1. What are the benefits you see using a pull buoy?
   
   
   • it is closer to wetsuit swimming than non-PB-swimming. Most of racing is wetsuit-swimming
   • With PB and little to no kick, I feel like I am more aware of proper body rotation and core stability
   • It reveals asymmetries in my stroke that I usually compensate for with a bit of a scissor kick
     
2. What do you work on when you use it?
   
   
   • getting kicking down to zero (band)
   • feeling like a plank in the water with no sideways swing in the hips or legs
   • feeling a certain drive in my stroke coming from the hips
     
3. Does that work transfer to swimming without it?
   
   
   • is there really ever a way to tell the cause and effect of individual measures in such a complex system where you can never fix all other variables?
     
4. How often do you use it (what percent of workouts)?
   
   
   • A lot, usually ~50% of every workout
     
5. What percent of your workouts are kick oriented?
   
   
   • I do some kicking during warmup. No Board. Arms pointing straight back at my sides, arching my back, lifting head every so often to breathe.
     
6. Do you "not kick" in wetsuit races?
   
   
   • It feels like I don't - which probably equates to some kicking - more for balace than for propulsion.
     
7. How do you find no wetsuit open water races?
   
   
   • Not bad as I think my PB regime actually improves my stroke and I still feel like I do enough non-PB swimming to be ready for non-WS races.
     

Rem.: I always find it helpful to have an idea of people's ability level when reading these kinds of N=1 posts.
In that spirit: I am usually a ~27min 70.3 wetsuit swimmer and a ~59min Ironman wetsuit swimmer. Adult onset swimmer obviously and for the last 2,3 years have dialed down swimming to 2/3 times a week to maintain that level (and have more time for B/R)

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if you can read this
YOU'RE DRAFTING!