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Freediving with drysuit
- Thread startersvensson
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Thread Status: Hello
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O Man! Too bad You don't have a choice. I hate drysuits, tried DUI and Whites with SCUBA, felt so weird and uncomfortable. First squeeze, compensation, then valve operation with arm, all wrong. And the worst part being underwater but NOT WET! Totally disconnected from the environment.
After spending 2 hours under ice with 5mm open cell (warm & comfy) I see no reason to ever own a drysuit. When I go to Arctic I am taking my Elios!
After spending 2 hours under ice with 5mm open cell (warm & comfy) I see no reason to ever own a drysuit. When I go to Arctic I am taking my Elios!
Suuuure you can freedive with a DrySuit.
However you have a few distracting issues to deal with.
Suit sqeeeeze big time. Maybe not so bad with a neoprene drysuit.
Actually post dive PeePee unfolding could be a hilarious site.
Don't forget the cold water - that is why your wearing the drysuit isn't it?
May need some insulation from the cold.
Taking along a little air for the drysuit? That’s a bag of worms.
Simi-dry wetsuit with hot tap water may work???? A little?
This is going to be an interesting topic to pass around!
I think I'll stick to poring hot tap water in my wetsuit, take fewer dives, more hot tap water. Shorter dive days, hours or minutes. Psychiatric observance?
Probably advisable!
Good luck buds.
Oh, I don't know how to navigate the forum therefore this may not get anywhere.
But I tried!
Later,
Me
However you have a few distracting issues to deal with.
Suit sqeeeeze big time. Maybe not so bad with a neoprene drysuit.
Actually post dive PeePee unfolding could be a hilarious site.
Don't forget the cold water - that is why your wearing the drysuit isn't it?
May need some insulation from the cold.
Taking along a little air for the drysuit? That’s a bag of worms.
Simi-dry wetsuit with hot tap water may work???? A little?
This is going to be an interesting topic to pass around!
I think I'll stick to poring hot tap water in my wetsuit, take fewer dives, more hot tap water. Shorter dive days, hours or minutes. Psychiatric observance?
Probably advisable!
Good luck buds.
Oh, I don't know how to navigate the forum therefore this may not get anywhere.
But I tried!
Later,
Me
If you do a search you will find other threads on this same topic.
I've done more than a few freedives in a drysuit. DUI TLS-350 with C4 thinsulate worked the best- easy to move around in and let me get deeper than with other suits. I was able to get down about 30'-35' before the squeeze got so bad I couldn't move around that well. If I were just riding a scooter I might have been able to go deeper- since I wouldn't have to kick at all.
I've also used 7mm neoprene drysuits- which have huge buoyancy shifts and I never cared for them much. I've also done it with my old CF200 (crushed neoprene) drysuit- which yielded better results than the 7mm suit, but no where near as nice as with the tri-lam.
The worst luck I had was with a Viking suit while wearing the Viking foam underwear- only able to get down 25' before the squeeze got to me. It's an awesome suit for scuba diving in crappy water, but not the best freediving suit.
It's possible freedive in a drysuit, but a real freediving wetsuit will work much better- and scuba wetsuits pretty much suck for warmth, or anything else. A real freediving wetsuit will also work out well for scuba dives to a certain extent. For the water I dive in I have no problem using a freediving wetsuit for any no-deco scuba dive. If I'm going into deco, which is pretty much any time bother to strap a tank(s) onto my back I wouldn't want to go below 70' with one. This would change in warmer water, but I'm talking 40F local stuff.
For drysuit diving I really like Esclapez/Immersion openheel freediving fins- in black. They also make a green version and have a couple of choices in footpocket sizes. I have no issues getting a size 10 drysuit boot, with socks and booties, into a pair of XL fins with room to spare.
Oh, and I'd skip the bottle to add on for suit inflation to get a bit deeper- you'll end up blowing the gas in no time with all the up and down stuff that you'll be doing. I will say that another instructor I used to teach with liked to freediving down to a platform at 25' in his neoprene drysuit and wrap his knees around the rail while he filled his suit with a tank lying on the bottom. After disconnecting the suit he would let her rip and launch himself out of the water- people get pretty bored diving in the same quarries all the time.rofl
Jon
I've done more than a few freedives in a drysuit. DUI TLS-350 with C4 thinsulate worked the best- easy to move around in and let me get deeper than with other suits. I was able to get down about 30'-35' before the squeeze got so bad I couldn't move around that well. If I were just riding a scooter I might have been able to go deeper- since I wouldn't have to kick at all.
