waist,

Often not a good option depending on environment and bottom composition. (eg doing valve drills 12" above a silty bottom.)

Also, most new drysuit and/or tech divers have trouble "recognizing" when they are horizontal. We're not used to moving around "laying down" so when new divers think they are horizontal, they are usually about 20-30deg off the mark. When they get horizontal the sensational is "oh crap, my feet are getting away from me!" Your suggestion would cause most of them to drop their knees even lower.

 

[vshearer]

You might want to wait until you've got dry suit management dialed in before taking the tech course. Buoyancy and trim control are key to everything else in tech training. Task loading goes way up, and if managing the suit is still a significant task you're going to get very frustrated very fast.

.

+10 I screwed my Cavern class trying to master the drysuit with only 6 dives at the time. I will say fins make a difference, Jets and some others are negative (I have heard them called DIR ankle weights) whereas OMS Slips are almost buoyant.

On the other hand, now I am pissed and I will get it down good before I go back.

 

[Jaeger45]

You might want to wait until you've got dry suit management dialed in before taking the tech course. Buoyancy and trim control are key to everything else in tech training. Task loading goes way up, and if managing the suit is still a significant task you're going to get very frustrated very fast.

Not to worry on that one. It's been a great experience so far, but it's readily apparent that I need quite a bit of practice before I move on to tech training. Thankfully, I have a good quarry within driving distance, and a great group of people to dive with!

 

[divad]

Task loading goes way up, and if managing the suit is still a significant task you're going to get very frustrated very fast.
QUOTE]



This happened to me .
Get "Jets" and flex your butt. I actually like having air in the legs now.

 

[Web Monkey]

Beyond gaiters, anyone have any concrete tips for bubble management and buoyancy? It may be one of those "feel" things, but anything I can do to get the hang of how to keep the gas where I want it would be appreciated!

Yes. Don't have a bubble.

Like so many other things in SCUBA, if you don't have it, it can't cause you any problems.

The first thing you need to do is is a buoyancy check. Every two pounds of weight that you don't need adds an extra quart of air flying around your drysuit as you change position.

When properly weighted, you'll find that you don't have a lot of extra air in the suit, which means that you won't have a huge bubble wandering around making trouble.

If you're diving a reasonably sized single tank, being properly weighted means you won't need any air in your BC and you won't have a huge bubble wandering around inside your drysuit.

Unfortunately, if you're diving with large doubles, the weight of the air in your tanks can easily be 18 Lbs, which means 9 quarts of extra air in your suit at the beginning of the dive and an extra 18lbs of lead. If this is the case, you might want to use your BC for it's intended purpose (as a buoyancy compensator), instead of the suit, which will have the added benefit of keeping the air from ending up in your feet.

The best way to manage the bubble in your drysuit is to not have one there..

Terry

 

[Rhone Man]

I only have 6 dives in a drysuit in my life, but funnily enough I found horizonal trim quite straighforward as your bouyancy is spread through the suit.

It was when I went vertical that things got dicey...