126 replies to this topic

[Cold_H2O]

Some people do great on their first drysuit dive.

I was with Tolly on his maiden drysuit dive.
He looked like he had done it a thousand times before.

The cold waters of the PNW didn't even bother him.

Edited by gis_gal, 05 July 2007 - 04:20 PM.

[TonyL]

Annasea,

I am a firm believer in a dry suit. I dove wet yesterday (long story) and felt like a new diver again. Buoyancy and trim are much easier in a drysuit. You will probably also feel alot more freedom of movement. I agree that you will probably dive less weight in a drysuit than in a wetsuit, at least in cold water. The skills will come in time until they become second nature. Eventually, you will find yourself adjusting your trim and buoyancy unconsciously by moving your legs and torso.

Good luck in your class.

Tony

[annasea]

Well this is interesting...

<snip> Buoyancy and trim are much easier in a drysuit.

I would have thought the opposite -- at least where trim is concerned. Don't you have to worry about a big air bubble moving around in your drysuit affecting your trim? The buoyancy bit I can believe since Perrone assures me that unlike a wetsuit, a drysuit isn't (necessarily) affected by compression at depth.

You will probably also feel alot more freedom of movement.

I'll believe it if I feel it. If this is because a drysuit is less form-fitting and therefore less restricting than a wetsuit... maybe, but I had to go the custom route for my wetsuits so they're a pretty flexible fit.

Eventually, you will find yourself adjusting your trim and buoyancy unconsciously by moving your legs and torso.

I can see this as a way to adjust trim, but how would it affect buoyancy unless you're moving that dreaded air bubble up to vent it out in order to sink, for example?

Well, I think it's pretty obvious that I know next to nothing about drysuits so my class should be quite the experience.

[PerroneFord]

Just a few comments for you here annasea...

Buoyancy and trim ARE easier in a drysuit once you learn. It's another airspace to manage but what got me, that I wasn't expecting is that you can use the drysuit like a carpenter's level. When your trim is perfect, you can feel the airbubble, large or small, centered in you back. By keeping the bubble there, you know your trim is ideal. Roll a bit left or right and the bubble moves out of position and you can feel it. As to buoyancy being easier, for me, my shorty leaves no lift on my legs. This means that I have to use muscle strength, particularly my lower back, to hold my legs up all dive. No so with the drysuit. My diving got easier right away. With those wearing a 2-piece wetsuit, it's much the same. You have all that neoprene giving unequal buoyancy. Lots on your chest, little on the lower legs. Drysuit doesn't work that way.

As to freedom of movement, even though my suit wasn't cut properly for me, my freedom of movent both above and below the water was much improved. No longer did I feel like my wetsuit was strangling me. Being able to get the compression off my body underwater payed dividends right away in air consumption, even with the increased drag. And not being cold, helped my consumption as well.

I also think you are making too much of the air-bubble thing. When done correctly, you can barely feel it. If you put a ton of air in the suit, you'll feel it move all around, but I tend to dive pretty vacuumed packed. Just enough to ensure full movement of my legs and arms. This doesn't give much in the way of an air bubble at all. Actually, when I was cave diving in the suit, I couldn't feel the bubble at all.

[gcbryan]

Perrone is making a good point regarding the bubble. I don't even think of it as a bubble. The suit is snug normally and as I move up when I feel the fabric moving slightly away from my back I know to vent. As long as you stay ahead of the curve so to speak you never really have very much air in your suit to manage.

I would disagree that there is no compression in a drysuit. Maybe you mean that the material itself doesn't compress unlike a wetsuit? Whatever air you have in the suit does compress with depth otherwise there would be no suit squeeze.

As others have mentioned once you get used to the drysuit it's easier to use and much more comfortable than a wetsuit. At least I think so.

Edited by gcbryan, 05 July 2007 - 11:44 PM.

[Cold_H2O]

I have to agree ~ Diving dry is IMHO easier, once you learn your suit.

You just need to be aware of how much air you have in your suit and learn how to control it.

I am sure once you get in and dive dry ~ you will be fine.

I prefer to dive dry over wet.

[CaptSaaz]

Perrone is making a good point regarding the bubble. I don't even think of it as a bubble. The suit is snug normally and as I move up when I feel the fabric moving slightly away from my back I know to vent. As long as you stay ahead of the curve so to speak you never really have very much air in your suit to manage.

