How do you manage buoyancy in your drysuit?

[MASS-Diver]

I was taught to put enough air/gas into the DS to reestablish the normal loft of the underwear, adding more will not keep you warmer. For bouynacy - I use my wing that's what it's there for.

 

[Rick Inman]

I use the BC for... Buoyancy Control (go figure that) and not as a life preserver.

I use the Dry Suit as a suit to keep dry. Gee...

 

[String]

As its resurrected i may as well add me.

Last year spent the entire year using suit alone, no problems what so ever.

This year i decided to use the BC to see if it made any difference. Again no problems what so ever.

My weighting is correct so on single cylinder i dont get floaty feet, inversions, uncontrolled ascents or anything.

If its really cold i use my suit more than the BC to get that bit of extra air in to provide a bit of extra warmth (contrary to the post above, more air does help as its a further layer of insulation).

If you are properly weighted on single tank dives i see no problem at all using the dry suit alone. Simply removing the squeeze should put you near enough neutral anyway.

 

[mogwai]

As its resurrected i may as well add me.

Last year spent the entire year using suit alone, no problems what so ever.

This year i decided to use the BC to see if it made any difference. Again no problems what so ever.

My weighting is correct so on single cylinder i dont get floaty feet, inversions, uncontrolled ascents or anything.

If its really cold i use my suit more than the BC to get that bit of extra air in to provide a bit of extra warmth (contrary to the post above, more air does help as its a further layer of insulation).

If you are properly weighted on single tank dives i see no problem at all using the dry suit alone. Simply removing the squeeze should put you near enough neutral anyway.

Have done around 70 dives since starting in October last year. Have been taught to use my suit exclusively for bouyancy. See the task loading mentioned beforehand. But have learned a lot the past wee while. My suit is a really excellent fit even though bought off the shelf. Thus not much room for air to bubble and wander. have purchased a new shot belt and been diving with that over the past while as well. This seems to help reduce any air migration. Have also managed to drop some weight from my belt as well thus needing less air in my suit. All in all, am completley comfortable with using suit only. Been down to over 30 metres and no problems on ascent either. Not being able to dump air quickly enough as i have seen mentioned earlier has never beeen a problem when coming from depth. Is easier now as well since dropping a couple of pounds from my belt. All in all i prefer to use my drysuit. I am aware of the fact though that if i go deep enough suit air is for relieving squeeze and bouyancy should be established through bcd/wing. Think it is very much a case of finding or sticking with what you have been taught so that you are as comfortable and less likely to stress as possible.

 

[String]

Depth isnt really going to be an issue if its a membrane suit, all you are doing is replacing the crushing effect as you go down, thats a fixed volume of air regardless of the depth so the same volume to get you neutral at 10m will work at 40m etc.

When the diver is very heavy you get problems, single tank it shouldnt happen but twinsets, stages etc can lead to uncomfortable amounts of air in the suit.

I used my suit down to about 40m where i spent time inverted sticking my head through various hatches to get into a wreck and not once did i have an unrecoverable or uncomfortable situation. Ascent is no problem, the dump is slower than a BC but once you learn that and anticipate there should be no issues (i prefer a cuff dump to auto dumps as i like the control it offers me to dump in advance of having to).

This year for no other reason than i thought id test it im using BC for buoyancy although in reality i need very little air in that as squeeze removal tends to put me neutral.

There are pros and cons for each method but my own view is for the setup described about its personal preference, both work just as well.

Earlier on in the year i dived deliverately 4.5lb overweight so i could put a lot more air in my drysuit for warmth and then made up the rest using BC. Since the water warmed up though the weight has come off and its not an issue.

 

[Daryl Morse]

I'm a new diver (OW in April and AOW in June), but since I dive in cold water, all of my dives have been in a drysuit. At this early stage in my diving experience, I avoid using the drysuit for buoyancy because I find it much easier to dump air from the BCD.

When I did the OW course, I experimented in the pool with air in the drysuit and found I didn't like the way the bubble moved around, particularly when it went to my feet. I was able to right myself with buoyant feet, but decided I'd rather just avoid that problem wherever possible by using the BCD for buoyancy and only putting enough air in the drysuit to avoid squeeze.

When I did the AOW course, I practiced this again in a pool dive, but it didn't change my preference to use the BCD for buoyancy. Even putting minimal air into the drysuit, I occasionally find it difficult to remain neutrally buoyant at the end of a dive due to residual air in the drysuit, even though my weighting is slightly "net-negative". (This is why I haven't reduced my weight load even though I can easily descend with less weight.)

