Vertical trim with a dry suit?

[Soakedlontra]

During my dry suit class I have learned that being vertical with your feet up and head down is dangerous but what about being in a vertical position with your head up and feet down like divers in wet suits. Is it possible to maintain such a trim safely?

 

[Agility]

Yes it is, you might have to close your dump valve to prevent too much gas escaping, but this posisition is rather uncomfortable as all the air goes up into the torso so your legs get shrink-wrapped.
horizontal trim has proved to be best for drysuits ;-)

 

[Redshift]

They should have told you why it can be dangerous and then you'd understand the differences between feet up and head up.
The problem with having feet up is that if you become positively buoyant, then it's hard to release air as the valve is down on your arm while the air is in the feet and legs. That can lead to an uncontrolled ascent.
If you are head up, then you can always release the air. But being vertical is not the best position to be in...

 

[Nirvana]

In addition to what has been said, being vertical with your head up can lead some of the air, which at this time is accumulated on your upper body, to escape through the neck seal, reducing your buoyancy and flooding your drysuit.

 

[Soakedlontra]

Yes it is, you might have to close your dump valve to prevent too much gas escaping, but this posisition is rather uncomfortable as all the air goes up into the torso so your legs get shrink-wrapped.
horizontal trim has proved to be best for drysuits ;-)

Thank you very much for your comments!

I have never considered the possibility of being vertical until I did a dive on a wall few weeks ago. I wanted to take pictures of animals that were hanging from the ceiling of a ledge so I cranked my neck to an uncomfortable position and somewhat I was able to do it. Later on I wondered whether positioning myself vertically would have been a good idea or not. After reading your comments and especially Nirvana's I don't think is a feasible option because I don't want to get wet for the sake of a picture. Maybe next time I should turn over the camera and not my neck to take pictures even if I wouldn't be able to see the LCD screen.

---------- Post added February 14th, 2014 at 10:17 AM ----------

They should have told you why it can be dangerous and then you'd understand the differences between feet up and head up.
The problem with having feet up is that if you become positively buoyant, then it's hard to release air as the valve is down on your arm while the air is in the feet and legs. That can lead to an uncontrolled ascent.
If you are head up, then you can always release the air. But being vertical is not the best position to be in...

Yes what you mention was covered in the class but because since then I have been diving horizontally I have never thought much about the possibility of being vertical feet down-head up.

 

[mala]

if you are feet up its hard to vent air.
if you are head up its hard to not vent air.(through neck seal)

either is not good.

Horizontal is the price you pay for being warm.

 

[Agility]

Maybe next time I should turn over the camera and not my neck to take pictures even if I wouldn't be able to see the LCD screen.

You could just roll over to your left side (if there is enough room for your legs to the right)

 

[TSandM]

You CAN do it . . . You have to recognize that you will lose buoyancy and will have to kick, and you have to balance the tendency of the steel tank to take you on over backwards. My personal preference is to orient myself so I can take the photograph horizontally, or perhaps just a BIT head up . . . To date, I have not encountered the photograph I had to get vertical to take.

 

[Bluey]

I go head up quite often. Sometimes the way out of a wreck is a vertical exit. Do it often and it presents no problem. You'll probably lose some air from your neck seal so just compensate with a few puffs into your BCD or kick a bit (but that may stir up silt).

I don't think feet up is dangerous either as long as you don't ascend in this position. If you do ascend, you will need to flip into a horizontal or head up position before your air bubble expands too much and makes it difficult to get the feet down. With time you come to read the signs of buoyancy trouble early and make little adjustments to keep things in check.

When I first got my dry suit I spent a good amount of time in shallow water trying all positions. It took me quite a few dives to get things really smooth in a drysuit.

 

[Soakedlontra]

You could just roll over to your left side (if there is enough room for your legs to the right)

I will try next time I dive that wall.

---------- Post added February 18th, 2014 at 10:58 AM ----------

You CAN do it . . . You have to recognize that you will lose buoyancy and will have to kick, and you have to balance the tendency of the steel tank to take you on over backwards. My personal preference is to orient myself so I can take the photograph horizontally, or perhaps just a BIT head up . . . To date, I have not encountered the photograph I had to get vertical to take.

Now I am curious to try it! , but I will practice it in shallower water and nearly at the end of a dive so even if I get wet it wouldn't be a big deal.

Taking pictures horizontally has been my preference too...until I saw a colorful combination of zoanthids, star fish and yellow tinted buffalo sculpin hanging from the ceiling of that ledge like bats.