What do you drysuit divers use to compress excess air from legs?

[walkonmars]

I dove my Hollis Fx100 for the first time this weekend. Overall a good fit but the torso is barely long enough such that after getting legs and arms in, trying to slip the suit over my head is a real fight. The suit does not have a telescoping waist.

Back on topic...
The legs seem to get light compared to wetsuit diving I'm used to. Another diver on the boat used shin splint supports to slightly compress her calves so they trap less air. I thought this was a great idea.
Do any of you drysuit divers use this or anything else? Is there a similar item to compress the upper leg thigh area also?

 

[Herb-alaska]

you can buy a set of gaters that are made to compress the legs of your ds to prevent air flow. I have a pair that i used on one suit about 3 times i no longer use it as I don't need them, the key is to control the bubble that lives in your suit and that comes with practice. There are times that I will intentionally go head down or do a flip to get the air bubble to my feet all it means is that my toes got cold and the air warms everything up Not to sound elitist ok this is what i was told early in my dive path and i have found it to be true, DO not add gear to cover up for lack of experience. Dive your suit get used to it vent it before you splash to get a controllable bubble and you will get control over the bubble and never think about a set of batters again.
just my opinion
Herb

 

[fisheater]

Water pressure.

Seriously, I am careful to get my legs down every once in a while and let the water pressure difference between my chest and legs to move any excess air up to my shoulder region, so I can exhaust any total excess.

 

[KenGordon]

Consider that you may just be flatter than before and not really foot light. Although opinions vary on this... keep at little air in the suit as required to avoid bruising squeeze and to stay warm. If you have enough air in it that a noticeable bubble is moving about as you change trim then you will probably find it harder to control. In particular, if you go head down and a lot of gas moves to your legs then getting flat again may be very hard and leave you unable to dump gas from the suit. Drysuit training ought to cover using a roll to get out of that position.

If you are genuinely light footed then moving weight about, different cylinder positioning or heavier fins may help. Many people resort to ankle weights but I personally do not like them.

It takes a while to get used to a dry suit. I definitely suggest getting a number of dives in before messing with the configuration too much. If you can dedicate some dives to just getting used to it in an benign environment then all the better.

As for getting into the suit, you get used to that. Eventually you will be prepared to stand on the deck of a pitching boat unable to see or breath as you pull the neck seal over your head.

 

[spectrum]

As others have said, the amount of air in the suit should not be unmanageable if you go feet up. You should be able to get back to trim and flatten the bubble. That being said, even in a trim attitude a dry suit with lofted garments can offer leg buoyancy that is noticeable on the down stroke of your kick. By wearing a weight harness and carrying the lead below where a belt would want to ride you can easily maintain a slight foot down trim that really helps keep the legs closer to neutral.

Negative fins and even ankle weights can also tip the balance.

In my experience I have never seen anyone use gators long term. Many also outgrow ankle weights.

 

[doctormike]

Yeah, I used to use gaiters, but found I don't really need them any more. A long time ago I used ankle weights, but those are really not such a great idea, unless you are diving to get a workout, and want to move more weight with every kick.

But if your drysuit really doesn't fit well (short on top, loose fit on the bottom), that's a problem that may be hard to overcome. The devil is in the details, and obviously you spent a lot on this suit and want to make it work - hopefully it will. But for other perspective dry suit divers reading this thread, you should really make every effort to make sure that there isn't a big problem with fit before buying.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba 2]

I'll echo what has been said before with respect to keeping just enough air in the suit to prevent squeeze and loft your undergarments providing warmth. You could give gaiters and/or ankle weights a try but make a point to try to gain comfort in the suit to where you only need them for a limited amount of time.

 

[BRT]

I finally got rid of ankle weights by lowering my DUI weight harness down a bunch. Don't be afraid to try them. They can help control the air in your ankle area and I never noticed the difference swimming with them. I did use the velcro nylon type that could be snugged up. Couldn't stand the snap on ones that flopped all around. Only reason I wanted to stop using them was to have one less thing to remember.

 

[CptTightPants21]

It is a learning process with the drysuit. I also had an issue where I would get floaty feet on the ascent-- it was caused by too much air in the suit too soon and then not venting it proactively enough.


Try not to put any air in the suit until 40 or 50 ft and even then just a sprits or two to get off the squeeze. This gives you a better base line and won't become too unmanageable once you start ascending. If you put air in the suit at 20, 30, 50, 70, 80--to stay warm. All that air needs to be vented out and it takes a lot of time.

 

[walkonmars]

Thanks for the inputs. Yes, I am getting ahead of myself. 'Just a little overexcited since I dove the suit and didn't have the cold chill down my back and the gradual cold creeping up the arms like my wetsuit. I purge the suit perhaps too well (crouch down and pull open the neck seal to bleed air on the deck) so can never wait do descend to 40ft to add air. I add air early at about 5-10 ft in small spirts otherwise I think my gonads are being clamped on. In reality, though, I see careful purging not tremendously necessary since excess air will vent as soon as you jump in and you get in water up to your neck/purge valve. Getting more familiar is a good plan as suggested and I see tremendously more enjoyable diving years ahead. Also, I noticed I wanted to tighten the automatic bleed valve on the upper arm 5 clicks away from full open. I need to trim the wrist weals a bit because my left hand was getting numb after 30 minutes. I was afraid to trim anything on this new suit because I have thin wrists and when I make a fist, tendons pop out at my wrist area making nice channels for water leaks. I'm certain this will be a problem sometime.