I have noticed the same thing... not a bubble per se but just a slightly larger volume on the small of the back. Just something I was barely concious of but used it intunitively(?)

Yeah, if your wearing double 120's OK, you need air in the BCD but didn't consider Anna on a single AL80 being a tech diver.

[Moose]

I believe the suit I'll be using is a trilam by Pinnacle. (The only seem to carry Pinnacle.) I had a look at the undies they sell (sorry, I didn't get the brand), but they were grey on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The suits all appeared to be back zip and the boots are attached. They provide hoods but I'm not sure if they're drysuit specific.

This is the dry suit I bought and I love it. Since getting it I've gone ice diving and it's a great suit. I do like the speed in which it sheds water, which is important when you get out of the water and it's 3 degrees out before you factor in 11 mph winds and you have almost a mile ATV ride before you can get into any shelter. (This was one of the dives I did in the suit. If any of you get 'Advance Rescue Techniques' magazine, there is an article on this very dive in the most recent issue. The cover photo of the article is of me in that suit.)

Anywho, it’s a great suit and the underwear that comes with it is WAY warm.

Note, your mileage may vary. I also dove at Dutch Springs in a 3 mil shorty last week.

[gcbryan]

...
Yeah, if your wearing double 120's OK, you need air in the BCD but didn't consider Anna on a single AL80 being a tech diver.

I'm using a single 119 and need air in my BC early in the dive at depth as the air in the suit compresses and I only partially replace that. I use the BC instead. You also need to compensate for the 8-9lb shift in air in a 119 cu ft tank. You can do it all with the drysuit but if I did it that way there would be too much air in my drysuit for my comfort. It's actually a diver's choice I guess.

[annasea]

Well, I started my drysuit class in the pool last night. I type with some hesitation that it seemed disturbingly easy...

There was another woman in my class so we started out by being fit into drysuits. I got stuck in a medium because I'm tall but the boots were big and the suit was quite baggy. Surprisingly, neither of these seemed to matter once in the water.

Next we watched PADI's drysuit video. I didn't learn much other than DO NOT break the zipper as it's the most expensive part of the suit to fix. I have a question about those telescopic suits though... what's the benefit of the telescopic feature?

Then off to the West Van pool. What a gorgeous facility! Puts my YWCA to shame. (Except they don't supply hair dryers and water retractors for swimsuits. )

We did some skills... the dreaded fin pivot ::shudder::, removing and reconnecting the suit's inflator valve, and recovering from a runaway feet episode. Maybe there were more but I can't remember them. After that, we just swam around for a bit and practiced air shares. I tried working on my frog kick, too. I didn't bring my Jets with me as they wouldn't have fit on the drysuit boots, but I managed my version of the frog kick quite nicely in the blades I was using.

There's very few of us Vancouverites on the board, but nonetheless, I'd like to say a few things about the LDS I'm using for my course, Edge Diving. What a great group of people! There were 4 other instructors in the pool running mini-classes alongside of us, and each of them actually wanted to be there and seemed to be enjoying what they were doing. The camaraderie amongst them was impressive!

"5 classes in one pool?!? Why, that's insanity!" you may be thinking. No one seemed to get in anyone else's way. I swam around all the other classes and not once did I get kicked in the head or touched at all.

The instructors are allowed to use their own gear as well. Once we were done and packing up gear, I spied a Halcyon BP/W, an Atomic reg and a whole host of other equipment that the Edge does not sell. In turn, my instructor had no problem with me showing up in my DSS BP or Apeks reg and diving with a long hose.

And a final comment on their scheduling... the reason for the multiple classes is their courses are scheduled in an extremely flexible manner. They've got the pool booked every Monday and Wednesday nights, so if you're not able to make it one week, you can pick up the next session the following week. I'm sure there are some that will see fault with this, but not everyone works a 9 to 5, Monday to Friday work week. As for my two ocean dives, I'll be doing them one-on-one with an instructor on a Monday starting when I want to start -- none of that Saturday/Sunday 8am nonsense with a 1000 other students in the ocean.

The only negative comment I have to make is that I think I may be allergic to latex seals. I noticed a nasty rash around both wrists last night that has since faded. I also got soaked (and cold!) in the suit, but the LDS said everyone seems to get wet in the pool due to excessive movement, but once in the ocean, it doesn't seem to be a problem.

