question about dry suits

[creamofwheat]

Ok, I have a couple questions regarding dry suits.

Firstly, I will be doing my OW dives this weekend in a dry suit, seeing as i have no desire to freeze underwater. We did one of our pool sessions in a dry suit to get us used to the feeling of it and how to work it and whatnot. My problem was that...it didnt keep me dry. I had mini pools in the feet of my dry suit. The other issue was that every time I inflated any air into it whatsoever, it came rushing right out again via my neck, and yes, I was wearing a collar. Is it still going to do this in the ocean where there is more pressure on it, or will i be ok? I'd really rather prefer the air i put into my dry suit to stay there until i deflate it myself.

My second question relates to what I should wear underneath it. I was planning on wearing a polypropylene shirt and leggings, fleece socks, and a layer of fleece over top of the polypropylene. Think that will keep me warm enough? Any of you have any better suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

 

[pants!]

Sounds like you're either keeping way too much air in the suit or the neck seal is way way too loose. Most likely a combination of a slightly too loose neck seal and keeping too much air in the suit. If you're using your drysuit for buoyancy underwater and you're overweighted, then you will almost certainly have a large amount of air in the suit.

The water was probably coming in at the exact same moment the air was going out of the seals. Any break in the seal, such as the sort you have when the suit is "burping" out of the neck seal, will let small amounts of water in as well.

One suggestion may be to use your BC more in order to keep air out of your drysuit. Also, make sure you take the time to do a proper weight check with your instructor (there are various methods, but IMO the best by far is to get into the water with a near-empty tank and see precisely how much lead you need to sink with an empty BC when you exhale).

Your insulation sounds about as good as you're going to get without moving to something more dramatic. You may still be cold though, so beware of hypothermia. If you have the shivers at all, it's time to undress and go home.

 

[JeffG]

Ok, I have a couple questions regarding dry suits.

Firstly, I will be doing my OW dives this weekend in a dry suit, seeing as i have no desire to freeze underwater. We did one of our pool sessions in a dry suit to get us used to the feeling of it and how to work it and whatnot. My problem was that...it didnt keep me dry. I had mini pools in the feet of my derysuit. The other issue was that every time I inflated any air into it whatsoever, it came rushing right out again via my neck, and yes, I was wearing a collar. Is it still going to do this in the ocean where there is more pressure on it, or will i be ok? I'd really rather prefer the air i put into my dry suit to stay there until i deflate it myself.

My second question relates to what I should wear underneath it. I was planning on wearing a polypropylene shirt and leggings, fleece socks, and a layer of fleece over top of the polypropylene. Think that will keep me warm enough? Any of you have any better suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Your instructor did an amazing job.

 

[Redshift]

Probably the neck seal is too loose for you. And a wet drysuit is far colder than a wet wetuit. If you can't have another drysuit for the ow dives you should consider going wet. But how cold is the water?

 

[genxweb]

I find it odd that they will allow you to do a dry suit dive with out even having your OW but that is for you to judge not me. As what to wear under it you will get many answers. When I did my drysuit dives I wore water proof snow board pants (ski pants) a wool sweater and wool socks. The wool even if it gets wet will keep you warm and dry fast.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[scubagirl15]

Wow, these are questions your instructor should have covered off with you.

The leaking neck seal could be due to a loose fitting seal or if you got underwear caught on the seal, thereby breaking the watertight seal.

The underwear: polypro and fleece should do it, just make sure the fleece is at least mid-weight. Your instructor should be providing you with this information: dress according to local conditions.

If your instructor can't or won't answer these questions for you, you need to find a new instructor.

Have fun!

 

[creamofwheat]

JeffG...Actually, my instructor did do a good job. He explained that the deeper we go, more pressure will be on the suit and the seals will probably be kept tight because of that. He also said next time we will try making the collar tighter. I was merely wondering what other people had to say about the matter. Other opinions can't hurt.

Redshift...the water is about 10 degrees celcius. But I get cold in a winter jacket sitting outside in this weather, hence my fear of freezing/hypothermia.

 

[JeffG]

I find it odd that they will allow you to do a dry suit dive with out even having your OW but that is for you to judge not me.

I have known instructors to do it, but usually they teach the students in the use of one before they hit the OW.

 

[JeffG]

JeffG...Actually, my instructor did do a good job. He explained that the deeper we go, more pressure will be on the suit and the seals will probably be kept tight because of that. He also said next time we will try making the collar tighter. I was merely wondering what other people had to say about the matter.

Your collar can act as an overpressure relief valve. I guess he didn't teach that to you. And it didn't sound like he taught you anything about drysuit undergarments.

 

[creamofwheat]

I have known instructors to do it, but usually they teach the students in the use of one before they hit the OW.

Hence our lesson in it.