I've also used 7mm neoprene drysuits- which have huge buoyancy shifts and I never cared for them much. I've also done it with my old CF200 (crushed neoprene) drysuit- which yielded better results than the 7mm suit, but no where near as nice as with the tri-lam.
The worst luck I had was with a Viking suit while wearing the Viking foam underwear- only able to get down 25' before the squeeze got to me. It's an awesome suit for scuba diving in crappy water, but not the best freediving suit.
It's possible freedive in a drysuit, but a real freediving wetsuit will work much better- and scuba wetsuits pretty much suck for warmth, or anything else. A real freediving wetsuit will also work out well for scuba dives to a certain extent. For the water I dive in I have no problem using a freediving wetsuit for any no-deco scuba dive. If I'm going into deco, which is pretty much any time bother to strap a tank(s) onto my back I wouldn't want to go below 70' with one. This would change in warmer water, but I'm talking 40F local stuff.
For drysuit diving I really like Esclapez/Immersion openheel freediving fins- in black. They also make a green version and have a couple of choices in footpocket sizes. I have no issues getting a size 10 drysuit boot, with socks and booties, into a pair of XL fins with room to spare.
Oh, and I'd skip the bottle to add on for suit inflation to get a bit deeper- you'll end up blowing the gas in no time with all the up and down stuff that you'll be doing. I will say that another instructor I used to teach with liked to freediving down to a platform at 25' in his neoprene drysuit and wrap his knees around the rail while he filled his suit with a tank lying on the bottom. After disconnecting the suit he would let her rip and launch himself out of the water- people get pretty bored diving in the same quarries all the time.rofl
Jon
I more or less exhausted my imput on this topic on my earlier post but just one extra point. It's not just the in water warmth advantage of a dry suit it's the out of water aspect too. Doing 4 to 6 tank dives during an 8 hour day with the intervening time spent on deck with a nasty wind chill factor is a killer in a wet wetsuit. The wind just seems to draw the heat out of you. A dry suit is a huge advantage in these circumstances. On the other hand it's a pain in summer sweating it out or trying to unzip yourself out of your drybag (and have a pee) when in a wet suit you easily strip off your jacket (and pee in your suit).
It's horses for courses really. Just depends on what you do and in what conditions.
Dave.
It's horses for courses really. Just depends on what you do and in what conditions.
Dave.
when i took my first star in CMAS me and my friend svedberg went down to 9meter (salt water) with drysuit, if i recall it right i used around 10-12kg (im 185cm 80kg)tho i had to kick very hard the first 4-5 meters (we used short fins aswell). it didnt really hurt that much but i wouldnt go much further down with just a drysuit. but for me it worked fine that time, i guess i was lucky enough to get squeze at the right spots.
Thought I would point out that even in fresh water under ice a 7 mm wetsuit is fine. Once you get a few metres below the surface the water is about 4°C, which is not bad.
A lot of people think you need drysuits at such temperatures, but that's a myth. I and many buddies have been out in sub-zero water in wetsuits. The coldest I've ever done was a certification dive for a bunch of scuba students in a cove in Nova Scotia, the water was -0.2°C, fortunately no ice cover, but we had to push away some slushy ice spicule stuff. Everybody had thick, smoothskin suits (except me, who had a nylon outside suit that was definitely less warm out of the water) and nobody had any problems, except for one goofy student who decided to take a glove off underwater and couldn't move his hand for the rest of the dive!
The scuba divers have those fancy BCs to compensate for the bouyancy and balance challenges that air compression causes in dry duits, but I think you're asking for trouble trying to use one without a compensator for freediving.
Why not just order up a good 7 mm wetsuit and have it available with your kit for changing into for rescue work? IME smoothskin outside is warmer when you get out of the water, and an attached hood is definitely the way to go.
Steve
A lot of people think you need drysuits at such temperatures, but that's a myth. I and many buddies have been out in sub-zero water in wetsuits. The coldest I've ever done was a certification dive for a bunch of scuba students in a cove in Nova Scotia, the water was -0.2°C, fortunately no ice cover, but we had to push away some slushy ice spicule stuff. Everybody had thick, smoothskin suits (except me, who had a nylon outside suit that was definitely less warm out of the water) and nobody had any problems, except for one goofy student who decided to take a glove off underwater and couldn't move his hand for the rest of the dive!
The scuba divers have those fancy BCs to compensate for the bouyancy and balance challenges that air compression causes in dry duits, but I think you're asking for trouble trying to use one without a compensator for freediving.
Why not just order up a good 7 mm wetsuit and have it available with your kit for changing into for rescue work? IME smoothskin outside is warmer when you get out of the water, and an attached hood is definitely the way to go.
Steve