Instructors wearing drysuits while students wear wetsuits

[j yaeger]

why not???:cool2:

 

[00wabbit]

All my instructors were in Drysuits. But they didnt wear hoods or gloves. The students all had 7mil farmer johns and hoods and gloves so they probably felt similar to us.

 

[Colliam7]

How many instructors are open-minded to open water students in dry suits ?

i have no problem with it, but . . . It is a tactic that necessarily invokes additional instruction time for student and instructor, and that needs to be clearly understood at the outset. This will work with individual / private students.

I dive dry when conditions require it - for me. I cannot afford, as an instructor, to be impaired by cold. I seldom need to do so. Notable exceptions are doing the Deep dive in AOW, where the bottom temp is close to 48 degrees, and I am in the water for an extended period. And OW completion dives when the water temperature is below 60 degrees. I will dive a 1, 3, or 5mm wetsuit, but no thicker.

In fact, I am doing OW dives this week with a student who MUST finish by 01 Jan, and the option of travel to a warmer climes is not available. She will be in a 5+5 (5mm Farmer John plus 5mm shorty), I will be dry.

 

[h2ogypsy]

I am so thankful for the responses I have gotten and for those I hope to get. I have only been an Instructor for about a year and I want to be sure I can offer my students a safe, practical, and knowledgable dive experience. I like the idea of offering the students dry suits, however the shop I work for probably cannot afford it yet, but it's a future option!! Thanks again everyone!

---------- Post added December 16th, 2012 at 05:27 PM ----------

Thank you! You are in a climate similar to mine (NC East Coast) so thank you for your words.

 

[TSandM]

I don't see that anyone has brought up what I think is another very important factor: The instructors and staff generally spend more time in the water than the students do, at least in our classes. We have to go out and set the float, and pick it up; it's not uncommon for me to have to escort a student back to shore to fix something, and then escort them back to the group. Because of the low viz at our sites on many summer days, we have adopted a strategy of working with no more than two students at a time, which means Peter sits in the water for a LONG time, doing skills with each group, and then I take them on tour. We try to make sure students don't have to stay in the water long enough to get really cold, but the strategies we use to do that mean WE spend a LOT of time in the water!

 

[Furnari]

During my OW, the instructors and most of the DMs were in drysuits, and it didn't bother me a bit. It was logical- they dive a lot in cold water, so the they could justify the expense. I never thought that they should suffer along with me out of solidarity. As soon as I realized that I was going to be serious about cold water diving, I started looking for my own drysuit.

 

[Peter_C]

When my partner got certified it was her in a drysuit and another girl in a wetsuit. The wetsuit girl froze in the 52 degree water and had to stop. If she continues to dive she will be a warm water diver and stated that. On the other hand my gal and I did her first post cert open water dives in 46 degree water that dropped to 43 degrees at one point. She was cool, but never cold thanks to a drysuit or she would have never dove with me again. If we would have started her in a wetsuit with confidence I would say she would have never finished her certification.

From the instructor side, well dive what is comfortable. Students seeing their instructors in drysuits could well sell a few down the line.

 

[fdog]

First of all, I wear a drysuit when water temps are below 76 degrees F. So of course I wear one when we have classes here in the winter (39 to 40 degrees F) and spring (45 degrees F) and, come to think, in the summer (65 degrees F).

We all need to be sharp, to stay ahead of potential problems. I believe leadership should wear whatever keeps them warm, and the students safe.


BTW, overall, 80% of the students I teach are in drysuits themselves. In the winter it is often 100%. Our shop charges very little for the "drysuit option"...$25 IIRC? It has paid off hansomely in retention and return customers.


All the best, James

 

[boulderjohn]

I live in an area with borderline conditions. Most of the instructors around here wear wet suits. I wear a dry suit. There is little active local recreational diving, so most divers go to tropical resorts, making the retail market for dry suits miniscule. Consequently, few of the shops stock dry suits for student use, because the expense would put them out of business.

Here are some thoughts:

1. As TSandM said, an instructor can often be in the water much, much longer than a student, possibly twice as long on a typical dive.

2. How is it possible to feel as the students do anyway? We are all different. I spent a lot of time in an 85 degree pool today, working with DM candidates. I was wearing a 3mm wet suit, and I was fine throughout. One of the candidates was wearing 5 mm, and she was shivering bear the end of the session. Wer are all different, so my wearing the same gear as the students means nothing about having me feel what they feel.

3. Do you think a class is better off if the instructor has to call the dives off early because he or she is too cold to continue?

4. If there is an emergency, so you want the instructor responding at full capacity or while shivering and unable to move the limbs efficiently?

 

[Kryssa]

I certified in a drysuit in Monterey. I think the temps were about 51F at the time. I think this is the reason I continued to dive locally rather than strictly on warm water vacations.