Valve drill issues with drysuit undies

[Marie13]

Undergarments that fit on the looser side may help. It's possible your drysuit may also still be contributing a bit more than you think, especially if the sleeves are not long enough or allow for the girth of cold water gear. This is longer than you need for most other diving motions as the arm material moves more than most imagine when reaching back. It's made worse with thick undergarments as they take up some of the slack. If those UGs are tight they restrict movement too and together make even more difficult. Another factor is if the overall length of your DS torso doesnt allow for additional movement it will restrict the arms. The Fusion doesnt have much additional torso length. The body position when reaching for valves can use up a lot of play in the entire suit.

Drysuit sleeves are actually a wee bit long for me! I'm always pulled them up. I always make sure to pull the skin up all the way. There is some extra play in it.

 

[ChuckP]

I have a Bare double layer set that I used up there, tops and bottoms. The thickness does add some restriction..... How close can you get? On land can a second person make you reach your valves while suited up - your tanks will probably be lower while standing than when prone in the water.

 

[Marie13]

I have a Bare double layer set that I used up there, tops and bottoms. The thickness does add some restriction..... How close can you get? On land can a second person make you reach your valves while suited up - your tanks will probably be lower while standing than when prone in the water.

With the Thermal Fusion, it was 3-4", I think, per buddy that saw me attempt two weeks ago. That included the loosened belt I have to do. I've never gotten in drysuit and undies on land with doubles on my back.

 

[Jack Hammer]

Drysuit sleeves are actually a wee bit long for me! I'm always pulled them up. I always make sure to pull the skin up all the way. There is some extra play in it.

Might be worth it to call DRIS and see if you can schedule with them to check your overall DS and UG fit. The one piece UG if not long enough in the torso can make it difficult to reach valves too. If the suit fits fine, going up one size with the UG may help. It all works together. Might also be worth considering trying a rental suit.

Best of luck, I went through the same thing years ago and understand how frustrating it is.

 

[AJ]

First of all make sure your dry suit is right sized. I had the same problem with my dry suit. In the end it turned out it was too small and I was literally ripping it apart while trying to do valve drills with thicker undies. With swimming pool undies I could do a valve drill quite easy. Had many leaks because of this. In the end I bought a new suit. Undies do matter, but not that much.

The other thing is to do stretching exercises. This will make your shoulders more flexible and will make it easier to reach your valves.

 

[Valyngar]

Have you looked into Weezle extreme plus? I had more traditional like undersuit and same valve probles as you had. After changing to Weezle those problems went away. Weezle is made sleeping bag like material. Also really warm and made for 4 degrees diving. Just rememberer to buy 'extreme plus' (not extreme), or you get cold.

 

[guruboy]

are you "stretching" your undersuit out on the surface before going to depth? over-inflate and do a "good morning" stretch with full extension and reach back for your valves.

it is hard to re-adjust the undersuit after it's under pressure.

 

[Tug]

are you "stretching" your undersuit out on the surface before going to depth? over-inflate and do a "good morning" stretch with full extension and reach back for your valves.

it is hard to re-adjust the undersuit after it's under pressure.

+1 to this! I found that this drastically helps my range of motion on a dive and it’s very noticeable when I don’t do it.

As for the one piece/two piece question, I’ve had pretty good luck with my two piece Arctics mobility wise. Only issue is when they aren’t sitting right and moving around creates a gap in them and I notice that pretty quick when the drysuit is right up against my base layer!

 

[Nomad-Diver]

are you "stretching" your undersuit out on the surface before going to depth? over-inflate and do a "good morning" stretch with full extension and reach back for your valves.

+2 to that
It needs to be really really inflated, and a really vigorous upper body stretch/wiggle to gain as much 'freedom' as possible
Good luck.
PS I use 4th Element Arctic 2 piece and need to 'do the wiggle' even with that

 

[formernuke]

I can't wear one piece undergarments. They are either to short to the point that I can't reach up even without the drysuit and harnesses on or way to bulky.

4th element also doesn't fit me as the arms are to short on the tops. I went with DUI 2 piece, with a ll bean merino wool base layer. The 2 piece allowed the top to shift up when I reach. I haven't done valve drills in doubles as my class has been postponed but I can reach my neck and single tank valve.