our first dry suits

[Biodiversity_guy]

Just heard that the drysuits my wife and I ordered at UWS's Divers Fair are in route. Should be here by Friday. Already have "intro to dry suits" dives scheduled for Saturday. WooHoo! :59: :yelclap: I can not wait as my wife has refused to put on a rental wetsuit once she tried on a drysuit and experienced the difference. Now I think we will be out for the next several weekends.

We have AOW scheduled for the end of September so we are be trying to get 8-10 dives in before then in our DSs to get more comfortable with them so we can focus more on the speciality dives at AOW.

 

[Rogue_Diver]

Good for you. It will be different (being warm and dry) but somehow you'll get used to it. My experience was it took a good 10 dives to fully be comfortable with the suit. Keeping buoyancy under control, getting rid of the air in the suit on an ascent, and keeping too much air from heading to the suit legs takes a bit of getting used to. Its all worth the effort though. One suggestion, start working the air out well before you get to your safety stop depth so you don't miss it.

 

[spectrum]

As mentioned, easy on the air, just enough to avoid squeeze.

Remember that the dump valve is not nearly as fast as any BC dump so you nned to ascend slowly and pay attention to where the bubble is with relation to the vent.

Pete

 

[diverdown247]

Congrats!! Wish I had the funds to committ to a dry suit. I didn't get to dive during DUI Dog Days, so that's probably a blessing in disguise.

Enjoy diving warm!

 

[m3830431]

Good for you. Don't wearit out to fast.

 

[www.scubamazing.com]

congrats on the new drysuits. I hope they work well for years to come.

 

[BarryNL]

Just heard that the drysuits my wife and I ordered at UWS's Divers Fair are in route. Should be here by Friday. Already have "intro to dry suits" dives scheduled for Saturday. WooHoo! :59: :yelclap: I can not wait as my wife has refused to put on a rental wetsuit once she tried on a drysuit and experienced the difference. Now I think we will be out for the next several weekends.

Best advice is: ignore them if they tell you on the intro to use your dry suit for buoyancy and not your BCD. Always keep only enough air in the suit to avoid squeeze and keep the dump valve fully open to dump as you ascend; use your BCD as normal for buoyancy.

It does mean a bit of extra task loading but once you get the skills right you will have much better control over your buoyancy than if you had a suit full of air.

 

[Biodiversity_guy]

The dive went well today. Spent a while on getting proper weights and bouyancy, but ended up diving a few pounds too heavy, which meant I had to have too much air in suit to be neutral, which led to a couple of impromptu "feet full of air, spin like a top" drills, :loopy:

Should be better next time as I get my weights dialed in.

 

[RJP]

Which led to a couple of impromptu "feet full of air, spin like a top" drills, :loopy:

Should be better next time as I get my weights dialed in.

Try a pair of gaitors too! Resist at all cost the temptation to go with ankle weights.

 

[spectrum]

The dive went well today. Spent a while on getting proper weights and bouyancy, but ended up diving a few pounds too heavy, which meant I had to have too much air in suit to be neutral, which led to a couple of impromptu "feet full of air, spin like a top" drills, :loopy:

Should be better next time as I get my weights dialed in.

Your weighting should not pose a suit control problem. Only use enough air in your suit to relieve squeeze and provide loft for warmth. Any additional air used for buoyancy control belongs in your BC.

There are agencies that propose using the BC only for surface floatation but IMO that's a prescription for just what you experienced.

Pete