Dry suit... squeeze vs squish

[davisj]

Diving dry, you use the BC for buoyancy control, and add air to the suit to offset squeeze... right ? Right.

OK fine.(first dry suit dive) I dove expecting to feel the suit squeeze, and I did. The squeeze on the suit wasn't bad in my opinion. I could dive with that feeling without problem.

I was surprised, however, that the COLD was squeezing me more than the suit. The water temp was between 40-45. I would have been warmer in my wet suit :'(

Is it possible that instead of being squeezed, I was squishing any insulation I was wearing under the suit ? I wear polyprop underwear, and it would protect me just fine in any cold weather above the surface. It's thick stuff !

I'll admit that I'm a bit paranoid about having a bubble travel to my feet, and have an uncontrolled accent, upside down. I don't mind the upside down bit ( it's fun ), but to blast to the surface isn't on my agenda.

Should I add more air to the suit ??

p.s. I added more insulation to offset the cold, and couldn't get down with 30 lbs.

Opinions welcomed.

Jeff

[DRE]

Jeff,

next time when you go diving try to reach your valve or first stage with either arm. If you can't cause your suit is too tight then you need to add gas. This is the kind of mobility you constantly want to maintain while diving dry, so you can turn off your valve in case of a freeflow (diving doubles of course, but it does give you a reference for singles diving). BTW, you should be able to reach your singles valve as well when diving - comes in handy when your tries to play a tric on you...

[jasondbaker]

Jeff, I didn't get a chance to look at your undies this weekend. You may be able to find fabrics that are warmer than polypro. I wear polartec, microfleece, and bergelene layers -- fabrics with high wicking properties.

I felt fine in the 39-41 deg water this weekend (35-45 min dives). I could feel the cold, but it was definitely tolerable. I can only do a 30min shallow dive max in a wetsuit at these temps.

I too am having trouble dialing in my weighting. I have six dives in my new drysuit. I was wearing 16lbs on my belt with a faber104 and backplate this weekend. I was wearing 22lbs with a alum80 and backplate. Both times I had to kick to initially get down and I had trouble maintaining a 15ft stop. I plan to go to the SD&T fun dive on Wed to continue practicing. I know that it takes time.

[Freedive WI]

Some simple polypro underwear doesn't sound like enough to wear.

I wear Patagonia Expedition weight capaline as a base layer and put DUI C4 Thinsulate on top of it, plus I would put one of their +5 fleece vest on top of that. Add to this my argon, dry gloves and a dry hood for doing a nice long coldwater dive. 8)

I have since switched to Weezle Wear for my main underwear and have dropped the C4 and the +5 vest. I'll still use the argon with it to be very warm.

At least one other diver I know has an electric drysuit heater. I bought one about 8 years ago when they first came out and was NOT impressed with how well it worked. I know that they have made improvements, but I still don't think that you can beat a good set of thinsulate.

BTW: I was out freediving for 4+ hours yesterday in a 5mm freediving wetsuit without any problems. The water was 54 degrees though. If it had been any colder I would have worn my 6mm freedivng wetsuit as that will keep me warm for hours in ice diving conditions.

Here's a shot of my dive buddy. I was playing around with the PANORAMIC feature on my digital camera yesterday. ;D

Jon

[davisj]

Jason,

I did say I was using polyprop, but in fact it is Polartec fleece ( DUI ). I figured it was the same as my other cold weather gear.

I also wear a microfleece first layer. These two layers were quite cold. Cold enough in fact to call the dive. Not Groovey.

The suit is large enough for me to add another layer or two, which I will be doing, but the limit of my BC weight capacity has arrived. I couldn't get under the surface when I added another fleece top and pant. Second 'Not Groovey' for the day, and a very good reason to move to steel BP and steel cylinders.

I'll be at Square for the SDT invitational. I'll have more underware and lead, and I will get under ;D

Jeff

[LKunze]

Jeff, what thickness is the Polartec fleece you are wearing? Is it 200G, 300G, 400G? Just curious. I was wearing 300G Softwear polartec last Saturday at Crosby. Underneath that I was wearing a pair of sweats and and a medium weight sweatshirt. I felt fine with that. I'm thinking of getting some mid-weight capilene pants and top from REI to wear under my 300G softwear instead of the sweats though since capilene is supposed to be better for moisture wicking.

[Freedive WI]

Anything is better than cotton.
There is a saying in skiing that goes "cotton kills".
You want something to wick the wetness away from your skin and keep you warm if it gets soaked. Fleece and polypro does this while cotton doesn't.

Jon

[davisj]

Lonnie,

I think I have 300g. I thought I had the 560g PowerStretch, but maybe it's just actionwear. I don't remember to tell you the truth.

I will be stopping on the way to Square to see if I can pick up more undies from REI.

Jeff

[Groovekitty]

I dove with cotton a few times and froze my preverbial arse off!

I now dive with the 400G Polar Tech 4-way stretch uderwear and under it I wear some really thin but warm stuff I got from Midwest Mountaineereing. It's 20% wool and 80% ploy - very soft and super warm. It's remarkably thin too - looks like regular poly underwear, but has the extra wool - so it's warmer and it wicks moisture.

I would recommend checking out what they have there vs. REI. If you look at Thrifty Outfitters upstairs at Midwest Mountaineereing you should be able to find it.

I also use smart wool socks and stay toasty warm!

~groovekitty*

[tcjtn0]

Thanks for the tip Groovekitty. I have to check this out!!!!

Jean