learning how to use a dry suit

[MXGratefulDiver]

What????what ever you are drinking I want some...Ascent to surface can happen..Hanging upside down on surface??

Well ... I did have a Pyramid Ale last night. Does that count?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[JeffG]

Well ... I did have a Pyramid Ale last night. Does that count?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Absolutely

 

[Aquanautchuck]

The LDS I was a DM at included at least a pool session with a purchase of a dry suit. Did you buy it from a LDS or on line. Like Bob said, that cost seems real high. It is about $40-$50 here on the West Coast for a certification. Good Luck.

Charles

 

[Rick Inman]

Rick ... rather than risking an accidental ascent, go out with your dive buddy, invert from about 5 feet (where your fins will be close to the surface), hit your inflator button ... put enough air in your suit to simulate an accidental ascent from, oh, say 40 feet or so ... and attempt a recovery.

Tell us how well you managed it ... (in truth, an experienced diver might be able to pull it off) ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Actually, when I got my first DS, I went to a 28' hole in the Spokane river and sucked down a tank doing just that. I'd grab the log on he bottom, inflate my DS with my feet up and leter' rip. Once I got the rhythm of it, it was easy to tuck and roll.

What I was referring to was getting stuck upside-down on the surface, where you couldn't turn over. Never done that, but it sounds like a fun thing to try.eyebrow

 

[L.A.Dave]

If you actually need to pay $180 to take a class on how to use a drysuit because you can't figure it out you should probably be using a wetsuit and for that matter probably not scuba diving in the first place, stick to snorkeling.

 

[cummings66]

What I was referring to was getting stuck upside-down on the surface, where you couldn't turn over. Never done that, but it sounds like a fun thing to try.eyebrow

You can get out of it. What was meant was that as a newbie to drysuits you might not be able to right yourself.

When there's enough ice on the local quarry sometimes we'll go up, invert with air in the boot and walk on the ice upside down. You've got to have enough air in the boot to do that.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

You can get out of it. What was meant was that as a newbie to drysuits you might not be able to right yourself.

Exactly ... as instructors, we have to think "worst case" ... there's plenty of things an experienced diver can do that a newer diver would not be able to. This is one of them.

When there's enough ice on the local quarry sometimes we'll go up, invert with air in the boot and walk on the ice upside down. You've got to have enough air in the boot to do that.

But here's the difference ... with ice on the surface, you have something to kick off of to right yourself ... and when you do, your fins will be underwater where they can do you some good.

In a "fins up on the surface" scenario, what makes it so difficult is that when you try to kick your fins, they'll stick out of the water to one degree or another (depending on how much air is stuck up inside your boots) ... and you'll just end up flailing them in the air. With some drysuit boots, there is also the possibility that boot inflation will cause you to lose one or both fins on the way up. Now you're a boat without a motor, your boots have a bubble of air in them that wants to be on the surface, and your "keel" is around your waist or on your back (depending on weighting and tank configuration).

The reason why a "tuck and roll" works so much more effectively is that your fins are still underwater, where you can make good use of them to affect the maneuver.

FWIW - I wasn't speaking hypothetically ... I once knew a diver who got himself into this situation, not once ... but twice ... on sequential dives at Keystone Jetty. He, too, thought a drysuit course was an unnecessary expense.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Divedoggie]

http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/DVDDSD.html
This is an excellent book.

Make sure the neck and wrist seals fit properly.
Trim them to fit properly.
Make sure suit is stored properly.
Wear the correct insulating layers.

Practice in a pool.
Adjust to drysuit squeeze.
Figure out what your weighting needs to be.
See if you can keep the air as uniform as possible within the suit.
See what happens if you go to the bottom of the pool and are unable to vent air. See what happens if you get too much air in your feet.
Does your BC have enough lift to offset the amount of weight you are wearing?

When you look at all of this it makes that drysuit specialty course look more attractive.

 

[Nova SS]

Couldnt you just get a pair of gaiters to keep the air out of your legs?

 

[ffde31]

FWIW, I purchased the PADI Drysuit crewpack and watched the DVD and read the book, answered the questions for each chapter. This worked really well for me. The course discusses every aspect of drysuit diving. I bought the course on Ebay from floridapadiinstructor. It was much cheaper than the course at my LDS. Good luck.