Pockets on Drysuits?

[PerroneFord]

Maybe they got lazy and just have the same list of gear for cave that they previously used for tech even though not 100% of stuff is really needed?

Let's just say if you ever plan to take an IANTD course, brush up on your eastern philosophy first.

Quote from my fellow classmate in IANTD cave class: "Do we REALLY have to memorize chakras?"

 

[Cave Bum]

Well this is just my 2 cents... well, actually I stole it from a conversion I had with Bill Main... but pockets turn into hugh bellows creating tons of drag. The more streamlined you are, the farther you'll go and on less gas. Find other, more streamlined places for all that stuff, or better yet, only take what you need.

 

[limeyx]

Let's just say if you ever plan to take an IANTD course, brush up on your eastern philosophy first.

Quote from my fellow classmate in IANTD cave class: "Do we REALLY have to memorize chakras?"

Hmmm, maybe I should be glad IANTD isn't in my past, present or future ? (Unless I am missing something)

 

[PerroneFord]

Like any training. You have to apply some common sense to it. Real world isn't always reflected in the "book".

 

[Meng_Tze]

Go with pockets on both legs. They may stick out a bit, but when closed properly create little drag (I don't notice it anyway). Make sure you have bungees on the inside and clip everything off. This way you will not loose anything.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Well this is just my 2 cents... well, actually I stole it from a conversion I had with Bill Main... but pockets turn into hugh bellows creating tons of drag. The more streamlined you are, the farther you'll go and on less gas. Find other, more streamlined places for all that stuff, or better yet, only take what you need.

Low drag is reason I prefer a neoprene wet suit or modern close fitting neoprene dry suit to a trilam - no wrinkles and noticeabely less drag.

It is popular among many of the current DIR/GUE types to refer to a "slipstream" effect where draggy items are not really draggy as they are in your "slipstream". When I go flying, I have a slipstream, when I draft behind a semi truck on I-90 I am in his slipstream, but I took enough aeronautical engineering and fluid dynamics courses to understand that when I go diving, virtually nothing on me is in a "slipstream" given the reynolds numbers and flow dynamics involved.

Once you push through the clean water the flow is pretyt turbulent and the total drag may not be as directly attributable to any one single item, but more bumps, protususions and cross sectional area still add up to more drag on a diver. I think some divers confuse good body position (ie: minimal frontal area) with slipstream effects rather than just the drag reducing effects of maintaining minimum frontal area.

I however do not argue the point with a true "slipstream" believer - it would just make then cranky and it does not really matter as if you follow hog philosophy, it makes no difference as you need what you need and if you didn't need it, it got left in the truck anyway.

That said, there is a valid argumemt that storing finger spools, etc in a pocket is probably both more streamlined and less snag prone than hanging them off a D-ring.

 

[PerroneFord]

Low drag is reason I prefer a neoprene wet suit or modern close fitting neoprene dry suit to a trilam - no wrinkles and noticeabely less drag.

It is popular among many of the current DIR/GUE types to refer to a "slipstream" effect where draggy items are not really draggy as they are in your "slipstream".

Once you push through the clean water the flow is pretyt turbulent and the total drag may not be as directly attributable to any one single item, but more bumps, protususions and cross sectional area still add up to more drag on a diver.

That said, there is a valid argumemt that storing finger spools, etc in a pocket is probably both more streamlined and less snag prone than hanging them off a D-ring.

When you're running at 2-3 mph, towing 2 scooters, and 3 stage bottles, the cargo pockets just aren't going to make a huge difference. Of course, darn few of us are diving that way.

 

[b1gcountry]

When you're running at 2-3 mph, towing 2 scooters, and 3 stage bottles, the cargo pockets just aren't going to make a huge difference. Of course, darn few of us are diving that way.

Of course the little difference that it will make will not make any difference to anyone except the person carrying all that junk with them.

Follow that logic

 

[Cave Bum]

When I go flying, I have a slipstream, when I draft behind a semi truck on I-90 I am in his slipstream, but I took enough aeronautical engineering and fluid dynamics courses to understand that when I go diving, virtually nothing on me is in a "slipstream" given the reynolds numbers and flow dynamics involved.

I have the drawback of being both a pilot and an engineer and I look at problems from that prospective.

Yes, there are other factors, and each case needs to be addressed. The sum of the solution obviously equals the total. As was mentioned above, in aviation we worry about disturbing the air flow. Little things like flap and gap seals may only make 3-5% improvement but combined with everything else, say wheel pants, trim and special wing tips the aggregate may increase efficiency 30% or more!

Let’s take that over into diving.

When you're running at 2-3 mph, towing 2 scooters, and 3 stage bottles, the cargo pockets just aren't going to make a huge difference. Of course, darn few of us are diving that way.

I’ve designed stage kits, originally for myself but later to sell, that rig my stage or buddy bottles in exactly the same position that my side mount bottles sit –ie- perfectly in line with my body. I shudder when I see pictures of tech divers with stage bottles clipped at their shoulder D rings but with the butt pointed straight towards the surface. Tight stage straps are tough to get on and off but more then make up for the effort in how much farther you can go with the bottles in that position.

You can look at some aspects of scooters the same way. When I swim a dead scooter out of a cave, I’ve found the most efficient way is to hold it in front of me, in its normal position. If you stay in its slip stream, it acts as a sail and you can use the flow to ‘tow’ you out using about the same amount of gas you would swimming without the scooter. Also, when towing a diver with a dead scooter if s/he hooks on to your butt ring with a 9” leash hooked to the front of the dead scooter, s/he can ride the dead scooter in your slipstream just as if it were under power and the team will come out at almost the same speed and gas usage as if both scooter were under power. This matters more when you’re using underpowered/underbatteried scooters like the Mako to tow and not as much with a Silent Submersion UV-26.

So now back to the thread. Pockets on dry suits are only one small part of the total drag created by a tech diver swimming into the flow or into the current. To see for yourself what difference this makes, try a test. This test has to be ‘apples to apples’ and so it tells you nothing to swim against another diver in a different configuration. That just tells you who has the better SAC rate. Try this: do the same exact dive, first in a dry suit with pockets then in a wet suit without. Have your buddy do the same but reverse which suit they’re wearing. Now compare your ending psi. Then you’ll know for sure what the difference is for you.

 

[Meng_Tze]

you guys are over analyzing this. The effect of pockets is not going to make a noticeable difference. If it does,or you feel it does, you have other issues.

This is not apnea diving where every thing needs to be streamlined. You have hoses, tanks, regs, exhalation, possibly scooters, stages etc, etc..... really lets get realistic.... pockets are not going to make a difference.