All in all, I had a great time in the pool last night (my instructor even complimented me on my trim ) and look forward to concluding my class in two weeks time in the ocean!

[Moose]

I also got soaked (and cold!) in the suit, but the LDS said everyone seems to get wet in the pool due to excessive movement, but once in the ocean, it doesn't seem to be a problem.

Welcome to the "dry" side! (Seriosuly, I prefer wet diving, but sometimes it's nice to be dry!)


My bet is that it isn't due to "excessive movement," but to rental or poor fitting gear. Once you have a suit that you taylor to yourself, you shouldn't have any problems with leaks.


Although, in my last "poop dive," I did have a breach when my hand got stuck in the muck on the bottom and pushed my seal up.

Edited by Moose, 17 July 2007 - 12:52 PM.

[annasea]

<snip>
My bet isn't due to "excessive movement," but to rental or poor fitting gear. Once you have a suit that you taylor to yourself, you should have any problems with leaks.<snip>

Excellent point! Although I don't know how tight seals should fit on a custom suit, I did think the seals last night were a bit loose. (I have small wrists.) But I was soaked! I hate to think that I'll get that wet in the ocean.

[gcbryan]

<snip>
My bet isn't due to "excessive movement," but to rental or poor fitting gear. Once you have a suit that you taylor to yourself, you should have any problems with leaks.<snip>

Excellent point! Although I don't know how tight seals should fit on a custom suit, I did think the seals last night were a bit loose. (I have small wrists.) But I was soaked! I hate to think that I'll get that wet in the ocean.

Some people are allergic to latex. You can always go with neoprene seals when you buy your own drysuit. Try the latex a few more times to make sure however.

I'm tall with narrow wrists as well. It's common for a little water to come in along the tendon on the underside of your wrists especially if the wrist seal isn't the correct size for you. Next time either try to rent a suit with narrower wrist seals or at least push the wrist seal up your arm a bit to where you get a tighter fit.

I have dry gloves so now this isn't an issue for me. If you can rent a DUI drysuit with zip seals you will probably have more choice in wrist seal sizes at your diveshop. Maybe they will rent you a suit with drygloves and this will eliminate any wrist seal problem.

Edited by gcbryan, 17 July 2007 - 12:42 PM.

[cmt489]

Some people are allergic to latex. You can always go with neoprene seals when you buy your own drysuit. Try the latex a few more times to make sure however.

I'm tall with narrow wrists as well. It's common for a little water to come in along the tendon on the underside of your wrists especially if the wrist seal isn't the correct size for you. Next time either try to rent a suit with narrower wrist seals or at least push the wrist seal up your arm a bit to where you get a tighter fit.

I have dry gloves so now this isn't an issue for me. If you can rent a DUI drysuit with zip seals you will probably have more choice in wrist seal sizes at your diveshop. Maybe they will rent you a suit with drygloves and this will eliminate any wrist seal problem.

Keep in mind that most dry glove systems require latex seals. I also would always make sure to have seals in case your gloves fail. I know George has a latex allergy but is able to dive with the latex wrist seals without too much of an effect. It would depend on the severity of your sensitivity.

I know my wrist seals were so tight I had to cut them as they were cutting off the circulation in my hands. It helped a lot.

Keep in mind that when you have your own suit you should stay dry as the seals will be fit to you.

[PerroneFord]

GCBryan is right on the money here. Maybe you are allergic to latex, maybe not. I don't think you got water in the suit because of excessive movement, more like poor fitting seals. It's common. When you get your own suit, this will likely be a non-issue.

I would also imagine if you were allergic the largest rash would have been around your neck, not at your wrists. Moving the wrist seals a bit further up your arm may well fix the issue of the suit leaking.

Sounds like you had a pretty good start to diving in the drysuit. Glad to hear it. When you make that first deep drop in the ocean, and the suit really starts to put the squeeze on, you'll know you're alive!

Don't forget to lubricate the seals well. This should also help provide some protection against the latex if that is really what is bothering you. Additionally, Apollo (I think) sells some wrist and neck barriers that help people who are sensitive to latex. You put them on your neck and wrists (they are small rings) and then put your suit on. The latex seals against them instead of your skin. More info here:

http://www.apollospo...its/Bioseal.htm

Have fun!