Just one more thing for now...buoancy....

[jlwarlow]

Use whatever you are comfortable (and safe) with. I use my drysuit - I try and keep correctly weighted so that I need little air to maintain neutral bouyancy. I like using the drysuit only as I only have one source of air to dump on ascent, and while reeling in a DSMB I only have to lean to one side for my autodump to dump air - no having to let go to press a dump button on my BC and no sticking arm in air for cuff dump. I don't have twins as some in our club do, those that do sometimes put air in their BC to take the weight off a little. When I get twins I may do the same!

[Ratbag]

Oops!!! Sorry was not meant to be a troll!! It's a serious question, honest guv!! I originally thought that as you have a dry suit then you get used to using it for bouyancy but when the instructor suggested to Jo she might be more comfortable using just the BCD then I realised there was another approach. It was in the back of my mind when it cropped up on the other thread..hence my question...

I can't think of any more contentious questions for now...

except maybe......no, I won't go there....

Seriously, thanks for all the advice. I hope to make good use of it...

Patrick

[chrisch]

I think there is some grey area here. I was taught to use the suit, which I did for years. With my old suit and cuff dump it really was the better method (maybe not the "correct" but the better).
My new suit is a shoulder dump of the non-auto variety. Its also a bit bigger than the old one (due to enlarged contents). I find with this the air gets in the legs and becomes unstable. I am re-learning BCD skills long forgotten.
So I am now a pervert - oops sorry CONVERT - to the BCD and suit squeeze club.

Basta per piacere Patrick basta.....

Chris.

[BJ]

Originally Posted by And

Hi

Well, just think about the equipment.

A Buoyancy Compensator is for Buoyancy

A Drysuit keeps you dry

Hope that helps

Andy

A belt will hold your trousers up and braces do the same!

I start off neutrally buoyant and exhale to descend. I have found that I only need to add buoyancy as I go deeper because my suit gets compressed by the increasing pressure. If I have a drysuit I can add air to stop this happening. If I wear a wetsuit I have to add air to something else - a BC.

I might have to add air to make up for the loss of weight of the gas I have exhaled out in to the water. If that's a lot, I might also use the BC.

[chrisch]

Originally Posted by JJJBBB

I start off neutrally buoyant and exhale to descend.

This surely, will leave you positivley bouyant at the end of the dive due to increased bouyancy of the (now) empty(ish) tank(s) thus in danger of uncontrolled ascent. You should start just slightly negativley bouyant.

Chris

[Finless]

I have said it before and I'll say it again "use the dry suit" and don't argue with me. Bloody kids. Not got the sense they were born with. Tut. Why in my day .....

Also, only 'kin retards use shoulder dumps. You wouldn't want a backside that started releasing gas under its own volition, would you?

Join us cuffers and and look like a Nazi underwater - you know it makes sense. If you find the prospect of giving Nazi salutes under water a little off putting then try to think of it as one armed aerobics (no, not that sort). Minds like sewers (no, nothing to do with thimbles).

What do they teach you lot these days. Bluddy yoof of twoday - orta spend mot thyme in skool and yew woodnt need to arsk thees stupid kwestions wood yer!!!

[KimH]

Not being a golfer I can't really give you chapter and verse on this one but if I remember correctly the story basically goes as follows: - young kid starts to play golf but has crap style and everyone says he'll never make a good golfer in a million years with a grip and swing like his. Now everyone wants to imitate that kid.


Anyway back to the main point - my personal choice is air in the drysuit for both comfort and buoyancy. If need be you can always top it up with a bit of puff in the BCD but you would really need to be carrying some weight for that.

Whatever you decide is something you need to be comfortable with and will probably change as you grow in experience and need to make less marked adjustments to your buoyancy.

[BJ]

Originally Posted by chrisch

This surely, will leave you positivley bouyant at the end of the dive due to increased bouyancy of the (now) empty(ish) tank(s) thus in danger of uncontrolled ascent. You should start just slightly negativley bouyant.

Chris

OK here is the whole nine yards:
My lungs can hold more than 8 litres of air. That is 8 kgs of lift (variable with lung volumes). Gas has buoyancy in my lungs but only weight in a fixed volume/buoyancy cylinder.
I find that if I am only using a single cylinder of gas that I can accommodate the (approx) 2kg of buoyancy difference between a full and empty tank, within my breathing range. If I plan to use a lot more gas (more tanks) I have to add more weight to counteract the loss of weight with the loss of that (exhaled) gas. That is when I might have to use the BC in addition to the drysuit to be neutrally buoyant at the beginning of the dive, and dumping it on the way up, just as I would dump expanding air from my drysuit, so as to not be positive at the end. I keep my drysuit at the same volume (same neutral buoyancy) by adding or dumping as as necessary during the dive.

(I think that covers it though I have not had this looked at by a lawyer!)

[Mark Davies]

I think JB covered this above and has done in the past.

I don't get this argument about 'only putting enough air in your suit to avoid the squeeze and then using the wing/BC for bouyancy'. If your weight is right, 'putting enough in the suit to avoid the squeeze' should make you neutrally bouyant. Decrease your lung volume (breathe out) and you sink. As you sink the pressure increases so to keep the squeeze off (i.e. maintain a constant volume of the suit) you add air to the suit. By doing this you're also automatically maintaining neutral bouyancy.

So what are you using the BC for?

Issues with neoprene suits notwithstanding (I use membrane for this reason) I don't understand the use of a BC with a drysuit. If you are needing to use it, you're either over weighted or you're not keeping the squeeze off the suit and therefore losing it's insulating properties.

Now there are trim issues. It is very comfortable to use a wing and basically hang underneath it, nicely supported. But the point remains that to do that you have to be overweighted. That's a personal choice provided you're willing to accept the extra gas consumption. I don't see the benefit.

Obviously, I fly the suit.