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Date: Thu, 2 May 1996 10:37:39 -0400 (EDT)
From: Sean Creagan <screagan@vi*.ed*>
To: Andy Barclay <andy@le*.ca*>
cc: techdiver@terra.net
Subject: Re: single/dual bag BCs - Reply
Andy,
	Unless you are severly overweighted (ie. either too much weight 
on your belt, or doing a technical dive with lots of tanks & equipment 
hanging from you) you don't need more air in your drysuit than "just 
enough to get rid of the squeeze".  The concept behind the drysuit is to 
keep a nice layer of air inside to keep you warmer.  You obviously don't 
want too little air or too much air (problem when hanging upside down).  
So, my point is, if you are perfectly weighted you will only use your 
drysuit for bouyancy.  If you are overweighted than you need to be adding 
air in your suit and in your wings (which can be tasking when ascending 
or descending over large depths).  Even if you use your wings for 
bouyancy you still need to add and release air from your drysuit.  What a 
pain in the ass to be doing both.  This may work great if you're hovering 
around the same depth all day, but going to and from say 200 ft it's a 
bitch.  Keep it simple!
	Just something to think about.  If you always dive with tons of 
gear then you are doing it the right way.  Otherwise, loose some weight 
(not you physically).
		Dive On,	
			Sean Creagan
			Virginia Institute of Marine Science
			Dept. of Fisheries Oceanography
			screagan@vi*.ed*

> Sean;
> I disaggree with your opinion here. I use my wings for bouyancy rather than
> my drysuit. I know that PADI teaches people to use their dry-suit, but
> that is wrong and I can prove it.
> If I am using my dry-suit for bouyancy, and I am hanging upside down looking
> under a ledge, then a bunch of air rushes to my feet. That sucks.
> I would rather just put enough air in my suit to get rid of the squeeze and
> use my wings for bouyancy. This keeps my centre of gravity in a good spot
> and makes my trim much better.
> 
> Incidentally, a PADI course director once told me that the only reason
> they teach using the dry suit for bouyancy was because they didn't 
> think most candidates on the course could deal with two sources of 
> bouyancy.
> 
> -- 
> Regards,
> Andy W. Barclay.        andy@le*.ca*
> UNIX Instructor Team Leader / Queensview Branch Manager
> (pgp publickey avail at ftp.learnix.ca:/pub/pgp.publickeys.pgp)
> 
> It's not whether you win or lose, it's how good you
> look playing!
>    --David Lee Roth
> 

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