Divectionist
Contributor
Hi there
I was finally able to head to the local river mouth shore dive 'equipment testing spot' yesterday for my first ever drysuit experience.
Background
I don't encounter water colder than 17-18C at max depth where I dive, with ocean temps usually between 20 and 27 degrees throughout the year. However, I really do not enjoy being wet and cold in-between or after dives, particularly on boats in winter, and have never felt 100% comfortable on longer repetitive dives, despite layering more than adequately. After a bit of research, I ordered a Nova (long live the Brexit GBP) and enjoyed the process of creating my custom suit.
Prepping the suit
It arrived with all options present. I lubed the zip, shot a bit of silicone grease into the inflator valve, talced up the inside and tried it on with boots, noticing that I would need to get larger boots as mine were not accommodating the extra bulk of the neoprene sock. I got a new pair one size up and that worked out well. The silicone seals were fine out of the box, with no need to trim. The extra inflator hose needs to go on the reg and she's ready to dive.
Rough dive plan
With all that lead up time, I had already absorbed every bit of drysuit content on the internet and decided not to go down the path of a drysuit cert. How hard can it be? Yes I would not openly recommend it, but at a familiar shallow spot, with plenty of dive schools splashing around, I found it to be the best way for me to focus without having to cater to the needs of a bored buddy. I carry all the solo redundancy stuff.
I took 2 tanks, with the plan to use the first to get to grips with how the suit feels and reacts whilst carrying a generously estimated amount of additional lead over my wetsuit needs, and then to purge down to 50bar in order to do a proper weight check. I would choose a protected spot for this, with a rock ledge to place lead on. The second dive was then intended as a properly weighted discovery dive.
Conditions
Air was around 20-23C, water was 21 degrees throughout.
Vis started at an okay 10-15m and went down to a crappy 5m.
Other equipment and weighting
BP/W + STA = -7.5lbs
Pony = -4.5lbs
Fins/Lights etc. = -1lbs
I only carry 2lbs in additional lead when diving my usual wet gear. I took a total of 12lbs in lead on board for the drysuit, so I could take it out bit by bit to find that neutral sweet spot without having to run back to the car for more.
Undergarments
This being my first dry dive and temperature perception being such a subjective topic that there was no definitive answer to be found prior, I had no good idea of the undergarments I would need. I decided to go with a Sharkskin top with a thin fleece long sleeve over it, and very thin fleece long johns layered with another slightly thicker fleece.
Kitting up
Not that big of a deal. Feet in, suspenders on, left arm, right arm, head, fold the telescoping torso, shut the zippers, a bit of a self-loving crouch to get the air out, boots on, done. Silicone seals are much nicer than the latex stuff I tried in shops. Unlike my trial runs at home, I was not sweating profusely out in the real world despite the sunny weather, so I was not in a rush to cool down, which was a positive surprise.
Getting into my harness was another story, the second arm was a bit fussy to get in with the large cuffs. I will need to loosen the shoulder straps by a good bit before the next outing.
Dive 1 (40 minutes, 8m)
When I dropped into the water, I was looking forward to that weird 'painful squeeze' on the feet many reported, but it was not really unexpectedly strong. I manually purged the suit a bit more but not much air would come out. I deflated the BCD and under I went with my generous lead burden. At only 3-5m of depth at that point, I did not really need to add air to the suit to stay comfortable, but I played with the inflator a bit to get a sense for the amount of airflow and its effect on buoyancy, and went around experimenting with a combination of BCD and suit inflation.
I kept the dump valve open and got a feel for how the suit keeps air, and when it starts to dump with arm and positional adjustments. I rolled around a bit to feel the 'air bubble', which feels like less of a bubble than the presence of more or less squeeze depending on its location. It feels more like moving the squeeze around.
The squeeze itself was not uncomfortable, in the sense of any pain, even with no air in the suit at around 8m, and I understand that some people dive whilst maintaining the squeeze felt at around that depth without any added air. However a couple of puffs go a long way in terms of comfort, which comes by the way of less restricted movement and an immediate sense of added insulation (the sense of cold water being around you diminishes instantly) and it became clear that I will certainly not be diving squeezed like that.
