Advice - Dry Suit

[Aleia]

Hi,
Just like to see if anyone has any tips or pointers for drysuit buoyancy, any little things to help me out with it. At the moment i just thing i dont like the feeling of the air in the drysuit.... Is it possible to use your BCD more, than your drysuit avoding suit squezze?

Any help?

[Jenkins]

This is a whole can of worms, some will tell you a Drysuit is to keep you dry and a Bouyancy Compensatior Device (BCD) for bouyancy.

As a PADI diver I was taught to just use the drysuit for bouyancy, this is certainly IMO the easiest option as it is just one air space to control. I only used the BCD on the surface.

Now as a techie diver I use both the drysuit and the wing (BCD), the big downside though is that on ascent I now have two air spaces to manage/vent - which takes practice.

[EllieCee]

Can of worms for sure!

I put a little air in my Drysuit after descending to stop suit squeeze and then use my BCD for all buoyancy control. The PADI way does try to teach you to use your drysuit for buoyancy but my instructor poo-poo'd it and didn't teach me that way. Personally I find venting air from my drysuit to be a complete pain, and nowhere near as controlable as just BCD venting.

Ellie

[gunner]

I'm with Jenkins on this one. I was initially taught the PADI way of using the BCD for bouyancy but having done a smidge of tech training now use my drysuit only for bouyancy. Occasionally I will use my wing if I am carrying heavy stages as I find that I ave to put too much air in my suit to compensate and it escapes through any which place it can.

If you are putting large amounts of air into your suit and begin to feel like the michelin man then chances are you are diving with too much weight.

Also, do you have a wrist or a shoulder dump on your suit? A useful technique is to open your suit valve completely on descent if you have a shoulder dump, pushing all air out (assuming you ascend feet first) then close the valve completely at about 5m, and turn back a 1.4 turn. This allows air to escape if necessary. As you descend, add air to your suit every 5m or so until you feel neutrally bouyant.

On ascent just open your valuve a turn more and rotate your body so that the dump valve becomes the highest point and air will escape. If you do put air in your BCD then as you raise your inflator tube to dump air from that your suit will equalise at the same time.

The key is to practie I am afraid, and try to do a weight check to see if you can lose some of your additionalweight.

[John_c]

(07-08-2008 10:47 AM)Aleia Wrote:  Hi,
Just like to see if anyone has any tips or pointers for drysuit buoyancy, any little things to help me out with it. At the moment i just thing i dont like the feeling of the air in the drysuit.... Is it possible to use your BCD more, than your drysuit avoding suit squezze?

Any help?

As already said, this is one of those discussion which follows the marmite debate, (love / Hate) (BCD / Suit)....

The most important thing to sort first, is the weight you carry on a dive.

If you have achieved good bouyancy control and are pretty much neutral in the water, you shouldnt need much air in either the suit or the BCD/Wing during any dive.

On a personal note I dive with suit only carrying twin 12s and a 11ltr side sling. what I do is adjust my weight on the 2nd dive as my gas is reduced.

What type of weight system do you use? belt or harness. I preferr to use belt so I can keep it tight and reduce air migration.

[Stix]

As Aleia's Dad, Instructor and kit manager/financier, I have the challenge of helping her most of the time.... Yet another reason why I love this forum sooooooooo much (thanks everyone!!!).

The dry suit Aleia is using has a cuff dump rather than a shoulder dump. As the cuff dump is not controllable, Aleia is constantly having to focus on her left wrist and keeping it up when required. This can be tricky - as she found out in Dozzie the other week with a rapid feet-up ascent from 6m and in the pool last night when we found that the "somersault twist drill" to get out of feet up ascents actually puts her in a position where the cuff dump is too low for too long as she tries to manage her stability / position in the water coloumn.

I think I will have to get a shoulder dump fitted to her drysuit to see if she can manage that any better. But in the meantime, we may have to find some middle ground between using her wieght integrated BCD and ankle wieghts to keep her feet down.

[Jenkins]

OK first devote some time to doing a PROPER weight check, empty cylinder no air in your BCD and minimal/comfy air in your drysuit. Adjust your lead till you float at eye level with the water when holding your breath and sink when you exhale. It is easiest to do this with a buddy on dry land passing you weights and just holding them in your hands, or on a belt looped over your arm.

With correct weighting you should find that with a single cylinder you don't actually need that much air in your suit. I find a weightbelt (even one with no weights attached) helps to slow migration to the legs.

If you do decide you want to use your BCD as well that is fine but practice, as others have said your drysuit (cuff or shoulder dump) will autovent on ascent if you have your left arm raised on the dump valve of your BCD. I would agree with others that the BCD is actually easier to controll than a drysuit BUT that extra air space can make things tricky untill you get used to it.

[Stix]

I believe we have her weights just about sorted OK. Aleia is naturally very good at bouyancy control and has no trouble without a dry suit - in fact, her OW Instructor (not me) said she was the best student he ever had as she got it right without any trying.... Unlike the rest of us who spend hours working on weight / air ratios and playing with our breathing control.

Jnekins - I do agree with you however, its something that needs attention to maintain it correctly. And thanks for your thoughts on the traditional weght belt - we will try that next time out rather than the integtrated weights

[Tom]

Im sure that PADI do not advise you to use your drysuit for BC, I done my PADI D/S speciality and we were taught to use the B.C.D for B/C, and to only add air to the suit for comfort, I have the manual and it confirms this, having said that it is practice to use the suit for B/C if you want, Im always conscious of air in my boots and the possibilty of as feet up assent, its good to practice the drills etc to get out of this in a controled situation, Im with Ellie on this one, use my BCD for B/C and suit for comfort.

[aquafan]

If you are wearing a belt weight system and this is tight does this not stopped you being able to stop the suit squeeze at below the waist?