41 replies to this topic

[fbp]

Up here in the PNW (Seattle) it's all Dry Suit (DS) diving, well for the over 35yrs old crowd... i.e. cold water.

Seems to be a matter of preference on BC or DS for buoyancy.

Personally, I use the DS for control with both Dry Suits, DUI and Hi-tide.
The Hi-tide is a tight suit and the Air Bubble (much like a carpenter's level) doesn't move around. This slowed down if at all by the undergarments.

I intentionally allow air in the feet to keep them level or above with legs bent.
Keeping the shoulder arm vent dialed correctly will keep you at the depth.
Go deeper, add air
come up, lift shoulder to vent and you're neutral.

If fitted right, you shouldn't have the bubble floating around. If cold, wear thicker garments, add a little weight... there's no "LAW" on how much weight should be carried... heheh...
and I'm certainly not going down the "How much weight should I carry..." discussion, that's been hacked to death...
but suffice it to say, there are two thoughts on the BD or DS techniques.

I personally use the DS and works fine. more level and for me, taking photos, it's what I need...
BC is used for on surface.

Good luck, it does take a few dives (25?) to get comfortable with it... just nice being warm and dry.... well, for the most part anyway..

[Brinybay]

... there is nothing unique about drysuit underwear. You can buy good stuff at any sporting goods store that is intended for any other outdoor activity such as hunting...just skip the stuff with a hood. The same prinicpal of layering applies to staying warm in a drysuit that applies to any other cold weather activity.

Layering, ok, I use a layer of form-fitting long-johns underneath my drysuit undergarment. But I would be careful about buying something not specifically designed for drysuits. Something such as a hunting undergarment is designed to trap air, that's what keeps you warm. My first drysuit I tried to use something like that, a farmer-john style snow pants. It trapped so much air that 50lbs of lead couldn't keep me down. I ditched it and used REI expedition weight long-johns, but I got them a size too small so they would fit snug and not trap air. That worked fine for the life of that drysuit, but it was a neoprene drysuit, so it fit more snug and was less tolerant of bulky undergarments than a shell suit.

[Brinybay]

Up here in the PNW (Seattle) it's all Dry Suit (DS) diving, well for the over 35yrs old crowd... i.e. cold water.

I think the ratio is more 50/50, and it's really more dependent on budgets, wetsuits being much less costly than drysuits. I started diving at 40 and dove wet for the first 3 years. But now that I've been dry, I won't go wet again, at least not up here.

[peterbj7]

I use a medium/heavyweight Thinsulate undergarment made for diving. Nothing else, and I've never been cold, not even on dives down to 25F.

You do want a garment made for diving, as it's designed not to get trapped by drysuit seals or zippers, and not to block a shoulder dump. Deficient garments can do both. The former is a nuisance, the latter can be life threatening.

[shadragon]

I use my dry suit for buoyancy with BC used on the surface only. I have the dry suit vendors recommended underwear and I am weighted so that when I offset the squeeze I am neutral. If you use the BC only, you are cutting down on the insulation value the air in your suit gives you and you may have to deal with painful suit squeeze. That can potentially end up restricting bloodflow which can give you a higher chance of DCS. N2 in your blood has to circulate to your lungs to be off-gassed. If it is restricted or stopped from doing so then you can end up with fizzy bubbles in that area of your body.

The only two incidents of runaway ascent I have seen were both caused by people who had air in their BC and dry suit simultaneously and they could not dump it fast enough. One person was so busy trying to dump air out of their dry suit to stop the ascent they didn't realize it was air in their BC causing the ascent until they were on the surface. 54 to 0 feet in about 5 seconds.

Use whichever method you want, but understand the risks and get the proper training.

[Mare]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I did my dry suit training a few weeks ago and have to say it was almost like my first dive. I did notice that more powerful fins are needed. I definitely need more practice before I can say I feel comfortable with the gear. All of the tips here though make me feel more optomistic that I will get the hang of it.

[ladiblu]

I've been following this thread with interest. I did it! I just ordered my dry suit today. Can't wait to dive dry this year, should make all of those 40 degree dives a little more comfortable.

[diverdeb]

I've been following this thread with interest. I did it! I just ordered my dry suit today. Can't wait to dive dry this year, should make all of those 40 degree dives a little more comfortable.

CONGRATS!! You're going to love it! Admittedly, it took me a while to say I love mine. It was such a different feel in the water. But I started training in it before the weather got really cold. That first dive when the water and air BOTH were cold, I fell deeply in love with my dry suit. And I live in Florida. I probably wouldn't survive in 40 degree water. I think 68 is cold.

Enjoy - and keep us posted once you get it.

[pir8]

Don't know what I'd do without my DrySuit, this time of the year. Although i do enjoy going wet once the weather (air) warms up. Dry Suits are best when you get out of the H2O into cold air.