I soon realised that whilst I subscribe to the drysuit for warmth, BCD for buoyancy philosophy, using the BCD rather annoyed me at that depth. I chose to go drysuit only to get a more immediate feel for its dynamics, and kept it that way for this and the next dive. A couple puffs here and there, a bit of arm lifting, that was really all that was needed, without feeling like I had a large bubble to manage. I think that once I go deeper, there may be a point where I start using the BCD, but I need to feel my way into it. Perhaps having such light undergarments in relatively temperate waters results in a much easier experience than some of the heavyweights in colder regions had to cope with as beginners. I also started to give my dump valve a twist to keep more air in, as I'd find that it would quite easily dump more than I wanted on the fully open setting.
I then surfaced to purge down to 50 without worrying onlookers and established that I can let go of 3-4lbs at this point in time. Then I spent a couple more minutes down at 5m with only a couple puffs in the suit to confirm, and climbed out of the water. I made a mental note about my tendency to rotate forward and to the right with the weight distribution I currently had. This way I had to move in order to stay properly trimmed, with the air bubble quickly exaggerating my attitude in the water, so I certainly see why there is a bit of tweaking involved. Buoyancy was not as much of an issue as I expected, and I did not pop to the surface despite the shallow depth and being a bit cheeky with the inflator at times - but I am sure that will happen at some stage when I least expect it
Surface Interval and first thoughts (1h)
I felt very good about the first dry dive as I doffed the suit to reveal bone dry undergarments. I looked at the towel in my car and thought 'not today!'. I looked quizzingly at shivering wet divers and realised that cold was not really a thing that entered my mind. Yes I could 'sense' the cold water around me when fully squeezed, but it was not more than that sense of it. At one point when I swam against the current a bit, I worked up to what is generally referred to as 'toasty'. How fantastic to have this feeling down there!
I redistributed the 8lbs I would take on the second dive as best as I could manage without more involved alterations to my bp/w.
Dive 2 (70min, 10m)
This time I headed into the current a bit to follow the bottom contour a bit deeper and played with inflating, getting my feet up, and recovering from it. This was not a stressful exercise, the main learning was that normally, head down means down whilst dumping air from the BCD kidney dump when the feeling of positive buoyancy hits, but now head up means down.
Again, I don't even think this is an issue at all if the suit is kept at the loft of just a couple quick puffs around 5m, and then added to as one descends to keep that level of comfort. I could already tell that there was no runaway negative buoyancy with depth, so I would not be surprised if I could get away with very little BCD use even at deeper depths - but this theory is to be confirmed still. I would like to think that the suit dumps quickly enough with the valve fully open to drain the air to a squeeze making me negative enough to sink down again throughout the first 3/4 of the dive.
Once I reached the part of the river bed where the flat sand bottom meets the rocky wall, I once again gave my shoulder dump a twist to keep my loft with a bit more leeway in terms of attitude, and cruised along, soon being more concerned about shining my torch into promising nooks than worrying about the suit dynamics.
I was still irked by the haphazard weight distribution of my kit rotating me out of stillness, because at that point I really enjoyed being so comfortable without moving much. I had to keep a finger on a rock to hover for a longer time without fin adjustments, or keep moving. I was already looking forward to sorting that out.
Then I surfaced a very happy and dry diver.
Post dive observations
The suit takes a bit more post care than a wetsuit of course because you need rinse the valves and keep the zipper free of debris and lubricate it, although the plastic zippers should do without adding grease after every day of diving. It seems to be quite forgiving and so far I am happy to have chosen it over brass. The upshot is that the suit dries twice as fast as a wetsuit, and if you choose neoprene socks, you can even rinse it thoroughly and then invert the legs to dry that part, once the outside is done.
Drysuit diving meets all my expectations and really goes a long way in underwater comfort, post-dive comfort, and hugely increases the range of conditions and durations accessible. I will put in a few more test dives to tweak the above and refine my technique, with some more safety drills, before heading to open ocean sites.
