Went from a 30-minute bottom time to 8 minutes after switching to a new drysuit this spring

I swapped out my old Viking suit for a new one and the buoyancy control difference was night and day, but now I burn through air way faster - has anyone else noticed a big drop in their gas consumption after changing gear setups?

3 comments

3 Comments

wood.eric1mo ago

Honestly, I think you're missing the real culprit here. New suits are stiff as hell and that changes how you move. With my old beat up suit I'd just kinda slosh around and adjust with my lungs, but a new one with tighter seals and less flex means you're fighting the suit on every kick. That extra resistance makes you work harder and breathe faster without even realizing it. Plus, if your new suit has a different cut, you might be subconsciously using your arms more to compensate for the fit, which burns through gas like crazy. Try a few dives just focusing on relaxing and letting the suit do the work before you start tweaking weights or trim.

victor_robinson1mo ago

My third dive in a new drysuit I actually forgot how to swim for a solid minute. Felt like I was wrestling a refrigerator underwater. Maybe the real answer is we all just need to buy 15 year old suits off Craigslist and call it "trim optimization.

robin5911mo ago

lmao wrestling a refrigerator is too accurate