Splitting-the-Pot: How to Divvy your Drysuit Budget

[stangguy327]

I'd go with
the New suit

mid grade undies - some great undies on ebay, new, no name brand but still great and cheap

no class(with 100-200 dives your bouyancy should be fine, you just use the suit instead of your bc...nbd)

play the ankle wieghts by ear - I need them for salt water but can't wear them at all in fresh

normal dry hood - which is just a wet hood without a big ol collar

nice wet gloves unless you are ice diving

 

[cbrich]

so it seems the prevailing advice is to sink as much money into a new suit as possible (plus a whole lot of off-topic advice, too.) the whole "new house vs renovating" argument. is that right? this presents a bit of a problem, however, as new suits built to last (without keyperson pricing) rarely dip below the $2000 mark

whites fusion, usia techniflex, diving concepts ultraflex, hollis biodry, and every dui ... all out of my budget. but i can't see myself diving a bare/pinnacle stock suit five years from now

I guess nobody told you, Scuba is a very expensive hobby, but an enjoyable one. If you are wanting to get everything the Jones have, you are not enjoying yourself.

Your profile says you are a Student, and we all know most students are broke. The thing you should keep in mind "All I have to do is get out of school, and get a good paying job, so I can get what I want." The best thing you can do right now, is to form a relationship with your local diving community (your school should have a dive club, unless you are in high school), the best place to start is at your local dive shop. Most LDS have a club of some kind.

The worst thing you can do is build a negative repor with the local diving community.

 

[Sas]

I'd get a new suit, decent undergarmets, a p-valve (if you have been peeing in your wetsuit you will be much happier with a p-valve), skip ankle weights/gaiters, drygloves and training. Hoods are often included with drysuits.

These days I would be happy with second hand drysuits but as a new diver you might not know how to pick a good one.

Training, you can learn drysuit diving yourself, all of my buddies have without any hassle. I don't know many people who have actually done a course myself and there are a lot of drysuit divers in my area as it gets down to 48F in winter.

For comparison these have been the total costs of my suits:

1st drysuit (2008)
Northern Diver Divemaster neoprene
Suit (new) $1500
Switch boots $100
Thermal underwear $50
P-valve (install + valve) $150
Ankle weights $50
Hood $0 (came with suit)
------------
Total $1850

2nd drysuit (2010)
Otter Britannic Trilam (second hand off buddy) $600
New neck seal $100
Otter 200g undersuit $180
Thermal underwear (from first suit) $50
P-valve modification $40 (switch from unbalanced to balanced)
Ankle weights $0 (don't need them with this one)
Hood $40
-------------
Total $1010

 

[rakpix]

thank you sas! thank you for staying on topic, and for providing the EXACT kind of advice this thread was meant to solicit! i actually can take a lot more out of the "differences" betweem your two budgets. let me ask, what lessons from your first drysuit helped you prepare for your second purchase? i see you:

1) moved from neoprene to membrane
2) upgraded your undergarments
3) dropped your ankle weights

 

[Sas]

Well the main reason I got the second one is because I do so much diving that it kills me to have to go back to a wetsuit whilst I am getting a repair when the water is 50F/10C (happened a couple of times, got pinholes in my first suit). I am obtaining backups to pretty much every piece of gear I have and so wanted a second drysuit.

And also the other main reason was that this trilam suit was going very cheaply from a buddy who I had seen do pretty much every dive in the suit so I know it was good. We are the same height but he found it too loose in the chest (he's picky about gear...) and being female I fitted it perfect!

Other second hand suits I would have been a lot more weary about, not knowing the history but I know how to inspect suits now so probably would have better luck. I know what seals look like when they are starting to break down and know how to check zippers to make sure they are ok.

Undergarment upgrade was required do to the switch to trilam.. neoprene is very warm and I was fine in trackies and a few stripy thermal tops, but trilam was FREEZING in the same thermals so I got a proper undergarment.

Ankle weights I dropped as I just don't have the problem of floaty feet in my trilam suit. My cave instructor (as well as two other instructors) spent a bunch of time trying to help me trim out without ankle weights but it involved putting my twins too far down so I couldn't reach the valves so I just went with the ankle weights. My cave instructor said I would be ok in trilam and he was correct

 

[Dragon Eye]

If that's all you are looking for:

My suit: $400 (White's demo suit used maybe twice)
Alterations, new seals, and cuffs: $200
Hood: $0 (cut the skirt off wetsuit hood)
Dry Gloves: $10 (Viking style just pull over the cuffs)
Light weight undergarment: $40 (end of season tent sale)
Heavy undergarment: $100 (eBay guy, just cut out the way too large pockets)
Class: $100
Something I'm sure I left out $100
Total: ~$1000

DH:
Suit: $1500 for old stock model but new Bare Trilam Tech HD w/ undergarment
Hood: $40
Viking ring system: $80-100
Class: $100
Total: ~$1700

So, like I said earlier, if you look for deals or buy old stock, you can get both the training and a good suit for well under your budget.