It's Torture, I tell ya...

[trucker girl]

OMG you really are a math nut! Wow- I'm impressed. I try to do my log book (both the diving log and the trucker hours of service log) without a calculator, but I have to tell you... simple math ain't that simple for some of us! My husband always jokes- his dad is a laser physicist for the Air Force and wants to retire to teach honors physics (or something like that...) and the only way my husband woud ever get in the class is if he were the water boy! Ha ha. Bad joke.

Oh- and to answer your original question... the water thing doesn't work for me. But I am officially a supporter of the "skin" theory of wetsuit donning...

 

[CompuDude]

Thanks for the link- interesting. I didn't look around too much- but this isn't a regular skin, is it? It says it traps a layer of water between it and your skin- and provides thermal protection. (though I imagine that's very slight). Their link to the prices (ordering) isn't working...

I would agree that the thermal protection probably isn't much to speak of.

From what I understand about these Lube Suits is that they're NOT a regular dive skin, but rather a suit specifically designed to be slick so your wetsuit is easier to put on. If you look closely at the (very insufficient) photos, it appears to be made of some shiny, slick material... not sure if it's actually a regular cloth or not.

I can't recall the price, but I couldn't get the price page up either, nor does their phone # work. Oh well, perhaps they're defunct now. My memory is playing tricks on me, and I'm "remembering" prices anywhere between $30-70... I suspect the price was the lower end of that, though. I swapped emails with them once about the time I bought my Henderson Insta-Dry, but decided that my wetsuit probably was not one that would work well with their system, so I never bought one. But it did look like an interesting product when I first read about it. Might be worth dropping them an email, unless you're satisfied with your current system now. Good luck either way.

 

[DanBMW]

Slippery Deck !!!!!

Be careful on a boat when using any type of slippery lubricant to slip on your wet suit. You and others will slip when walking. I've seen it happen and it is easy to get hurt.

 

[santafejoe]

So Trucker Lady how are the Dive Skin s working out for you??

 

[trucker girl]

So Trucker Lady how are the Dive Skin s working out for you??

Did you change your avatar?

I've only been diving with it 3 times... and I like it. A lot. I never tried the conditioner thing, but it works better than the bags. I can get the wetsuit a lot further up- I think I said somewhere that the knee pads are actually knee pads now instead of shin pads .

Thanks for asking.

 

[santafejoe]

Did you change your avatar?

I've only been diving with it 3 times... and I like it. A lot. I never tried the conditioner thing, but it works better than the bags. I can get the wetsuit a lot further up- I think I said somewhere that the knee pads are actually knee pads now instead of shin pads .

Thanks for asking.

Yes i did change my avatar again. Nice to hear your Dive Skins are working for you.

 

[RPanick]

Up here in Ohio, if you get below 20 feet, you need the extra insulation. If I didn't have my 7-6-5 (7 mil in the torso, 6 mil in the upper arms/upper legs, 5 mil in the lower arms/lower legs) semi-dry (plus full hood or beanie and gloves), I wouldn't dive. I'm going to Hawaii next month and I'm taking my full 3 mil plus my 3 mil shortie just in case I want to wear them both together (which is still easier than pulling on my 7-6-5 ). I'm a water wimp.

T.G.

If you happen to be going on one of the night dives to watch Mantas (highly recommended) in Hawaii, wear the extra suit. You will need it, you get cold just kneeling there on the bottom. Even me, who is part polar bear got cold, of course a wet suit might have helped.

Oh, and since this sounds like your first trip, one of the things the DM will do is take you on long tours to use up your air faster. Sometimes it worth it, but we found that just doing a slow circle around the boat turned up just as much neat stuff, and we weren't nearly so tired.

 

[trucker girl]

If you happen to be going on one of the night dives to watch Mantas (highly recommended) in Hawaii, wear the extra suit. You will need it, you get cold just kneeling there on the bottom. Even me, who is part polar bear got cold, of course a wet suit might have helped.

Oh, and since this sounds like your first trip, one of the things the DM will do is take you on long tours to use up your air faster. Sometimes it worth it, but we found that just doing a slow circle around the boat turned up just as much neat stuff, and we weren't nearly so tired.

Thanks for the tips.

I am definitely hoping to do a night dive (if conditions cooperate...) so I'll make sure I wear both... thanks!

T.G.

 

[cork2win]

Ok, well I just wanted to add my very similar experience with the "rental wetsuit" here for posterity. Gosh, how humiliating!

