Posted by brianc on July 24, 2001 at 10:13:36:
In Reply to: Re: Drysuits and BC's posted by MHK on July 24, 2001 at 09:31:37:
I've only been diving dry for 1.5 years - using only the drysuit for buoyancy. Lately, I've been seeing advice from more experienced dry divers saying that it is more "advanced" to use the BC for buoyancy. My experience though is that enough air to prevent squeeze is enough to remain neutral. I've stopped using ankle weights and dropped 3.25 lb of lead since I started diving dry and find that, more than ever, "enough to prevent sqeeze" is enough for neutral buoyancy. This past Sat and Sun I practiced hovering horizontally at 20, 15, 7, 5, and 3 fsw, doing so with the suit alone was easy, suit and BC was just too much task loading. At depth, I have more room to react, but I just haven't felt the need to use my BC. I just roll my left shoulder up and my suit dumps easily. I also found that a little air in my boots helps me to keep my feet above the axis of my body, bent knees do a good job of preventing too much air going to my feet.
It sounds like using the BC is meant to compensate for over-weighting and poor trim. Am I missing something? I'm genuinely curious since I've read what you recommended from several people, but haven't had the opportunity to dive with someone who actually practiced that technique.