Looking to buy a drysuit

[natedawg4081]

Looking to buy my first drysuit as I live in the Pacific Northwest west and cold water diving is a must. Wondering what I should look for and which brands seem to be the best and wether I should buy new or used. I have been checking out Whites, USIA, Waterproof and Bare. I am 6'0" 255# size 12 boot. Cost is not too much of an issue as I see this as an investment but would like to stay around $2500 if I were to go new. Any input would be appreciated.

 

[neonstingray]

$2500? :shocked2:

You might almost be able to...:cool2:


Seriously though, you may want to add DUI to your list to look at. Both their CF200 and TLS350 are pretty popular.

 

[tphelps]

When I shop for something, I do A LOT of research first. This past November I was looking into drysuits too. I looked at it all man...DUI, Bare, Pinnacle, Hollis, Scubapro, Waterproof, Body Glove, etc. What I found, for me, the best drysuit for your $$$ is *Drysuits - Fusion - Whites Diving

I wont go into extreme detail here, check out the video on their website. It hits all the main points. I have the Bullet. Fantastic suit! My recommendation is look into them. Cheers!

 

[TSandM]

A lot of it depends on what you want to do with a suit.

If you are looking at a suit only to dive the PNW, then the major advantages of a trilaminate suit (light weight and quick drying) may not be important to you. Instead, the fact that neoprene, or compressed or crushed neo, has some intrinsic insulating capacity, may be of greater import.

I am a great fan of the Whites Fusion dry suit. I like it because it's relatively light (depending on the skin you buy), has excellent mobility, is extremely hard to damage, has the possibility of user-replaceable seals, and is reasonably priced. I dislike that it's a bit more difficult to get into.

My husband has been diving a Bare 2mm compressed neo suit for five or six years. It has proven difficult to damage, but like all normal suits, it's also proven unforgiving of weight changes. (That's another nice thing about the Fusion -- you can stuff just about any undergarment in it, or the results of holiday overindulgence.)

Although you might think a budget of $2500 would give you a LOT of flexibility in brand and type, it won't -- By the time you get a few options on the suit, it's easy to go over that price.

Used suits can be a screaming deal, so long as the suit itself is sound. Seals are fairly easy to DIY. Zippers are more complex, and costly to have done, but if you can pick up an otherwise sound suit needed a zipper for under $500, even paying for the replacement may put you into a nice suit for far less than new. However, if the suit itself leaks, you can find yourself in a very annoying cycle of trying to find and patch the leaks, and in the end, you may wish you had simply spent more money up front.

 

[oneshotshooter]

Looking to buy my first drysuit as I live in the Pacific Northwest west and cold water diving is a must. Wondering what I should look for and which brands seem to be the best and wether I should buy new or used. I have been checking out Whites, USIA, Waterproof and Bare. I am 6'0" 255# size 12 boot. Cost is not too much of an issue as I see this as an investment but would like to stay around $2500 if I were to go new. Any input would be appreciated.

I have a TLS 350. I do a lot of ice diving and cold water diving in my location, so warmth and flexibility was a key factor. they did not have zip seals as an option when I purchased my suit. it has since been retrofitted. I also have the foot pockets 2 to 3 size larger then my foot, my feet were always getting cold,now they stay warm. I use rock boots for cooler water diving, and just the neoprene sock portion when I ice dive. I take my rock boots off prior to dropping in the ice hole.

I would recommend renting a couple of suits and trying them out. Larger is better than too small. When I purchased my dry suit eight years ago, I was 6'2" tall and about 220 pounds. I am now 6'2" tall and about 240 pounds. My suit still fits and works but it is not as comfortable as it was eight years ago. The price of a new suit has been a motivational factor to get back in shape and lose some weight. what ever suit you by,I would recommend adding a relief zipper. the next time I get work done on my suit I will be adding one!

 

[maniago]

Looking to buy my first drysuit as I live in the Pacific Northwest west and cold water diving is a must.

