Drysuit class worth it or not?

[tfd86]

Just bought a Drysuit No ned to rent. 3 persons on PSD team are DM's in process of Instructors. They been diving dry for years, should I learn from them or absolutely take the Cert?

[DivingCRNA]

If you have the cert you have an easier time demo diving suits at things like D.O.G. Days and such.

The cert might help cover emergency situations too. But that is about it.

[redsoxphan]

I am starting to dive dry myself, but haven't taken the course. I am on the fence.

Any other opinions out there on the dry suit course? If I do take it, my local LDS is a NAUI shop...if that makes a difference (vs. PADI).

[tfd86]

So if I'm not planning on rental the class can b passed over for the other option. How many of you took the class through LDS vs. learning through an expierience dive buddy?

[ReefHound]

I've never seen a demo day demand a drysuit card. That wold be plain silly as one of their main purposes is to get people into drysuit diving and those people almost certainly will not have the card. They ask if you have drysuit experience, if not they will send an assistant down with you.

I think the course is worthwhile... if you have don't have good mentors and a good place to practice. Honestly, there are some important things you need to know and skills to master but a good mentor can show you far more things than the course ever will. On the other hand, the course is typically inexpensive and often free with purchase of a drysuit.

[Jack Hammer]

For me it was worth taking. At the time all my buddies dove wet so I had no one to learn from. I'm glad I took the class as it helped me immensely. One of my current buddies dove wet with drysuit divers so he skipped the class and learned well from them when he was ready.

Some questions you should ask yourself include: Will your buddies show you all the nuances or just the basics? Do you plan to rent a suit at some time? How much is the class? It's all relevant and you'll find many different opinions from people as to how or why they did or didn't take the class. Bottom line is whether or not you should take the class can only be decided by you.

[ianr33]

I never saw the need for the class but I did have an experienced drysuit diver as a buddy.

[enigmata]

The drysuit class was pretty useful for me as I didn't have regular access to buddies who dove drysuits, much less ones who would spend that much time showing me how to use one. The emergency stuff is useful.

You do have a lot of time to get comfortable in the pool and have the instructor be there to explain stuff to you, or make sure the rest of the gear works with the suit.

[FoxHound]

I didnt take the drysuit class, i had a very experienced diver show me the ropes and we did dives that were specifically for drysuit skills.

If you dont have a buddy that can show you all the skills, take the class, the drysuit can add a whole new can of worms and take some time to master.

[in_cavediver]

My opinion is that its a useful class but not an essential class. I did the class when I bought the suit. My wife didn't do the class but learned via the mentor process. In some respects - I think she got better training because I only had a couple formal dives to learn the suit. She had many dives to glean information and ask questions and generally tweak her rig.

In the end - I tell people to do 10 dives before they make any judgements about diving dry. The first dives generally suck. You feel out of place, your buoyancy is usually crap and its just not 'right'. With time an expierence, things tend to work themselves out.