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> I would appreciate views on two questions: > > (1) I have a DUI CF200 drysuit, and I think I was originally taught not to > use the wings underwater for buoyancy control, just the suit. I have seen > the occasional reference here to using the wings underwater, but I have done > a search and couldn't see any definitive advice. A couple of times (but not > always) I have felt that I couldn't get enough buoyancy on the drysuit > alone, and have got through a lot of air inflating the suit and then having > it blow out of the neck seal (I've never had any water come in). Was this > the wrong body position, overweighting, neck seal cut too loose, or just bad > diving? Should I have put some air into my wings? Basically, I think I'm > asking "how do I dive (properly, in the real world with big buoyancy changes > during a dive as air is used) in a drysuit?" I vaguely remember reading that somewhere, but as soon as I started diving dry realized that it doesn't work. If you try using your dry suit only for buoyancy, all sorts of bad, annoying things happen. If your seals were so tight that you didn't blow bubbles out the neck as some point, then you would be able to inflate the suit so much that you couldn't get to your dump valve because your arms would be too stiff. This is a major hazard that hard hat divers encountered in the early days. The real world advice I'd give is to make sure you're not over weighted (check the GUE site for information on how to test your weight balance), then use enough air in your dry suit to stay warm (i.e.. keep the suit from coming into direct contact with your underwear- air doesn't provide much insulation beyond preventing direct thermal conduction) and use your wings for buoyancy control. Body position plays a part also. If you are vertical, your neck seal is going to leak, if you're horizontal (which you should be), then its less likely to do so. Thankfully, I never took the PADI Dry Suit Specialty course so I didn't have alot to unlearn. I just learned from the woman who made my suit. > (2) My buddy wants a drysuit and her funds are limited. She is looking at > something called an "Otter", which is a laminate I believe. I think George > Irvine has recommended DUI TLS on this site, but she cannot afford one. > Does anyone have any good or bad experiences with Otters? If her funds are limited, rather than getting a piece of crap dry suit, go to diving swap meets. I picked up a very old, but still serviceable dry suit for $100 for my son that way. It did need a couple of things done to it that cost another $50, but for a teenage boy, it was a great deal while he was still growing. He now has enough experience with dry suits that if he ever stops growing, we'll be able to get him a good one that he will really be able to use. I doubt that she'll get quite such a good deal, but there are often quality used suits for sale in our area for about half the price of a new good suit, or about a quarter of the price of a top of the line DUI. > > You can see that we are a long way off doing any serious dives yet, but we > would like to get there slowly over the next year or two and to buy the > right equipment now. That's the right way to go. Get the good equipment first, learn to use it in simple dives, then when you get into the more complex stuff, all you have to learn is the new diving technique! Wendell -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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