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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Jul 15, 2014 23:22:17 GMT -8
I use my Hydroglove when snorkelling off a beach in the North East of England. When I walk into the sea I invariably find that the pressure of the water forces any residual air in the feet and legs of the pants upwards into the jacket, where it can be easily vented through the face or wrist seals.
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Post by cstmwrks on Jul 16, 2014 5:56:25 GMT -8
I've heard if you get to much air in the leg and feet section; they can flip you upside down ... The answer is yes, you can get air trapped in the feet of the suit. There are horror stories ( some true, some not so much ) of feet first uncontrolled ascents ending in an injured or dead diver. This is not limited to old style suits either. The makers of the Viking dry suit were sued over an inflator valve incident. Screw up one was the divers fault. He was using himself as a lift bag for a heavy prop ( not sure on that.. going from memory ) and to make things worse, the inflator stuck in the "on" position so it kept adding air faster than the dump valve could vent. If I recall the diver then dropped the weight making the buoyancy issue worse and rocketed feet first to the surface. I don't recall if it killed him or left him with decompression issues. On a dive that I was on back in my days in Alaska, I watched as a diver who had a small amount of air in the feet of her suit and was already head down... pound frantically on the dump valve as if this would some how solve things. Her boyfriend was near enough and flipped her upright. Nothing got out of hand but she did get a lecture back on the surface on some basic laws of physics. Jacques Cousteau had issues with this as well on his early constant volume dry suit. There was no real worry of a run away inflator valve but if I recall right there was an incident or two that led to adding a duck bill valve to the ankle area of each leg. Safe use of a dry suit, any dry suit, is a matter of knowledge and practiced skills. Pretty much applies to allot of things. This is one thing I do not like in general about many modern items of equipment these days. Some one is always out there working to make a machine or tool that removes the need for skill or knowledge on the part of the human using that tool or item.
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Post by scubadiverbob on Jul 16, 2014 16:07:07 GMT -8
I've heard if you get to much air in the leg and feet section; they can flip you upside down ... This is one thing I do not like in general about many modern items of equipment these days. Some one is always out there working to make a machine or tool that removes the need for skill or knowledge on the part of the human using that tool or item. "Many modern items" I started using a computer; until, the battery compartment flooded at 30 ft. (saltwater) ... now I'm back to using my gauges! If the computer had kept working, it was easier. Flooding proved it was unreliable. Don't think I'll ever use a computer again!
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Post by nikeajax on Jul 16, 2014 16:33:05 GMT -8
Robert, every time someone mentions a dive computer, I remember your story. I'll stick with my big ol' nasty Pennform console, an' if someone gives my any lip about it, it makes a a good bludgeon too--SNORT! My wife has a great rubber console from Aqua Lung: that'll leave a good bruise, but won't break the skin like the Pennform will Jaybird
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Post by diverdon on Jul 17, 2014 18:18:26 GMT -8
Robert, every time someone mentions a dive computer, I remember your story. I'll stick with my big ol' nasty Pennform console, an' if someone gives my any lip about it, it makes a a good bludgeon too--SNORT! My wife has a great rubber console from Aqua Lung: that'll leave a good bruise, but won't break the skin like the Pennform will Jaybird A little feisty last night Jaybird I remember a few drysuit instances where an experienced diver popped up from about 40' because of weighting issues, and a new (to her) suit. No DCS but blew the dive for the day. Thankfully that's all. Some skills are perishable. I agree with the need for practicing with your gear. I had an issue with my Viking yesterday but it was the opposite. I got seriously flooded and lost all buoyancy. I was with a group of seasoned divers seeking out a wreck to buoy using my newly rebuilt DA. We hadn't buoyed the wreck in a few years and the captains numbers were a little off. It was a shallow wreck that we couldn't see from the surface, so I dropped down and did a search and got completely soaked. Luckily (for them) it was 50 degree water so I wasn't worried about getting cold, otherwise I would abort. After a brief search I surfaced and called the boat over to the wreck and dropped back down to set the anchor. Coming back up this last time was a drag. Literally. When I finally got back on the boat there was several gallons of water in my suit. At least the bottom half was still air tight. Turns out the glue on my new neck seal wasn't holding and it just started pealing off. I actually had to drag myself up the anchor line as any air I put in my suit bubbled right on out the neck seal. Drat! I'm suppose to do more underwater work Saturday too !!! I could have dropped my 24lb weight belt if there had been an actual emergency. I could see where a horse color at the surface would come in handy too. I use ankle weights which helps a little I suppose. Along with proper weighting so when I'm in a head down position I don't have trouble with air in the foot/legs of my suit. You can actually feel the air movement within the suit fairly easily, so if you use your God-given noggin you shouldn't have a problem at all. I've been in head down situations many times. Never a problem. I may be in the market for another suit and may even consider a vintage suit. But I just like valves... Don
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