Conclusion
Buy a drysuit.
I was finally able to head to the local river mouth shore dive 'equipment testing spot' yesterday for my first ever drysuit experience.
Background
I don't encounter water colder than 17-18C at max depth where I dive, with ocean temps usually between 20 and 27 degrees throughout the year. However, I really do not enjoy being wet and cold in-between or after dives, particularly on boats in winter, and have never felt 100% comfortable on longer repetitive dives, despite layering more than adequately. After a bit of research, I ordered a Nova (long live the Brexit GBP) and enjoyed the process of creating my custom suit.
Prepping the suit
It arrived with all options present. I lubed the zip, shot a bit of silicone grease into the inflator valve, talced up the inside and tried it on with boots, noticing that I would need to get larger boots as mine were not accommodating the extra bulk of the neoprene sock. I got a new pair one size up and that worked out well. The silicone seals were fine out of the box, with no need to trim. The extra inflator hose needs to go on the reg and she's ready to dive.
Rough dive plan
With all that lead up time, I had already absorbed every bit of drysuit content on the internet and decided not to go down the path of a drysuit cert. How hard can it be? Yes I would not openly recommend it, but at a familiar shallow spot, with plenty of dive schools splashing around, I found it to be the best way for me to focus without having to cater to the needs of a bored buddy. I carry all the solo redundancy stuff.
I took 2 tanks, with the plan to use the first to get to grips with how the suit feels and reacts whilst carrying a generously estimated amount of additional lead over my wetsuit needs, and then to purge down to 50bar in order to do a proper weight check. I would choose a protected spot for this, with a rock ledge to place lead on. The second dive was then intended as a properly weighted discovery dive.
Conditions
Air was around 20-23C, water was 21 degrees throughout.
Vis started at an okay 10-15m and went down to a crappy 5m.
Other equipment and weighting
BP/W + STA = -7.5lbs
Pony = -4.5lbs
Fins/Lights etc. = -1lbs
I only carry 2lbs in additional lead when diving my usual wet gear. I took a total of 12lbs in lead on board for the drysuit, so I could take it out bit by bit to find that neutral sweet spot without having to run back to the car for more.
Undergarments
This being my first dry dive and temperature perception being such a subjective topic that there was no definitive answer to be found prior, I had no good idea of the undergarments I would need. I decided to go with a Sharkskin top with a thin fleece long sleeve over it, and very thin fleece long johns layered with another slightly thicker fleece.
Kitting up
Not that big of a deal. Feet in, suspenders on, left arm, right arm, head, fold the telescoping torso, shut the zippers, a bit of a self-loving crouch to get the air out, boots on, done. Silicone seals are much nicer than the latex stuff I tried in shops. Unlike my trial runs at home, I was not sweating profusely out in the real world despite the sunny weather, so I was not in a rush to cool down, which was a positive surprise.
Getting into my harness was another story, the second arm was a bit fussy to get in with the large cuffs. I will need to loosen the shoulder straps by a good bit before the next outing.
Dive 1 (40 minutes, 8m)
When I dropped into the water, I was looking forward to that weird 'painful squeeze' on the feet many reported, but it was not really unexpectedly strong. I manually purged the suit a bit more but not much air would come out. I deflated the BCD and under I went with my generous lead burden. At only 3-5m of depth at that point, I did not really need to add air to the suit to stay comfortable, but I played with the inflator a bit to get a sense for the amount of airflow and its effect on buoyancy, and went around experimenting with a combination of BCD and suit inflation.
I kept the dump valve open and got a feel for how the suit keeps air, and when it starts to dump with arm and positional adjustments. I rolled around a bit to feel the 'air bubble', which feels like less of a bubble than the presence of more or less squeeze depending on its location. It feels more like moving the squeeze around.
The squeeze itself was not uncomfortable, in the sense of any pain, even with no air in the suit at around 8m, and I understand that some people dive whilst maintaining the squeeze felt at around that depth without any added air. However a couple of puffs go a long way in terms of comfort, which comes by the way of less restricted movement and an immediate sense of added insulation (the sense of cold water being around you diminishes instantly) and it became clear that I will certainly not be diving squeezed like that.
