New drysuit diver here

[cummings66]

Well, this past Sunday was my second dive in open water with my drysuit and I've got to say it's better than the first dive.

After I finished the classwork needed to educate myself with the LDS we went diving. Even though I knew the mechanics of diving it, I've got to say it didn't work out as I expected.

There's a skill here that books just can't teach you. Sure you can understand how to get your feet back in the right spot, or deal with stuck inflators etc, but until you actually do those things you don't know.

I'll relate my first experience and contrast it to the second.

First dive.

I thought I knew it, I'm good with my buoyancy control and have a good SAC so this will be a walk in the park. Well, that just wasn't so. My SAC was horrible, worse than my very first dive in a wetsuit in fact, my back hurt from trying to keep my legs from floating and I even had ankle weights on (I know). My breathing didn't control my fine control of buoyancy like I normally can and it took more effort to descend or ascend. It just wasn't like how I could control things in a wetsuit. About the only positive thing I could say is I was dry, sort of. I sweated from working so hard. My instructor was with me and watching how I handled things and said I did fine, I didn't think so because I just do not have those issues, never have. Diving for me was a natural thing, an extension of my normal life almost like I was made to dive so this experience was a bit of a downer for me because I expected more of myself than I was able to produce.

Second dive.

I spent the week analyzing my dive the previous week and knew that the two biggest mistakes I made that probably caused my problems. Those mistakes were my weights were too high on me and I used too much air in the suit. To get neutral trim in a wetsuit required most of my 16 lbs in a 7mm up high in trim pockets on the BCD and a couple lbs of that was on top of my tank. I've never had floaty feet and in fact they sink very easily which is why the drysuit surprised me last time out when they wanted to float up. This time I decided to move my trim weight down lower and put 4 lbs on the bottom of my AL80. I still dove with the ankle weights because of how hard I had to work to keep the feet down. Weight wise I had a total of 25 lbs this time, 18 ditchable and 4 at the bottom of the tank and 3 on my ankles. I also used less air in the suit this time around, using only enough to loft my undergarment but not so much that I couldn't feel things. So now we see my analysis results are that I had my lead in the wrong places and I used too much air in the suit. I dove thusly to test my hypothesis.

The results, my SAC went back down, not as low as before because my feet were sinking and I had to constantly fin to stay horizontal. The dive felt good to me compared to last time even though I was out of trim. My back didn't hurt afterwards, nor anything else for that matter. I did all the things I'm supposed to be able to do in a drysuit for safety and "I" felt confident in what I was doing because I had my bouancy control back again and I could put myself where I wanted.

I'm not done yet, nor am I at a skill level I desire but I am getting there. I figure once my trim is done I'll be comfortable enough to go anywhere in a drysuit. I have a couple items left to perfect before I'm completely satisfied. This dive I did two things I didn't like, but again my instructor seems to think I'm doing fine and this time I agree with him. Initially I remembered to raise my arm to a position to allow the suit to vent as we went up, but after my buddy signaled he was low on air I forgot to pay attention to that and once I got to around 10 feet I was too bouyant, and second my trim sucked. Both of those things I won't forget, I learn well from mistakes.

My third dive intentions are to get trimmed out correctly, i.e. I'm going to lose those ankle weights because I don't feel I need them, and I'm going to see if I can get my SAC down a little more by having good trim. Like a wetsuit the more I dove it and more comfortable I got the better SAC I had, I fully expect the same here once I get completely comfortable.

PS, even though I have an instructor from the local shop with me on the dives and have covered the material they use during classes with them I'm not getting a card yet because it's not a formal class. They're doing the same thing as a regular class with me except I'm not taking any written tests until later on. This spring when they start an organized class I'll be in it and my only cost will be that of the card itself so I get the drysuit training free and in Winter temps instead of during warmer spring weather. I'll also end up with more experience than usual by the time I do get a drysuit card because I'll be doing it twice so to speak. Once now and then basically I'll just take the tests and prove I can dive the suit. It doesn't matter to me because I dive with them every week anyhow and wet is wet, in this case dry I guess. The nice thing is right now it's personalized with one on one attention which you won't normally have in a class so when it comes down to it I have a good deal.

 

[mnj1233]

Well, this past Sunday was my second dive in open water with my drysuit and I've got to say it's better than the first dive.

After I finished the classwork needed to educate myself with the LDS we went diving. Even though I knew the mechanics of diving it, I've got to say it didn't work out as I expected.

There's a skill here that books just can't teach you. Sure you can understand how to get your feet back in the right spot, or deal with stuck inflators etc, but until you actually do those things you don't know.

I'll relate my first experience and contrast it to the second.

First dive.

I thought I knew it, I'm good with my buoyancy control and have a good SAC so this will be a walk in the park. Well, that just wasn't so. My SAC was horrible, worse than my very first dive in a wetsuit in fact, my back hurt from trying to keep my legs from floating and I even had ankle weights on (I know). My breathing didn't control my fine control of buoyancy like I normally can and it took more effort to descend or ascend. It just wasn't like how I could control things in a wetsuit. About the only positive thing I could say is I was dry, sort of. I sweated from working so hard. My instructor was with me and watching how I handled things and said I did fine, I didn't think so because I just do not have those issues, never have. Diving for me was a natural thing, an extension of my normal life almost like I was made to dive so this experience was a bit of a downer for me because I expected more of myself than I was able to produce.

Second dive.