I'm personally kind of mystified that some divers prefer to use the drysuit for buoyancy. I've used two different types of drysuits (one neoprene and one membrane) which both have a shoulder dump valve and I haven't found either to be particularly easy to use. I really want to figure this out so I'll probably tag along with an OW course so I can practise more in a pool.

I'd like to hear suggestions from more experienced divers about how and when they dump air from their drysuits. I've watched divers using a dump valve on the forearm and it looks much easier. Is that the key or am I doing something wrong?

 

[String]

I experimented in the pool with air in the drysuit and found I didn't like the way the bubble moved around, particularly when it went to my feet.

Sounds suspiciously like overweighting.

even though my weighting is slightly "net-negative". (This is why I haven't reduced my weight load even though I can easily descend with less weight.)

Once again hints at overweighting.

You only get a moving bubble to play with if overweighted on a single tank type setup..

I'm personally kind of mystified that some divers prefer to use the drysuit for buoyancy. I've used two different types of drysuits (one neoprene and one membrane) which both have a shoulder dump valve and I haven't found either to be particularly easy to use. I really want to figure this out so I'll probably tag along with an OW course so I can practise more in a pool.

I'd like to hear suggestions from more experienced divers about how and when they dump air from their drysuits. I've watched divers using a dump valve on the forearm and it looks much easier. Is that the key or am I doing something wrong?

Personally i HATE the shoulder auto dumps, i dont like the speed they dump at (or dont), and i dont like the manual method of pushing them in followed by an odd sideways roll and salute to squeeze air out of it.

Ive fitted a cuff dump where all i have to do is raise my arm to dump air. I can dump in advance of having too, no odd body contortions needed and i can always stay ahead of the curve.

 

[Daryl Morse]

Sounds suspiciously like overweighting.

I already know I'm overweighted. After my most recent dive, I did a buoyancy check on the surface with 500 psi. I easily decended when I emptied the BCD, without exhaling. I know it shouldn't be this way, but I until I figure out how to get the shoulder dump valve to dump better, I'm looking at too much weight as being a lesser evil than an uncontrolled ascent, which I thankfully am able to avoid. It's not that the shoulder valve doesn't dump, it's just that it seems way too hard to get enough air out to "stay ahead of the curve".

Personally i HATE the shoulder auto dumps, i dont like the speed they dump at (or dont), and i dont like the manual method of pushing them in followed by an odd sideways roll and salute to squeeze air out of it.

Ive fitted a cuff dump where all i have to do is raise my arm to dump air. I can dump in advance of having too, no odd body contortions needed and i can always stay ahead of the curve.

Wouldn't that be nice. I find I have to roll on my side and give myself a bear hug repeatedly to get air to dump. Even then, sometimes it comes out the neck seal, which is kind of a piss-off, since the duds inside get wet. FYI, the suit is a new Whites Nexus. (The seals are latex.) The dump valve is fully open. The more I think about this, the more I want to spend some time in a pool and figure out what I'm doing wrong. If anyone has advice, I'm all ears.

 

[eod]

I use the suit for bouyancy. I have the autodump (on the shoulder) fully open and just raise the shoulder little before ascending. It isn't any problem for me. The amount of air in the suit is really only to avoid squeeze, no moving bubble. I have tried to use the wing for bouyancy compensation, but I find it rather unnecessary when the amount in the wing will be so small.

When I start using my new twin set I will start using the wing for bouyancy, otherwise it will be tough to balance the bubble.

 

[Daryl Morse]

Personally i HATE the shoulder auto dumps, i dont like the speed they dump at (or dont), and i dont like the manual method of pushing them in followed by an odd sideways roll and salute to squeeze air out of it.

Ive fitted a cuff dump where all i have to do is raise my arm to dump air. I can dump in advance of having too, no odd body contortions needed and i can always stay ahead of the curve.

I spent a couple of hours in the pool today to experiment with the dump valve and I came away convinced I'd like a cuff dump as well. I can easily get the air to rise into the sleeve of the drysuit. (If only there was a dump valve there.)

I can get the shoulder valve to auto-dump, but I have to roll almost completely over with my arm at my side. The valve has to be facing almost straight up before it will start to dump. Due to the positioning of the valve on the suit, it's normally facing almost straight down when I'm in a normal horizontal position in the water. Now I know what I have to do to make it work, but I sure would like to try a cuff dump. Sigh...