DRYSUIT AS BUOYANCY COMPENSATOR?

When I am home and dive at Lake of Garda, in Northern Italy, I am used to temperatures between 22-14°C in summer and 12-6°C in winter, so one of my first specialty training has been, of course, Drysuit Diving.

Over time I have been drysuit diving with many buddies and some of them use the drysuit as a primary buoyancy compensator, giving the BCD or wing a role of mere redundancy and using it only as a floating device for positive buoyancy on the surface. This way, they have to manage only one single volume of air during the dive, still having the BCD as a redundancy and safety option.

SSI at least, discourage this practice, opting for jacket or wing as a primary buoyancy compensator and recommending to transfer to the drysuits only the minimum quantity of air necessary to detach it from the body preventing squeezes.

I personally fully agree with this orientation, in the light of following:

1. less air volume in the dry suit impacting on buoyancy and trim position. In fact, a greater volume of air in the drysuit can move from the waist area to the legs, creating problematic situations that can be solved only through specific techniques;
2. the extra air pressure in the dry suit, in connection to ungraceful body movement, could lead to air loss through cuffs and / or collar, increasing the risk of flood;
3. given its great surface, the dry suite is more likely vulnerable to lacerations and punctures;
4. bcd are easier to control and do not require extra body movement to deflate.

Even though the majority of newest training standards seem to follow the same direction, I keep hearing of divers using the drysuit as as BCD, so I am happy to read your opinion! What does your training agency recommend?