double125's
Guest
UP, the air temp down here is in the mid 90's. People tell me Del Rio normally hits 110 in the summer but its been mild this year.
Will drysuit diving suck less soon?
- Thread starter IceBergSlim
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With a dry suit you need to remember you are dealing with a much much larger volume of air that expands and compresses faster than the neoprene you used to having to compensate for on decent/ascent.
Small and frequent corrections with depth changes and a good "feel" for developing buoyancy trends will help and will come with a bit of practice.
You also need to watch the weight and dive with a minimum amount of air in the suit. Many new dry suit divers (and more than a few experienced ones) have more air than they need in their suit and this aggravates the bouyancy problem. I normally dive with about 28 lbs of lead in a drysuit as opposed to 24 for a 7mm semi-dry. I step this up four pounds for really cold water (35-39 degrees) but in general if you are diving a lot more than you dove ina 7mm wetsuit, you may be overweighted. You need enough air in the suit to avoid a squeeze and to provide adequate insulation but that's it.
Small and frequent corrections with depth changes and a good "feel" for developing buoyancy trends will help and will come with a bit of practice.
You also need to watch the weight and dive with a minimum amount of air in the suit. Many new dry suit divers (and more than a few experienced ones) have more air than they need in their suit and this aggravates the bouyancy problem. I normally dive with about 28 lbs of lead in a drysuit as opposed to 24 for a 7mm semi-dry. I step this up four pounds for really cold water (35-39 degrees) but in general if you are diving a lot more than you dove ina 7mm wetsuit, you may be overweighted. You need enough air in the suit to avoid a squeeze and to provide adequate insulation but that's it.
NurseShark
Registered
or is it third...the comment on adding air to the suit. Only do it to release suit squeeze (and just in really small bursts)...do not use it to control bouyancy...that's what you BC is for. For some reason the PADI class stresses that it is too "complicated" to control two different bouyancy devices at once so they encourage using the suit instead of the bc...if you do this your learning curve will be MUCH longer.
Enjoy your suit!
Enjoy your suit!
bwerb
Hoser/English Translator, eh
That's exactly what I would have said if I'd been logged on as me and not double-checked to see that T logged on last...:bonk:
Tractor Tom
Contributor
I mean I LOVE my drysuit and will never dive cold water in a wet suit again. But it was kind of a pain to learn. We do a lot of inland lake diving, off the beach. Which means slow changes of depth that tend to sneak up on you and make your feet fat all of the sudden. The best thing I can say is "put very, very little air in the suit and you will have very few problems." You want to wear the suit as tight as you can stand to minimise the size of the air bubble that you have to deal with. Boat diving is NO problem, as you always empty your bouyancy before you start your ascent to the surface and it's easy to vent a little from the suit as you swim up. Shore diving a lake will really help you learn the in's and out's of drysuit diving.
OP
Yep, It seems that the use of your BCD vs the Dry Suit for Bouyancy are the big questions. I know (after my very limited experience) that the dry suit was a big pain to dump air from. I also know that dumping air from my BCD is no problem...So,. I ask what do yall do? Put the Dry Dump on "automatic" and vent air on the BC during ascent?
David
The DUI manual and I believe the PADI course (I am not a PADI instructor) stress using the drysuit to control your buoyancy. (From what I understand the DUI manual is changing with the next printing).
Air in the suit can cause instability. It moves around and if you are not oriented properly you cannot dump the air.
A BC is designed for controlling buoyancy. A set of wings is better yet as the gas stays on your back, rather then moving into your shoulders and chest, depending on your body orientation.
I dive with a minimal amount of gas in my drysuit. Just enough to keep the squeeze off. The dump valve on the DUI is all the way open to dump excess air. Frequently during ascents the open valve does not dump gas as quickly as I would like. I then manually operate the valve while squeezing the shoulder that the valve is attached to.
My wings are used for buoyancy control. I actually find drysuit diving easier then wetsuit diving as with my drysuit I don't have the buoyancy shifts with changing depth that I do with a wetsuit. At depth I have no more air volume in my wings then I do at 10 feet so I am much more streamlined then when diving a wetsuit.
I also recommend that when purchasing a DUI drysuit you choose the "cave cut" option. The suit will then fit much better.
Marc Hall
www.enjoythedive.com
The DUI manual and I believe the PADI course (I am not a PADI instructor) stress using the drysuit to control your buoyancy. (From what I understand the DUI manual is changing with the next printing).
Air in the suit can cause instability. It moves around and if you are not oriented properly you cannot dump the air.
A BC is designed for controlling buoyancy. A set of wings is better yet as the gas stays on your back, rather then moving into your shoulders and chest, depending on your body orientation.
I dive with a minimal amount of gas in my drysuit. Just enough to keep the squeeze off. The dump valve on the DUI is all the way open to dump excess air. Frequently during ascents the open valve does not dump gas as quickly as I would like. I then manually operate the valve while squeezing the shoulder that the valve is attached to.
My wings are used for buoyancy control. I actually find drysuit diving easier then wetsuit diving as with my drysuit I don't have the buoyancy shifts with changing depth that I do with a wetsuit. At depth I have no more air volume in my wings then I do at 10 feet so I am much more streamlined then when diving a wetsuit.
I also recommend that when purchasing a DUI drysuit you choose the "cave cut" option. The suit will then fit much better.
Marc Hall
www.enjoythedive.com
Manfred
Registered
Very well put I am a padi instructor and DON'T use the drysuit for buoyancy.
As far as getting used to diving with a drysuit I tend to count time rather than the number of dives. It took a few hours for me to make it look easy. For cold water drysuit is the only way to go.
As far as getting used to diving with a drysuit I tend to count time rather than the number of dives. It took a few hours for me to make it look easy. For cold water drysuit is the only way to go.
Braunbehrens
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Condensation, sweat, or leak?
To find out which it is, look at the undergarment. If you dive in salt water, and have a leak, there will be a white salt spot in the area of the leak.
Somtimes it's hard to tell what's going on. Usually if the suit is damp all around it's just condensed sweat and humidity from the air, although flushing with argon before the dive should help a little.
To find out which it is, look at the undergarment. If you dive in salt water, and have a leak, there will be a white salt spot in the area of the leak.
Somtimes it's hard to tell what's going on. Usually if the suit is damp all around it's just condensed sweat and humidity from the air, although flushing with argon before the dive should help a little.
A little off topic but...
While youre learning your drysuit, ditch the ankle weights. I dont know why there seems to be such a big push to put the damn things on everyone who buys a drysuit but if theyve been put on you, I urge you to reconsider. The best time to learn to dive without them is when you first start.
Think about it, If you think you cant dive without them then what are you going to do when one falls off? If one does fall off and you cant dive without them, unless youre at the surface, youre kinda screwed. The best way to keep from loosing ankle weights is to leave them at home.
While youre learning your drysuit, ditch the ankle weights. I dont know why there seems to be such a big push to put the damn things on everyone who buys a drysuit but if theyve been put on you, I urge you to reconsider. The best time to learn to dive without them is when you first start.
Think about it, If you think you cant dive without them then what are you going to do when one falls off? If one does fall off and you cant dive without them, unless youre at the surface, youre kinda screwed. The best way to keep from loosing ankle weights is to leave them at home.
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