drysuit safety

I am about to use a drysuit for the first time.

[1] Are there any safety issues to be aware of when suiting up? e.g., air trapped in the legs forcing head under, sinking if water gets in, etc.

[2] Do you wear your PFD under or over the drysuit?

First rule of drysuits - dont pee in it.

http://www.alphadry.com/system.htm
http://www.alphadry.com/system.htm

Wade out in the water, and bleed the air out from your neck seal.

Wear the lifejacket on the outside.

Air getting trapped in the suit isn't going to make you float head down or anything like that. You'll find that when you're in the warmer air your suit may need to be bled - just pull the neck seal away from your neck a little and squat down a bit - the air will rush out. When you're in the water, that air left in your suit is going to contract from cooling, and you may find that the suit is now tight against you. That may feel a bit cold and give the idea the suit is leaking, but it's not.

If you're suit leaks in the water and fills up, you're not going to sink. Your suit offers no real bouyancy, and filling with water will just keep you neutral in that respect. You'll be wet. And when you go to get out of the water the water weight in your suit will make things tough if there's enough of it.

I think the biggest safety thing for a dry suit is to make sure you dress appropriately under it. The suit itself offers almost no insulation, so you must consider the water temperature if you fall in. What may be comfortable out of the water may not be warm enough in the water. Wear enough layers to keep you warm for the temp of the water.

PFD on outside of dry suit.

Just a correction...

When you're in the water, the air in the suit does not contract (significantly) due to cooling. Rather, the air is compressed by the surrounding pressure in the water. If you put your feet straight down, you'll notice the suit is tightest at your feet since pressure increases with depth in the water. This is called a suit squeeze and shouldn't be of concern to sailors. Divers, on the other hand, must add air to thier drysuits to counteract the compression as they move deeper. The lack of inflation/deflation valves on sailing suits means you can't use your sailing suit for diving if the thought ever crossed your mind.
-Robert

True on the compression, especially since most sailing suits are of lighter material. But I've noticed difference in air volume inside the suit from being in the water and then sitting in the sun on deck. Or maybe it was the chili...

Keith,

Have you put on a dry suit, not burped the air, then dove head first off a dock? Until you have witnessed such an incident, I wouldn't claim that the air won't make you float feet first!

Buddy! That's right there with sailing under spinnaker.

Safety tip # 1

Do not leave the neck seal over your face too long

Nah, more like this:



BTW, it wasn't me - I swear! But I do understand that it was predicated by "Hey Y'all! Watch this!".

LOL!

Hmmmm....

OK, my completely unscientific answer -

First, I'll make the assumption that the suit fits in a way that the air can move around, otherwise it would be damned ucomfortable. We'll also assume no PFD.

Then, maybe it would be that it might matter if I jumped in feet first first or head first, based on the compression thingy. If feet first, I'm guessing the air would squirt to the top as I was entering the water. So, head is floating.

If head first (as you asked), maybe it would squirt to the legs. But I'm guessing the natural bouyancy in the rest of my body would ultimately bring my upper torso to the surface. I may not be able to put my legs down right away. The air might soon start to redistribute. But I wouldn't be stuck head completely down unless the rest of my body suddenly decided not to float at all.

And mind you I say this as somebody who looks like he has a lot of natural bouyancy but actually has the tendency to sink like a stone.

If one is wearing a pfd, then again, maybe you feet wouldn't sink but your head wouldn't either.

I'm starting to suspect that the reason for the question is merely to see if I'll jump off a pier...

Well, no...but now that you mentioned it....!

I know someone that did that with a Gortex dry suit but without a life jacket and they practically had to walk with their hands on the bottom until he could get to shallower water - bending to come up for air occasionally.

If your legs and feet are totally inflated, you cannot get your legs far enough below the surface to let the air travel inside your suit past your waist to your upper body.

been there, done that, almost not here because of it....

[Director] QUEUE 'FRIEND'!

Mike, note that I was leaving your name out of it! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Interesting - I would still think your upper body would have enough bouyancy on its own to float up even if you don't depress your legs, in which case you would end up essentially floating on your back or stomach.

Oddly, I'm really tempted to try this...

Please video tape that it if you do...

I believe that if I do, the last I should say before diving in must be "hey y'all, watch this!"

Sundays good. I'll bring the kids, video camera, and some popcorn.

And the defibrillator.

This should be considered a prerequisite!

WAIT!!!!!! Massive amounts of BEER are required for anything that starts with "hey y'all, watch this"

Is beer lighter than water? Where does that consumed beer go when you dive into the water headfirst? It might be a factor that contaminates the experiment. And does it matter whether it is heavy beer or "light" beer? <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

I've used every type of drysuit there is for diving and sailing and I've dived a lot in the sub-Artic/Antarctic zones. The bag suits (the ones made out of a laminated waterproof material) is what you're talking about I assume.

When you first don it, squat and open the neck seal. This lets the air out. Other that that you can "burp" it should you go in the water.

Somebody said what you wear under the suit is the most important and thats about the MOST important thing you can say about a suit besides don't pee in it.

Think ice climbing if you're going out in the winter. A layer of wicking material (polypropylene, etc.) which usually comes in three weights (light, medium and heavy) based on your activity level (this gets the sweat off your skin). Go for the medium. Then you need an insulating layer which is fleece or any of its derivatives. This is what keeps you warm. The tighter the weave the warmer the pile/fleece is ... there's the same light/medium/heavy set up.

For boating I use an Ocean Systems suit with midweight polypro and a heavy fleece layer. I've spent as long as 30 minutes in 40 degree water (I was the rescue dummy for a practice session in NJ in February) before starting to get uncomfortable.

A lot of people think their suit leaks and what it is (usually) is sweat.

Although you already have the suit... I like latex seals and full latex feet (don't forget to use the layering on your feet - I go with a polypro sock and then a heavy duty wool one).

Anyway .. you can't beat a drysuit for cold water ...

good luck

gary