Jims dead-on here. I was fumbling with my TLS when I first got it and Trout
straightened me out with the same advice. In addition to what Jim wrote, it
works well to reverse the process at deco, ie. close the auto vent, drain
the wings and put more argon in the suit. This will keep you warmer while
you're not moving around much. When you ascend to the next stop just
manually vent a little from the valve. Believe it or not, The DS as primary
bouyancy control is in the user manual from DUI.
C.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Cobb" <cobber@ci*.co*>
To: "Richards, Simon" <richardss@nm*.co*>; <techdiver@aquanaut.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2001 4:54 PM
Subject: Re: Drysuits


> I would like to know where this "use your drysuit for buoyancy and not
your
> wings" bullshit started as it makes no sense at all. I have tried it both
> ways and trying to get anything done with a huge bubble of air rolling
> around your drysuit is futile. I do understand the feet-first ascent issue
> that everybody warns you about, it comes from using your drysuit as
primary
> buoyancy.
>
> I think that the best way to use a drysuit is to have just enough air to
> prevent squeeze and then use your wings for everything else. With a proper
> drysuit this means adding a squirt of two of air on the way down and then
> letting your auto-deflate valve on your shoulder handle the drysuit on the
> way up, while deflating your wings manually. Personally I like to be on
the
> negative side when going up an anchorline and of course as neutral as
> possible and finning up when doing a free ascent (drift dive). It's not a
> good idea to use either your suit or wings as an elevator as this can get
in
> trouble real fast.
>
> I have also discovered that having a proper fitting drysuit is desirable.
If
> your suit is too small you will constantly be pumping air out of it
whenever
> you bend or flex your back. Then you get cold from constantly blowing the
> air back in. If it is too large the air tends to hang out in the legs or
one
> arm or the other and you have to expend a lot of effort to move the air
back
> to where it belongs.
>
> As to manufacturer from personal knowledge I know that the life expectancy
> of a neoprene suit is about 3 seasons. I suspect you get what you pay for
in
> this area. For balance and less mucking around with your buoyancy during
the
> dive the trilam works better hands down over neoprene.
>
>   Jim
>  -------------------------------------------------------------------
>  Learn About Trimix at http://www.cisatlantic.com/trimix/
>
> > From: "Richards, Simon" <richardss@nm*.co*>
> > Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 14:08:27 -0400
> > To: "'techdiver@aquanaut.com'" <techdiver@aquanaut.com>
> > Subject: Drysuits
> >
> >
> > Hi.  I've been reading this site for a while, and I have found some very
> > useful advice here (someone said "A wise man does not learn from his
> > mistakes", and this must be true for technical diving as you often don't
> > survive your mistakes).
> >
> > For background, I have about 4 years open water experience and am a keen
> > (and OK) photographer.  This year I started cave diving (intro to cave
in
> > Mexico, in a wetsuit), which was an eye-opener.  I am sorting out my
gear in
> > a local quarry for a return trip to Mexico and hopefully full cave, and
then
> > I hope to try Florida (do the whole course again in a drysuit?).  My kit
is
> > basically configured DIR style, but this is because it seems to make
sense
> > to me and I can't see any obvious fatal flaws, not because of "religion"
> > (but I do rather like the idea that I have the WKPP team testing "my"
gear
> > configuration "for me" at 300 feet at no risk or cost to myself - thanks
> > guys!).
> >
> > 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?"
> >
> > (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?
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > Thanks in advance.
> >
> > Simon Richards
> >
> >
> > --
> > Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'.
> > Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
> >
>
>
> --
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