The Right Choice Style • Comfort • Quality Congratulations on your purchase of an Amron Drysuit! All Amron drysuits are designed for the diver who demands the best in quality, design, and after sales service. With the proper care and main- tenance your Amron drysuit will give you many years of service and en- joyable diving. Please take the time to read this manual. The manual includes many safety techniques and information on the use, care and maintenance of your drysuit. This manual is supplied to the original owner of the dry suit. If you sell or loan your dry suit to another person, be sure this manual accompanies the suit. Encourage the user to read this manual before they use the suit. If you have questions about the use or maintenance of the dry suit, or if you need another copy of this manual, please contact your Dealer or Amron International. WARNING !! This manual is NOT a substitute for drysuit instruction by a qualified instructor. Do not use a drysuit until you have practiced and mastered practical drysuit diving skills and emergency skills, in a controlled environment under the supervision of a dive instructor, certi- fied by a nationally recognized instructional organization and is knowl- edgeable in the use and instructions of drysuit diving techniques. AMRON INTERNATIONAL, INC. 1380 Aspen Way • Vista, CA 92081-8349 Phone: 760-208-6500 • e-mail: [email protected] Web: www.amronintl.com I Table of Contents Description Page Number Safety Information...............................................................1-3 Definition of Safety & Warning Messages .................................. 1 Drysuit Diving Guidelines............................................................ 3 Sizing Information, Drysuits & Thermal Wear............................... 4 Accessories ..................................................................................... 5 Latex Seals .................................................................................. 6-7 Trimming and Adjusting Latex Neck Seals ................................. 6 Trimming and Adjusting Latex Wrist Seals ................................. 7 Pre-Dive Procedures.................................................................................8-12 Connecting the Low Pressure Inflator Hose to Your Regulator • 8 Pre-Dive Inspection .................................................................... 8 Zipper Inspection ........................................................................ 8 Putting On Your Dry Suit Underwear.......................................... 9 Putting On Your Dry Suit .......................................................9-12 Putting On The Neck Seal ........................................................ 10 Closing the Zipper..................................................................... 11 Venting the Dry Suit Before Diving ........................................... 11 Putting On Your Scuba Gear.................................................... 11 Connecting and Disconnecting Your Dry Suit Inflator Hose • 11-15 Drysuit Diving Procedures ......................................................................13-15 Entering the Water While Wearing a Dry Suit .......................... 13 Conducting a Buoyancy Check............................................ 13-14 Venting Your BC ....................................................................... 15 Making Your Descent ............................................................... 15 Surface Swimming with your Drysuit........................................ 15 II Table of Contents Description Page Number Buoyancy Control ...................................................................... 16-18 Attaining Neutral Buoyancy at Depth ........................................ 16 Neutral Trim .............................................................................. 17 Controlling Your Ascent ....................................................... 17-18 Surface Swimming with your Drysuit ........................................ 18 Emergency Procedures & Skills ................................................ 19-22 Recovering from an Inverted Position....................................... 19 Inflator Valve Stuck Open ......................................................... 20 Inflator Valve Stuck Closed....................................................... 21 Water Leaking Through the Exhaust Valve .............................. 21 Exhaust Valve Stuck Open ....................................................... 21 Exhaust Valve Stuck Closed..................................................... 21 Slow Air Leak Through the Inflator Valve ..................................21 Flooded Dry Suit ........................................................................21 Dropped Weight Belt..................................................................22 Removing your Drysuit..................................................................................23 Removing the Neck Seal ...........................................................23 Removing the Wrist Seals .........................................................23 Removing the Suit from your Body............................................23 Troubleshooting Leaks ....................................................................24 Care and Maintenance ...............................................................25-26 Limited Warranty .............................................................................27 Ill Safety Information Definition of Safety and Warning Messages DANGER !! This message indicates an imminent hazardous situation, when if not avoided, wjll result in death or serious injury. WARNING !! This message indicates a potentially hazardous situa- tion, which if not avoided, may result in death or serious injury! CAUTION !! This message indicates a potentitally hazardous situa- tion, which if not avoided, may result in minor or moderate injury. It may also be used to alert against unsafe practices! Amron drysuits are intended for use by certified Scuba divers who have satisfactorily completed a recognized course in the use of dry suits. Al- though dry suits are relatively simple to use, you must have instructions to use this suit properly. Be sure to take a dry suit training course from an instructor with a nationally recognized training agency. WARNING !! Even if you are experienced in dry suit diving, take the time to read this manual. It contains many important safety techniques, as well as useful information to help extend the life of your dry suit. Be sure to follow all instructions and safety warnings in this manual. Im- proper use or misuse of this dry suit can result in serious injury or death. WARNING !! This owners manual is NOT a substitute for proper dry suit instruction by a qualified instructor. Do not use this dry suit until you have mastered practical dry suit diving skills, in a controlled environ- ment, under the supervision of a diving instructor who is qualified to teach dry suit diving. Failure to follow the warnings and instructions for the use and maintenance of this drysuit may result in serious injury or in extreme situations, death !! 1 Safety Information DANGER !! Improper use or misuse of this dry suit can cause a loss of buoyancy control. Possible dangers include uncontrolled descents and rapid ascents, resulting in drowning, decompression sickness, and/or air embolism. WARNING !! Improper use or misuse of this dry suit can result in ex- posure to thermal hazards including rapid body overheating or cooling. Overheating can lead to stroke or seizure and death. Rapid cooling can lead to a loss of manual dexterity, lack of reasoning ability, hypothermia, and death. DANGER !! Do not use the buoyancy of your dry suit as a lifting device for lifting heavy objects underwater. If you use the buoyancy of your suit for lifting and lose your grip on the object, you will become excessively buoyant. This can lead to a rapid ascent. Rapid ascents are dangerous and may cause air embolism or decompression sickness. Either of these accidents can lead to serious injury or death. WARNING !! Diving in environments that contain chemical, biological, or nuclear contaminants is extremely hazardous. Although some Amron equipment can be adapted for use in polluted water, special training, equipment, and procedures are required. Do not dive in contaminated water unless you have been thoroughly trained and are properly equipped. The Amron Dry Suit that you have purchased has not been adapted for use in polluted or other abnormal environments. WARNING !! Diving in water temperatures below 70 degrees F. (21 degrees C.) is considered cold water diving. You must be prepared to protect yourself from the cold water environment to avoid the hazards associated with hypothermia. Water temperatures below 45 degrees F. (7 degrees C.) and other fac- tors including ambient air temperature, air flow rates, diving depth, and moisture content of the compressed air can combine to allow ice to form in and around the dry suit inflation valve. In some cases, this ice forma- tion can cause the valve to remain open and continuously inflate the suit. 2 Safety Information You risk serious injury and death if you use any dry suit in cold water without the training and experience to dive in cold water. You should in- clude the ability to respond to a sudden change in buoyancy that might result from a free flow of air through the dry suit inflation valve. DANGER !! Ice diving (diving in water temperatures of 45