Is dry suit worth it?

[Cruisin Home]

I disagree a little bit on the warm water idea. Water has a pretty good "thermal inertia" meaning that it takes considerable energy to change its' temp. By putting the warm water in the suit, and if you dont have a leaky suit (mine is very tight one piece with attached hood) it takes quite a while to cool that water. The converse if you just let in cold water your body has to use energy to heat it up. You guys are right in that you must stay ahead of the curve because if you are already cold it doesnt do too much to warm you back up. It's why I dont use this in winter months. But it works great in summer/fall for those like me that like to dive wet. I also have a nice boat that I can warm up in between dives, makes a big diff on multiples!

Like I say I have a drysuit, maybe my main complaint is not like all the weight, tough at topside, particularly for old guys with their back! Also on a new england gathering dive on the bottom, the suit is prone to wear & tear when rubbing the rough surfaces we have here.

my2cents

 

[Lobzilla]

Yes, water has a high specific heat capacity of 1 calorie per gram per degree (C) of temperature. But here is the source of a lot of confusion:

There a two types of calories. One used by physicists and spelled with a lower case 'c'.
The other one is what we use on food labels and in the gym. This Calorie is spelled with a capital 'C' and actually a kilo-calorie (1000 calories) as far as physics are concerned.

So if we take 1 quart of water (approx 1000 gram), pour it down the suit and assume optimistically that we are cooling it down 10 degrees with all the heat going in the body we have transfered the equivalent of 10 (food) Calories into the 'system'. Not much.

But we can use the thermal properties of water more efficiently by drinking it. My secret weapon is now a hot mix of apple juice and silent mineral water 'laced' with honey.
Apple juice and honey are personal taste choices but this mix hydrates, warms, provides electrolytes and fuel. Hot gatorade with sugar, etc. would work just as well.

We should avoid caffein (also in tea) as it is a diuretic (makes you pee) and messes around with heart rate, blood pressure, and metabolic rate. It is also contraindicated for people who are already in a hypothermic state. I assume that I will be in a mild hypothermic state at the end of a cold weather dive.

Remember:
If you shiver in the cold - it is hypothermia.
If the shivering stops - you are either warm again or in serious trouble.

 

[Doc Harry]

You have too much air in your dry suit. Practice more, use less air. It is a skill to be learned. I can hover motionless in whatever orientation I chose, in my dry suit.

Harry, could you please try the following:

Hover horizontally at depth, loft the suit to your liking, adjust wing volume to be neutrally buoyant.

Now, rotate in a 45 degree head down position, hold there, and do nothing (except breathing) for 30 seconds. What happens?

Physics will take over and both the experienced diver and the novice will experience what an unstable equilibrium is.

The moment you get rid of the squeeze in a drysuit, you will have an air bubble that needs to be actively managed and compensated for.

Can this be learned? Absolutely, I got this under control in minutes (and according to Ed Hayes and another instructor well ahead of the normal leaning curve) because my brain has a lot of pre-exposure to highly unstable systems like uni-cycles and helicopters.

However there is no denial that the air bubble in a drysuit 'screws around' with you. If you are not convinced yet, try this in a drysuit.

There is no argument that a drysuit is warmer and will allow dives that otherwise would be impossible because of hypothermia (cold water, long deco).

There is also a very high probability that you will find me in a drysuit in less than a month. However, my wetsuit is not going to be sold, just benched until the next summer. I like to feel the ocean, become part of it (when temperature permits), float like an astronaut in space.

On an entertaining note: I asked several dozend divers during the last week about their preferences on dry vs. wet. There seems to be a correlation between diving and sleeping preferences. Wetsuit (whenever possible) divers seem to prefer to sleep as naked as possible wherelse drysuit afficionados seems to prefer jamies.

 

[Lobzilla]

You have too much air in your dry suit. Practice more, use less air. It is a skill to be learned. I can hover motionless in whatever orientation I chose, in my dry suit.

Thanks for the encouragement.

Air is of course a destabilizing factor, especially if it can move around. However, I intentionally squeezed myself in the suit like a shrink wrapped chicken breast from the supermarket and it still was not like in a wetsuit. In fairness, I did not re-tune the trim through tank and lead position.

As I said here I am now looking at the suit as a source of entertainment for the next 50 dives and then revise my opinion if necessary.

I promise to be factual in what appears to be the inherent stability of the correctly balanced diver/drysuit system and what is an acquired balancing skill. The fact that most of us can stand and walk without concious effort does not mean that upright, two-legged walk is a stable system.

 

[Uncle Pug]

I intentionally squeezed myself in the suit like a shrink wrapped chicken breast from the supermarket and it still was not like in a drysuit. In fairness, I did not re-tune the trim through tank and lead position.

I think you probably meant wetsuit above.

At any rate, excessive squeeze isn't a good idea. Not only will you need to explain the suit hickies to your wife later, it isn't healthy from a DCS perspective nor safe from a flexibility perspective either. You should be able to reach back and manipulate your tank valve(s).

As a starting point I would suggest (on a shore dive) to wade out chest deep into the water with your suit on but without dive gear and let the air escape. This will also help keep you cool while you gear up in the summer.

Then upon descent don't add any air to your suit until you get to 20'. During that part of the descent I will usually do a few side to side arms above the head stretches to get my suit situated. I also check to make sure I can reach my valve(s).

 

[Lobzilla]

I think you probably meant wetsuit above.

Fixed. Thanks.

At any rate, excessive squeeze isn't a good idea. Not only will you need to explain the suit hickies to your wife later, it isn't healthy from a DCS perspective nor safe from a flexibility perspective either. You should be able to reach back and manipulate your tank valve(s).

Agree. I just wanted to get the variable air bubble out of the balance equation and forgot the "Crazy, pain-resistant diver under supervision of instructor. Do not try this at home" disclaimer.

As a starting point I would suggest (on a shore dive) to wade out chest deep into the water with your suit on but without dive gear and let the air escape. This will also help keep you cool while you gear up in the summer.

Did that and some balance exercises while floating that Ed Hayes showed us for wetsuits. At that point the drysuit was still head to head with the wetsuit.

Then upon descent don't add any air to your suit until you get to 20'.

Screwed up there because of the never ending debate about using the suit for BC. Next time, I'll leave the suit alone and use the wing until the suit really gets uncomfortable or restrictive.

During that part of the descent I will usually do a few side to side arms above the head stretches to get my suit situated. I also check to make sure I can reach my valve(s).

Yes, that's on my list. As much as I whined about the drysuit, I can hardly wait until a certain box from DUI shows up. Stay tuned and thanks.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Next time, I'll leave the suit alone and use the wing until the suit really gets uncomfortable or restrictive.

I wouldn't let it get so far as uncomfortable or restrictive! The reason I suggested chest deep was because that should leave enough air in the suit to take you to 20' without a squeeze... but maybe not.

The idea isn't to get a squeeze... the idea is to eliminate unnecessary air volume, at least in the initial stages of learning how to dive a drysuit. But don't go to the uncomfortable stage.

They say that once you really know the rules you know how far you can bend the rules. I think you can even break the rules and make new ones.

When you really get a handle on diving dry there might be times that you will add extra air just to stay warm on a long cold dive. I do, but I'm also aware of how to deal with the extra dynamics.

 

[TSandM]

I do, but I'm also aware of how to deal with the extra dynamics.

This is SUCH an enormous understatement . . .