My Drysuit Experience w/o Course

[davehicks]

It wasn't even worth $100 for a new valve. 2-3 clicks and it was fine. Wasn't worth the bother.

I now live in South FL and my drysuits are in most likely permanent storage. I now get wet on every dive on purpose!

Sure, it's your choice. I'm just suggesting that when things like this start to fail a little you need to be thinking about how long it is before they fail a lot. Either preventing an accident or avoiding a ruined day of diving, a little preventative maintenance can go a long way.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Sure, it's your choice. I'm just suggesting that when things like this start to fail a little you need to be thinking about how long it is before they fail a lot. Either preventing an accident or avoiding a ruined day of diving, a little preventative maintenance can go a long way.

Do a search. It is a known issue with the Apeks Low Profile valves. Left fully open you often get a little dampness. Close it 2-3 clicks and it's fine. It is some sort of design issue perhaps. As I've said back when I was diving dry it was no big deal. If you run into this issue with the Apeks Low Profile valves, just switch to the Apeks High Profile or SiTech valves. Perhaps Apeks has fixed it now.

Anyway .. enough on this topic. We've derailed the OPs post long enough!

 

[Dubious]

Yeah. Just saying, I use the DUI valve and I open it fully and it doesn't leak.

It is a apeks low profile valve which has been documented quite widely to leak fully open both on scubaboard and elsewhere. I might have my shop change out the dump valve for si-tech as many have recommended on scubaboard and elsewhere.

 

[flymolo]

Interesting. Yeah, I see the si-tech valves offered as options on many drysuits. I guess that's why. I know people prefer them to the dui valves too as they seem to not trap percolation and sediment (or so I believe).

 

[abnfrog]

alot of valves leak if you run your suit low , jim is right......ive owned 100s of suits over 30 plus years but 2-3 clicks are there FOR A REASON i wrote dry suit course for a couple of agencies , we do all failures and corrective action in the pool /confined water . when i started dry suit diving in the late 70s there was no course just "here ya go kid have fun " now a PROPERLY RUN course can make all the difference in 2 hrs of the pool ......you should be able to recover from a lost weight belt inverted and stuck infiltrator all at once ............jm2c

 

[laikabear]

I don't know if you're using talc or what to get the suits on, but I found that using a water-based lube on the seals was preferable to talc or any type of powder. I put some on the neck seal and it makes it go over long hair easier. I just carry a little travel squeeze bottle (like for shampoo) full of lube and apply some to the wrist and neck seals before donning. I don't need it anymore for doffing but at first I used it for both.

With how wet you got, that sounds like it might be a leak, vs sweat. I have had the dreaded low profile Apeks dump valve and I would not get one again. Even the new ones can leak. I had some success with closing the valve several clicks, but I don't think that's advisable for a beginner drysuit diver. You want the suit as easy to vent as possible. Ultimately I didn't like diving with the dump partially closed, so I swapped for a high profile Apeks. The high profile Apeks and the Si tech can be left fully open and they won't leak. And I thought the high profile was going to be enormous or clunky compared to the others, but it's not. It has a smaller base and it really doesn't protrude much more than the others.

Take a 2L bottle of water and dump some over your head as soon as you suit up. It will help keep you cooler before you get in.

 

[Dubious]

I don't know if you're using talc or what to get the suits on, but I found that using a water-based lube on the seals was preferable to talc or any type of powder.

We are using Talc since that is what both the USIA and DUI manual called for. I really have no issues getting the seal over my head, it just went even easier with all the sweat my bald head had. My wife has troubles with her neck seal but that is because of her hair. USIA manual suggested putting on hood first than neck seal than remove the hood to adjust neck seal. She did it once but found the extra steps more trouble than they were worth.

With how wet you got, that sounds like it might be a leak, vs sweat.

The general consensus is I had a leak. I did find that my neck seal is coming unglued as well. Whether that is the cause or there is a leak elsewhere, I will find out after I get it to my LDS.

 

[rjgiddings]

I would teach a dry-suit pool session to any student who signed up for it.
It was common in Seattle to have a few divers a month getting familiar with dry suits.
Nobody here stays diving in a wet suit for very long. And once they went dry... well... nobody went back to wet suit diving.

The one skill that bears repeating from an earlier response - is getting yourself out of a
feet-first ascent... The majority of suits out there don't have ankle vents.
Maybe Apollo suits do have them still? And that's it.
You can't really do that skill in a shallow swimming pool.
Ya need to kick down and get yourself straightened out heads up vertically - quickly - and vent the air from the left arm like mad.

 

[boat sju]

Dubious,

Did anyone previously mention the tip to exhaust as much air from the suit as possible before you enter the water by squatting and burping the neck seal and valve? Then at 15 ft notice the amount of squeeze and maintain that feel as you descend.

boat

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Slightly OT, but in warmer weather, as soon as you get your dry suit on, have some water ready to dump on your head to help cool you off.

Welcome to the world of dry suit diving.