How many of you dry divers had formal training

[Rick Inman]

Took my class on Scubaboard. Then I went out to a safe place and practiced recovering from feet-first ascents by flipping back over. Kind of fun, but a total waste of time, since nothing like that has yet come close to happening in the following couple hundred dives.

 

[aquaoren]

I bought the dry suit, went to the pool for 2 hours and the rest was extending the range as my comfort grew. So pretty much self taught too.
I have a Poseidon Unisuit Exclusive too. It's a tough suit and very warm but heavy and takes ages to dry. I have an attached hood and it's not the easiest suit to get into.

 

[doole]

Instructor told me not to bother with the course, just putz about in the pool for a night and carry on, which I did, but very slowly. It was one of those bag suits and I felt like I had to learn how to dive all over again. Dangerous blasted thing.

I'm very comfy and relaxed in my beloved DUI however. However, it took me nearly two years to figure out that donning the hood becomes 200% easier if I do so before doing up the zipper. Until then, I always needed outside help with the hood.

Just the fit of that particular suit, I guess. Bee-ach reaching my valves in the thing, too.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Drysuit courses came after I started using 'em. I did have considerable experience with the Navy's version for survival at sea in cold water, so when I got one for diving it wasn't entirely foreign to me. But as for training, I asked questions of those using 'em already, then jumped in the pool and experimented until I was confident I could handle a runaway inflator disconnect while feet up and recover quickly before taking it out in the Gulf.
But in direct answer to the question, no, I never had any formal training.
(I do teach the course now, though - usually free to those who buy dry suits from the shop where I teach)
S

 

[vjongene]

Bought the suit from a DM buddy (he had a spare). We went for a couple of training sessions in relatively shallow water, did the PADI buoyancy exercises, recover from feet-up ascent etc. I managed to have a foot slip out of its boot during one of the training dives and ended up doing a feet-up Polaris... As many have said, it isn't exactly rocket science.

 

[Bob3]

My first experience with drysuits was on the job; they zipped me into a suit big enough for 2 of me & tossed me off the side of the barge, landing on the bottom up to my armpits in mud.
After that, getting used to the suit was pretty easy. A couple years later they actually hooked an inflator hose up to it.

 

[Nalidixic]

Bought my drysuit and the store gave me a package to take home. I'm padi certified, but this store was SSI. So, I took it home, read the little book, watched a video, did a test and went back to the store the next weekend. After that, we took the suit to the local pool and just played around. I had a DM helping me one on one. The next day, she took me to a lake around here and we did a 40 minute dive to about 40ft. No exercises in the lake, just a dive so I could get used to it. After that, I pretty much taught myself with tips from my friends. But, I do have to say, its pretty darn easy. Just add air when it squeezes or you feel a bit cold. As long as you make slow acsents, you will give the air plenty of time to reach the exhaust. Good luck with your new suit!

Nalidixic

 

[oversea]

Thanks for all your responses. I am looking over the net at suits. My LDS is just way too expensive and won't offer some cheaper suits (which some of which I hear are quite nice). He also does not have a pool, so I will be waiting for him to get his act together to get any training. So in short, I intend on getting a suit on my own and with the help of some friends and shallow beach dive, will figure the thing out.

 

[bcsean]

Took the last pool session of OW in a drysuit for an orientation. I then bought a suit, went out with experienced drysuit divers into the ocean and dove it.

Enjoy diving dry.

 

[darkstar]

I bought a used Bare NexGen as my first dry suit. I read the PADI drysuit book and several that I found on the web. I did my first two dives in a quary with my buddy who is an experienced DS diver. There were a few skills I had to practice to get right, but I don't think I would have gotten more from a course.

BTW, for the money, I think the NexGen is an excellent suit. I will have to upgrade though as ... my friend all drive DUI's, .. I must make amends. :dazzler1: