Struggling with weighing and dry suit venting

[MXGratefulDiver]

I see this argument every once in a while and had even started buying into it since it's been a while and a couple of dives since I certified. I've started to forget how task loaded I was on those course dives and the few half dozen dives after my OWD. Then my youngest son certified. Standard run-of-the-mill PADI OWD with 6 OW dives. Taken in a DS as is standard up here. Taught using the BCD on the surface only, like PADI teaches.

We've had two dives together so far, and even if his progress during just two dives is amazing, I'll still wait a few more dives before I start encouraging him to use his BCD for main buoyancy control. He's still got more than enough to focus on without adding still another thing to control.

I don't buy the task-loading argument ... all it's doing is teaching a bad habit that he'll later have to unlearn. There's a reason why the dump valve on the drysuit is on the left arm. Think about where the bubble in the drysuit wants to go ... then think about where your left arm is when you raise the inflator on your BCD to dump air. If you have the dump valve on the drysuit relatively open it will vent automatically as you vent air from your BCD ... there is no extra task involved. It just takes learning the proper technique and a bit of practice ... which is easier learned if you don't, in the process, have to overcome some other way that you were taught initially.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Mountainmums]

I appreciate fully the logic behind using the BCD as the buoyancy control mechanism and only relieving the squeeze on the DS. And ultimately, it's what I'm aiming for. And maybe it would have been better if I had learned to use the DS that way directly. But as it stands, I learned to use the DS for buoyancy, and since all of my not yet 20 dives have been done this way, I actually have close to no experience with using the BCD for that.
So using the BCD does induce some extra task loading in the sense that it is less familiar to me. But more importantly, on all my dives this year, my DS valve had not dumped air automatically, meaning that I have needed to be actively pressing it to release air. So I think that until I have figured out why that is and how to solve that problem, I'll avoid also adding air to the BCD at depth, because having to dump air with the left hand on the low pressure hose and with the right hand on the DS dump valve leaves me with no free hands during ascent, which is a situation I would prefer, for now, to avoid....

 

[Storker]

on all my dives this year, my DS valve had not dumped air automatically, meaning that I have needed to be actively pressing it to release air. So I think that until I have figured out why that is and how to solve that problem

The reason is that your DS dump valve is closed. Open it fully and then perhaps close it a few clicks.

 

[Mountainmums]

The reason is that your DS dump valve is closed. Open it fully and then perhaps close it a few clicks.

Checked that, repeatedly. The valve is fully open.

 

[undrwater]

Rear zip?

If so, the exhaust valve is likely ending up on the inside of your bicep.

Again, if so, as you don the suit, twist your arm inwards as you put it into the suit. This should help to pull the valve more towards the outside of your bicep.

Beyond that, the valve may be clogged or not working correctly.