I went to the LDS to do what I thought was just get my stuff for my checkout dives, at least that's what the instructor told me. I knew I'd have to try on the wetsuit (since the one I ordered hasn't arrived yet and I don't know if it will in time) but he didn't tell me to wear my swimsuit and he didn't tell me I'd actually be getting in the water with it. Maybe I should have known that trying one on automatically meant swimsuit but I figured I could do it in my bra/underwear. So needless to say that started out on the wrong foot.

Then he was determined to fit me in a ladies size wetsuit. I've posted on here elsewhere my stature... I'm a big girl, I'm not ashamed and I'm not trying to hide it so why should anyone else? Put me in a man's suit, I don't care as long as it fits! So THREE attempts later I finally ended up with something that kind of fit (the crotch was still droopy but by that time I was too tired to pull anymore). I was sweating so hard I thought I was going to pass out. The first two (these are 7mm farmer john's so pants first, overcoat second) I couldn't even get on past my calves. My calves are big. Really big. I never got the first suit past my calves.

I got the second suit on up to my butt, then realized that I had stepped through the arm wrong and couldn't pull it up any further. I gave up on that one too out of frustration. Peel it off, clothes back on, outside to get yet another bigger size. I finally got that one on well enough that I could walk out like a penguin. So humiliating.

Then to continue the humiliation I got to put the hood on, then do the weight check. He says "we'll start with 24lbs". That's the 10% rule for me. Lay down in the water, let the air out of the BC, roll on my back like a seal. Add 8 more lbs. Retry. Roll over on my back like a seal. 4 more lbs (for those not counting, we're at 36 now). I stopped rolling over but still couldn't sink. I think he gave up and just said "well, that should be close" because he couldn't believe I'd need even MORE weight than that. Hell, neither could I but trust me, I was floating like crazy. I'm *going* to need more lead. Further humiliation.

I was still sweating like a pig because I'm in my 7mm farmer john in a pool that's 85 degrees after just having spent the last half hour trying to struggle into these things that were too small. He finally gave me a break and said "ok, you can get out of that now". Since I hadn't come prepared to get wet I got out of the suit, dryed off with some paper towels, stuffed my wet underwear into my sock and into the back of my shorts and tried to keep my head up while I went back out to meet with him and get everything wrapped up.

Dear God that experience was almost enough to make me say "forget it, I'll do my checkouts by referral on vacation". At least that way I wouldn't have had to endure all this torture! Sheesh!! I sure hope my Henderson Hyperstretch gets here tomorrow and that it's easier to deal with than that darn rental suit!!

 

[trucker girl]

OMG Sue- that's terrible/hilarious! Thank you for posting that!

It is truly an exercise in humiliation! I bought the skin and I really like the fact that it covers me up while I provide the mandatory entertainment...

And that you didn't think to bring a swimsuit or a change... that's so funny! I have had to drive back home when I've been halfway to the shop before!

Before my Cozumel trip a few years ago I hadn't been diving for almost a year. I did a refresher and they had me try on a wetsuit to wear in the pool... I came out with the wetsuit on backwards. Oops. They really tried not to laugh at me but it was wasted effort!

And a few weeks ago diving with Notso_Ken, I tried a new changing tactic. Usually I just stop at the bathroom on the way out, dry off and change out of my swimsuit. Well, Ken had changed under a towel right there at the car and I didn't want to make him wait on me at the exit. So I figured, "if he can do it, so can I." The top is no big deal right- change that under my sweatshirt. Well, the towel I had was a smaller one- big enough to cover up but not really suited for maneuvering. Still, I persevered. I bent and shimmied, twisted and rolled... and got the wet swimsuit off... only to realize I hadn't brought my undies... but I DID have a spare dry swimsuit. So, if you've never tried to discreetly put a dry swimsuit on onto your wet body... let me tell you, it ain't easy. Had the swimsuit been wet, forget it. But I think in the future if the swimsuit is dry, I'll forget it, too!

So, Ken was nice enough to have his back to me the whole time just in case. But if anyone was down on the dock or across the way from our parking spot, let me just say that the whole pulling the swimsuit on thing didn't work out very well for me. I lost hold of the back and when I went to grab the back, I lost hold of the front. Just for a split second... but enough to shoot adrenaline through my system like you wouldn't believe! I looked around and I don't think anyone saw (and thank GOD Ken is such a gentleman!)...

I'll never do THAT again!