Safely removing & replacing doubles in the water in a drysuit w. thick undergarments?

[kr2y5]

Some instructors believe that solo divers, and even tech divers, should be able to remove all their gear in the water, to free themselves from entangelement, and put it all back on. I am not sure if this is a formal part of the core SDI Solo or any TDI tech class requirements (it did not seem to be), but it does not really matter, because if this is an important skill, then I would like to learn to do this properly. If I just wanted to get a C-card, I could probably easily get away with doing it in a wetsuit, with a single AL tank with a slinged 40 cuft AL stage bottle, I have practiced single-tank doff/re-don before and it did not seem too hard, and AL 40 is pretty neutral, but this is not the way I expect to dive, so that would be really quite pointless... In reality, I expect to be doing most of my dives in a drysuit, in cold water, with thick undergarments, and in a pair of steel LP85s... while I have not tried completely doffing, and re-donning gear in the water in this configuration, I believe I can predict the outcome, with somewhere on the order of 50lbs or more buoyancy difference between my body and the BP/W, gear sinking, and me getting inverted. Getting to my question, can you doff and re-don your doubles in the water, and what is the secret to doing it right? Can you do this mid-water while maintaining buoyancy and trim? Do you dispense with V-weights and trim pockets, and keep all your weight on your body on a weight belt or a DUI-like weight harness in the attempt to get your body closer to neutral? Do you add padding to make your backplate and tanks closer to neutral? Do you compensate with a proper technique? Or do you not care to be able to doff and re-don your doubles while diving solo?

 

[Akimbo]

I have always considered donning and doffing gear in the water a basic skill which should be mastered long before considering solo diving.

 

[kr2y5]

I have always considered donning and doffing gear in the water a basic skill which should be mastered long before considering solo diving.

...and I accept that, which is why I am asking the question, so that I can learn that basic skill. Doing it in some gear configurations is easy, but in steel doubles and buoyant drysuit it seems non-trivial... would you offer me any hints?

 

[DevonDiver]

I have always considered donning and doffing gear in the water a basic skill which should be mastered long before considering solo diving.

I agree. It's a core open-water level skill. Competency in basic skills should persist throughout training levels, regardless of the equipment used.

I've always believed the 'entanglement' reason to be a relatively unimportant reason for the skill. It's just one of many reasons why a diver might want, or need, to fully or partially remove equipment at the surface or underwater.

From an instructional/learning basis, I believe, it's all about development of equipment familiarity; learning the characteristics of the gear used... and gaining confidence, competence and ingrained muscle-memory in manipulating and using that equipment.

... in steel doubles and buoyant drysuit it seems non-trivial... would you offer me any hints?

Looking beyond the obvious... we can see that one training outcome of performing the skill is the development of problem solving capacity in the water.

That IS an important aspect for development, especially in solo divers.

 

[kr2y5]

Exchanging ideas with others on ScubaBoard is not mutually exclusive with having the capacity to solve problems in the water... one can problem-solve more efficiently if one has thought about something beforehand, learned about others' approaches to doing things, and possible pitfalls. Coming back to some of the questions I asked... do you dispense with V-weights, and shift all weight to your body to get yourself closer to neutral? Or, do you consider the buoyancy difference a non-issue in practice?

 

[Akimbo]

...and I accept that, which is why I am asking the question, so that I can learn that basic skill. Doing it in some gear configurations is easy, but in steel doubles and buoyant drysuit it seems non-trivial... would you offer me any hints?

Fair enough. I never found doubles all that much different. In some ways, doubles are easier because there are more places you can grab and they tend not so twist on you as much.

 

[DevonDiver]

Coming back to some of the questions I asked... do you dispense with V-weights, and shift all weight to your body to get yourself closer to neutral? Or, do you consider the buoyancy difference a non-issue in practice?

The mechanics remain consistent with what you learned on OW class. Buoyancy remains unaffected, unless you allow the rig to become supported (i.e. you let it go/rest it on the bottom). Obviously, your trim is blown to nothing... but I always found a strong enough grip and control of the rig was enough to manipulate myself against the buoyancy of the exposure protection.

It helps, of course, if you are using the wing for buoyancy, and only putting enough air in your drysuit to negate squeeze.

At the beginning of the skill, dump all the air you can from the drysuit. Get properly buoyant using your wing. The rig is then near-neutral.. and you (sans rig) are only slightly, if at all, positive in relation to your rig.

Have a search for threads, websites and articles on 'Balanced Rig'.

 

[kr2y5]

Thanks very much! This sounds more doable than I thought, and it sounds from what you wrote like some weight shifting is definitely in order. The doubles rig currently has -15lbs in V-weights, -6lbs in SS plate, -14lbs in LP85s when 100% full, probably -2lbs or more from regs and manifold... which makes it around -37lbs in total, and therefore about +37lbs on my body without the harness donned. I was not sure I will be able to compensate for much of that by venting all air from the drysuit at depth. No ditchable weight on a weightbelt so far, I was not concerned with that given that I have redundant buoyancy, but it looks like I may need to revisit that, and somehow find a place for some of those 15lbs of lead I carry on my body, leaving the harness "only" slightly over 20lbs negative (still sounds challenging, but I guess I can manage to lift and manipulate 40lbs with both of my arms).

 

[Akimbo]

For me, the ideal is to be weighted for freediving first and then add your cylinders and wing. That gets a bit messy in a drysuit and isn't always practical with twins, but is a good starting point to compromise from.

I know that it isn't taught much anymore but IMHO you should always be prepared for a free ascent — especially diving solo. Just think “serious entanglement and low on gas”. Having all your weight attached to your cylinders can make you way too buoyant to pull that off without breaching the surface like a Trident Missile.

Diving solo, you are not likely to have a significant decompression obligation. Besides, my golden rule is: Avoid drowning, embolism, and getting bent… in that order.

 

[flots am]

I use side mount for doubles, and a weight harness with my drysuit.

The sidemount rig is more-or-less neutral, as am I, so removing/replacing isn't a big deal.

flots.