I spent the week analyzing my dive the previous week and knew that the two biggest mistakes I made that probably caused my problems. Those mistakes were my weights were too high on me and I used too much air in the suit. To get neutral trim in a wetsuit required most of my 16 lbs in a 7mm up high in trim pockets on the BCD and a couple lbs of that was on top of my tank. I've never had floaty feet and in fact they sink very easily which is why the drysuit surprised me last time out when they wanted to float up. This time I decided to move my trim weight down lower and put 4 lbs on the bottom of my AL80. I still dove with the ankle weights because of how hard I had to work to keep the feet down. Weight wise I had a total of 25 lbs this time, 18 ditchable and 4 at the bottom of the tank and 3 on my ankles. I also used less air in the suit this time around, using only enough to loft my undergarment but not so much that I couldn't feel things. So now we see my analysis results are that I had my lead in the wrong places and I used too much air in the suit. I dove thusly to test my hypothesis.

The results, my SAC went back down, not as low as before because my feet were sinking and I had to constantly fin to stay horizontal. The dive felt good to me compared to last time even though I was out of trim. My back didn't hurt afterwards, nor anything else for that matter. I did all the things I'm supposed to be able to do in a drysuit for safety and "I" felt confident in what I was doing because I had my bouancy control back again and I could put myself where I wanted.

I'm not done yet, nor am I at a skill level I desire but I am getting there. I figure once my trim is done I'll be comfortable enough to go anywhere in a drysuit. I have a couple items left to perfect before I'm completely satisfied. This dive I did two things I didn't like, but again my instructor seems to think I'm doing fine and this time I agree with him. Initially I remembered to raise my arm to a position to allow the suit to vent as we went up, but after my buddy signaled he was low on air I forgot to pay attention to that and once I got to around 10 feet I was too bouyant, and second my trim sucked. Both of those things I won't forget, I learn well from mistakes.

My third dive intentions are to get trimmed out correctly, i.e. I'm going to lose those ankle weights because I don't feel I need them, and I'm going to see if I can get my SAC down a little more by having good trim. Like a wetsuit the more I dove it and more comfortable I got the better SAC I had, I fully expect the same here once I get completely comfortable.

PS, even though I have an instructor from the local shop with me on the dives and have covered the material they use during classes with them I'm not getting a card yet because it's not a formal class. They're doing the same thing as a regular class with me except I'm not taking any written tests until later on. This spring when they start an organized class I'll be in it and my only cost will be that of the card itself so I get the drysuit training free and in Winter temps instead of during warmer spring weather. I'll also end up with more experience than usual by the time I do get a drysuit card because I'll be doing it twice so to speak. Once now and then basically I'll just take the tests and prove I can dive the suit. It doesn't matter to me because I dive with them every week anyhow and wet is wet, in this case dry I guess. The nice thing is right now it's personalized with one on one attention which you won't normally have in a class so when it comes down to it I have a good deal.

Write back after about ten dives in the suit. Ill bet your spot on!!!!

 

[TSandM]

When you take this analytical an approach to putting things together, you will make progress quickly. It took me about forty dives to lose the ankle weights

 

[J75]

Once you have about 10 dives under your belt, you'll start to relax and then find that a lot of the things you worry about in the beginning become intuitive. It'll become second nature and you'll wonder why it all seemed so difficult in the beginning. Get out there and dive every chance you get!

 

[miesemer]

I would guess it's rare that drysuit nirvana is achieved on the first dry dives for anyone. I can tell you from my experience that mnj1233 is right on when it comes to the number of dives before getting comfortable in a drysuit.

For me my trim weight locations vary greatly depending on wether many variables, ie, wetsuit thickness; wet vs dry; thin or thick undies; cylinder sizes and materials. As you're doing, you need to take the time to experiment with those locations. You'll also find that your trim at the start of the dive can be different at the end of the dive, depending on your cylinder. For me, one of the advantages of the drysuit is to be able to use the air in the suit for subtle trimming by moving it to were it's needed.

I didn't see any mention of undergarment weight in your post but I've seen people get frustrated when trying to start out with a 400 gram/heavy undergarment. Things went much better for them when they went with thinner undies.

I also suspect "too much air" in your drysuit could have been the reason for your reduced control on your buoyancy through breathing. I'm thinking you reduced the amount of displacement changes in your physical profile by having an already "full" displacement.

You'll probably have great and not so good dives with your drysuit until you get a dozen or so dives on it. After a year of diving dry, I can tell you I prefer it even in water temps that I could get away with a 3 or 5 mm wetsuit.

 

[cummings66]

The first dive I used the Viking foam undergarment, I don't remember what it's weight was but it was hot. It doesn't have a tag that tells you what it is, but it's about 1/4 inch thick foam type material under a cloth type of shell.

The last dive was done using fleese thermal underwear over thermax underwear, I like that combo better as it was cooler and the first was too warm. I'm the kind of person that 42 F temps in a 7mm wetsuit doesn't bother me, but because I want to dive when there's ice in the water I thought now is as good as time as ever to pick up a drysuit and learn how to dive in it. I don't think I could deal with temps below 40 degrees in a wetsuit for long. For me you can take a stated temp rating for a suit and drop it by 20 degrees and I'll be comfortable, so I think I'm going to get a one piece undergarment of maybe 200 wt instead of the viking I have.

I'm a picky person who's never satisified with my skills, there's always something out there to learn or do better and for me diving is one of those things that I dive more for the pleasure of learning new things rather than looking around. For me the excitement of learning is what I want and better than seeing a wreck.

The last dive convinced me that I made the right decision buying a drysuit, the first dive had me wondering if I did the right thing. I like the fact I can use my towel to dry off my suit and then step out of it and be dry, that also tells you I'm diving a vulcanized rubber suit. I realize that leaks happen and for a long time put off buying one because it seemed every time I dove with somebody in a drysuit that they eventually had a leak. Then I decided that things happen and the majority of their dives was dry, or maybe a bit damp from the heat, so why not...

I am curious about one thing, I've heard or read some people talking about these triangular rubber things they use to prevent floaty feet. What are they talking about? Nobody around here seems to know about them.