I'm only a little bit ahead of you in the purchase stream so I'll give you my two cents. First and foremost, dive what you want to buy first. Forget what anyone swears is great and try it in the water, even if its just a pool session. If seeing is believing, then trying is reality. That said, I've found it hard to rent dry suits, so I've tried to try the various styles of suit - trilam, garbage bag, compressed etc, then proceed to hopefully seeing what I want to buy - usually on someone else at the local dive site. By all means, don't be afraid to walk up to someone wearing what you want and ask. I find most folks will give you the time of day if approached in a humble manner.

All that said, DUI (at least up my way) seems to be the high standard by which dry is currently measured. Lots of lovers and but just as many haters. Check out their website and read up in other places, not just here. I've read alot of "had to send it back for adjustments" seems to be the norm. Custom tweaks is an accepted practice for their product - neither good nor bad, just comes with their territory. Once dialed in though, (some) people won't give them up. I'm diving one this weekend to try to understand what all the hub-bub is all about.

I dove a Fusion in the pool as part of my dry spec. I loved it at first bite. But I have no comparison except my 8/7 semi dry which is a monumental struggle with a rubber beast to get on (great in the water tho). I dove a front zip Fusion Sport because I heard front zips are cake to get yourself into. Not so. Or at least, 90% is fine, but the last 10% you can't zip by yourself because its over the shoulder. So for me that eliminated the "must be a front zip suit" (some folks do the bungy thing, and if I have to do that, I can probably just do the same in a back zip - YMMV). Price is for sure great on the Whites. I don't know for sure, but an LDS buddy of mine says markup is well over 100% on the suit. Probably more. Does it matter? Not really. All scuba has wicked high mark up. C'est la vie.

You also want to get a handle on what kind of seals are available for the suit you think you want. Pretty much everyone opts for some kind of zip seal (ie user replaceable) vice welded to the suit at the factory. Not really sure why the factories even bothers to offer the later. Then there are different types of material for seals (neo, silicone, rubber).

Oh yeah, if you like to piss in your wetsuit, you better check into a pee-tube installation. Plenty of YouTube on what they are and styles. I actually learned the most about the niggling details of how this thing works by watching the she-pee videos (careful, not for young eyes, or the sensitive). You can DIY a pee valve on your suit, or have the factory do it. Spend $80, or 380, depends on what you want. Or you can go the zipper route if you can hold your bladder in the water, but not out.

And then there's undergarments, because you're not going to be in the suit naked (defeats the purpose of warmth). Choose your poison on this one - anything goes, but not everything works well. And then there's gloves (dry or not), boots (or not), hoods, different valves or custom valve positions....***sigh***

All in all, with dry, I found the suit part is just the tip of the iceberg (or money pit I suppose). There are a lot of other "items" that will eat at that big pile of cash you think you are starting with.... If you buy something, let the rest of us know how you found it after a few goes. Good Luck!

 

[rhwestfall]

To help your budget some, check out DUI site. There is an "outlet":

Factory Outlet list at DUI - Diving Unlimited International.

Missed sized customs, returns, demos. These will be backed by some form of warranty vs. buying someone's used suit....

Some are brand new, some aren't..... if you can find your size........

 

[PADIinstructor]

having owned three drysuits and test dove mostly every model of on the market except Viking, I wouldn't hesitate to go with the Hollis Biodry with the removable silicone seal option. After weighting all the pros and cons, this one came out on top for me. Very durable and comfortable!

 

[al248005]

If you really want to look at and see what DUI drysuits are all about you might want to consider going to one of their demo days. Thats what I did and the staff there really take the time to educate you on their suits. You can try as many as you like. They have all of their styles of suits there and all of their undergarments too. Best part about it is that you don't have to be drysuit certd to dive them there. They have instructors that will take you on a guided dive. Heres a link with the schedule on it: 2013 DUI Demo Tour Participating Rally Dealers .

If you attend a demo tour date they also give you a pretty decent discount on the price of a new suit too!

 

[Erin.]

I love the Whites Fusion Bullet drysuit. So comfortable and warm.
*Sport Diving - Fusion Bullet Drysuit - Whites Diving