Posted by some Walker on August 01, 2001 at 15:37:03:
In Reply to: Buoyancy control in drysuit diving posted by Eins on August 01, 2001 at 11:56:32:
Eins, you stated: "that using the B.C for bouyancy, and quit frankly, it does not work well for me." I have a question. Why would it work for you in a wet suit and not a dry suit?
The reason you are having troubles with dumping air in your bc and drysuit at the same time is you have complexed the controlabilty of your rig because you are putting too much air in your suit. You should need to dump them both at the same time otherwise. But if for what ever reason you do, PULL THE NECK SEAL OPEN. The dive should be over anyways with control issues like that.
Using the suit as a primary bouyancy device allows to much gas to shift around, causing swimming issues, primaraly trim and bouyancy.
A diver only need anough gas in his suit to fluff the undergarments.
The BC in designed to carries a diver like a hang glider would. No suit full of air will have the same charactoristics.
A suit has way to many places for the air to go, effecting your trim. Shoulders, arms, butt, legs, feet, and in some suits, dry gloves and hood. This is quit a span of air movement if you are trying to gain trim/bouyancy/control. The BC has much less. The B.C is easy to control and most of them are designed with that in mind. The others are so full of commercializations the don't fully function properly.
This probably isn't a problem if you are horizontal the entire dive, but that isn't feasable. Entering/exiting the water, grabbing stuff in those rocks, ect. will often require a dive to loose trim. Regaining it shouldn't be a problem but with a bunch of air in the suit it will be.