I soon realised that whilst I subscribe to the drysuit for warmth, BCD for buoyancy philosophy, using the BCD rather annoyed me at that depth. I chose to go drysuit only to get a more immediate feel for its dynamics, and kept it that way for this and the next dive. A couple puffs here and there, a bit of arm lifting, that was really all that was needed, without feeling like I had a large bubble to manage. I think that once I go deeper, there may be a point where I start using the BCD, but I need to feel my way into it. Perhaps having such light undergarments in relatively temperate waters results in a much easier experience than some of the heavyweights in colder regions had to cope with as beginners. I also started to give my dump valve a twist to keep more air in, as I'd find that it would quite easily dump more than I wanted on the fully open setting.
I then surfaced to purge down to 50 without worrying onlookers and established that I can let go of 3-4lbs at this point in time. Then I spent a couple more minutes down at 5m with only a couple puffs in the suit to confirm, and climbed out of the water. I made a mental note about my tendency to rotate forward and to the right with the weight distribution I currently had. This way I had to move in order to stay properly trimmed, with the air bubble quickly exaggerating my attitude in the water, so I certainly see why there is a bit of tweaking involved. Buoyancy was not as much of an issue as I expected, and I did not pop to the surface despite the shallow depth and being a bit cheeky with the inflator at times - but I am sure that will happen at some stage when I least expect it
Surface Interval and first thoughts (1h)
I felt very good about the first dry dive as I doffed the suit to reveal bone dry undergarments. I looked at the towel in my car and thought 'not today!'. I looked quizzingly at shivering wet divers and realised that cold was not really a thing that entered my mind. Yes I could 'sense' the cold water around me when fully squeezed, but it was not more than that sense of it. At one point when I swam against the current a bit, I worked up to what is generally referred to as 'toasty'. How fantastic to have this feeling down there!
I redistributed the 8lbs I would take on the second dive as best as I could manage without more involved alterations to my bp/w.
Dive 2 (70min, 10m)
This time I headed into the current a bit to follow the bottom contour a bit deeper and played with inflating, getting my feet up, and recovering from it. This was not a stressful exercise, the main learning was that normally, head down means down whilst dumping air from the BCD kidney dump when the feeling of positive buoyancy hits, but now head up means down.
Again, I don't even think this is an issue at all if the suit is kept at the loft of just a couple quick puffs around 5m, and then added to as one descends to keep that level of comfort. I could already tell that there was no runaway negative buoyancy with depth, so I would not be surprised if I could get away with very little BCD use even at deeper depths - but this theory is to be confirmed still. I would like to think that the suit dumps quickly enough with the valve fully open to drain the air to a squeeze making me negative enough to sink down again throughout the first 3/4 of the dive.
Once I reached the part of the river bed where the flat sand bottom meets the rocky wall, I once again gave my shoulder dump a twist to keep my loft with a bit more leeway in terms of attitude, and cruised along, soon being more concerned about shining my torch into promising nooks than worrying about the suit dynamics.
I was still irked by the haphazard weight distribution of my kit rotating me out of stillness, because at that point I really enjoyed being so comfortable without moving much. I had to keep a finger on a rock to hover for a longer time without fin adjustments, or keep moving. I was already looking forward to sorting that out.
Then I surfaced a very happy and dry diver.
Post dive observations
The suit takes a bit more post care than a wetsuit of course because you need rinse the valves and keep the zipper free of debris and lubricate it, although the plastic zippers should do without adding grease after every day of diving. It seems to be quite forgiving and so far I am happy to have chosen it over brass. The upshot is that the suit dries twice as fast as a wetsuit, and if you choose neoprene socks, you can even rinse it thoroughly and then invert the legs to dry that part, once the outside is done.
Drysuit diving meets all my expectations and really goes a long way in underwater comfort, post-dive comfort, and hugely increases the range of conditions and durations accessible. I will put in a few more test dives to tweak the above and refine my technique, with some more safety drills, before heading to open ocean sites.
Conclusion
Buy a drysuit.