[Bubble2Bubble]

Last weekend I dove the same kit ( with the usual assorted dangles’s) except I replaced the dry gloves with regular wet suit gloves and dropped 2 lbs off my BCD weights. It was a very comfortable dive. We where diving in a Lake that had been over run by the recent heavy rains and we where looking for some dock anchor cables that had come loose.


Last Tuesday I dove what I would call an elevator dive… just up and down ..... retrieving a friends fishing gear out of a small concrete shelter. I left the ankle weights off and dropped 2 lbs off my weight belt. So now I have 20 lbs on my weight belt 8 lbs in my BCD and no ankle weights or dry gloves.
I had to make sure all my air was out of my BCD and most (not all) of the air was out of my dry suit to become negative. I could feel the cold lake on my chest but because the water wasn’t touching my skin I had better insulation.

My Observations
On the first dive I tried to use my dry suit on the surface instead of my BCD and this is Dangerous, the chest area of the dry suit puffs out and you will look like a big black bullfrog in the middle of the lake (which is not a good thing) its not only a visual hazard for you but the only thing holding the air in your suit in is your neck seal and it can purge at anytime, not to mention the stress it puts on the fabric of your suit.

Weighting is everything , once you know what you need to be negative you will add weight according to how much insulation you want/think you need.


Bubski

[fbp]

Weighting is everything , once you know what you need to be negative you will add weight according to how much insulation you want/think you need.

Yah, this can for some ungodly reason can become a hot topic with endless pages of ideas.

Mine, FWIW, is simply at the END of the dive (after your saftey stop with 500psi or less?) in 10' of water, just get on your knees and the do the "Breath in - go up, Exhale and sink down...." exercise...

That then becomes your exact wieght...

After all, it's at the end of the dive (especially with Alum Tanks) that you need to make sure you don't shoot to the top.. if too much weight when you first go in... heheh..hey... put a little air, aka warmth, into the suit and adjust the arm valve accordingly..

I'm sure there will be other thoughts, but it's nothing complicated, just simply physics..
more weight, sink,
less weight rise..

Hope that helps.. have someone, dive buddy, hold a pound or 3
Keep it simple eh???

[Mermaid Lady]

Dry Suit Training $$$
Dry Suit $$$
Diving Dry...... Priceless !
<snip>
it seems that skin diving or diving in a wet suit is like driving a sports car and diving in a dry suit is like driving a motor home. If you can afford a dry suit go for it !

Bubski

Nice suit Mike, very sexy.

I like the wrist connectors to the gloves. I used a drytop for winter whitewater Kayaking in New Hampshire, and those latex wrist gaskets hurt!

Just one question though, where's your Space Helmet??

PS I will probably never dive dry. Long before I start to get cold in my wet suit, I get bad "ice cream" headaches due to the water on my face (below about 45 deg). Maybe if I could get a full-face mask... (or a Space Helmet! yeah that's the ticket...)

Edited by Mermaid Lady, 29 March 2008 - 09:54 PM.

[Bubble2Bubble]

Thanks Teresa

Sexy

? I don’t think so, but if you said I looked liked $2500 bucks that would be more accurate. We have both dove together several times over the last several years and I would not mislead you, diving in a dry suit is a whole nother ball game. Even with wearing a wet suit hood and with some of your skin exposed to the cold water, your blood stream caries that blood back into your corroded arteries and super heats it back to up 98.6 degrees. But your spacesuit analogy is correct. Now choosing the correct dry suit size is a must !! I made a mistake and ordered 4 XL boots and they are so big that none of my XL fins will fit them and of course the Michael Jordon size boots make better lift bags than dry suit boots. I’m going to send them back to the factory this summer to get new boots put on so I will look like $2700 bucks instead. Now I got lucky and bought the proper dry suit undergarment that has vent holes built in the left shoulder to allow for the trapped air to vent out ASAP Peterbj7 pointed this out in a earlier post in this thread. Everybody has been so great to contribute their views and expert advise on dry suits.

please carry on..

Bubski

[ladiblu]

I had my first dry suit dive today. Started out with me losing a fin (new fins) duh! Water temp was 57, actually warmer than what I'm used to, but we went to an inland lake instead of Lake Michigan. I was overweighted to begin with and was adding air on desent so I didn't do a mud dart. After I got the weights situated I had no problem with trim, added enough air to relieve suit squeeze and used BC for bouyancy. What a difference. It will take me a few dive to get totally comfortable, but diving dry is fantastic. It was so nice to do an hour dive and not have freezy fingers!

[fbp]

... It will take me a few dive to get totally comfortable, but diving dry is fantastic. ....

Yep, believe it took about 20-25 dives to really feel at home in them... just keep diving it... good luck...