Posted by scubagirl on May 24, 2002 at 18:42:33:
In Reply to: Re: Actual advice (not spam) posted by rey on May 24, 2002 at 18:01:44:
Hey,
I have an Atlan drysuit and my release valve is located on my upper left arm. I like it but there is only one thing - when I'm at a great depth and ascending its kinda hard to reach over and push the release button because my suit is so squeezed to my body. In shallow depths (80ft or shallower) its no problem at all. Of course, I could insert air into the drysuit but I like inflating my BC when I'm ascending best. LOL, after deep dives I usually have a concentric bruise where the valve is on my drysuit. It looks like a bruise but it never hurts at all. That is just because I don't put a lot of air into my drysuit. If I did, that would never happen. I'm sure if the valve was nearer to my wrist the same thing would happen (with me). At least I can hide the bruise with my shirt sleeve (and when someone asks about it, I can tell them a small shark bit me...).
I have never had a drysuit with the release valve near the wrist. When letting air out of your suit, you need to have the valve above your body so all the air can escape. I think it would be kind of hard reaching with your right arm all the way up to your left wrist (with all your scuba gear on) to push the release button. You could always just leave the valve open (hold your arm up) and let the air escape as needed.
As for me - I like my valve perfectly fine on my upper arm.