Help With Drysuit Undergarments

[keeperguy64]

My wife and I are looking into purchasing seaskin nova dry suits for our liveaboard trip to the Galapagos islands in September of 2020. My understanding is that we shouldn't expect water temperatures lower than 50f that time of year.

We are thinking of getting seaskin's undersuits to pair with the drysuits. I'm trying to figure out what weight of insulation to get. My wife tends to run cold (feels cool/cold after 30 minutes in 55f water in a 7mm open cell wetsuit. I generally feel warm (am happy in a 7mm wetsuit in 55f for 50 minutes). We're primarily thinking of diving dry due to the number of dives in a day.

I'm thinking of the 250 + the 150 shorty for her and the 250 for myself. Does that seem reasonable? We can also layer underneath if we're in the right ballpark, but I don't want to be way off.

These will be our first drysuits so I don't have any prior experience to benchmark against.

 

[lexvil]

It depends.

250 will work if you have good cold tolerance, in 50° water up to 60° I use 400 weight wool base with waterproof meshtec 3D, at the lower end of that range I add a waffle fleece top and I’m warm, some people would over heat and some freeze. Start there, get some heavy wool for a base and bring extra layers and adjust as needed.

 

[SS Keller]

I only have one undergarment, which is a 200 gram suit by Santi. I dive in 40 and 50 degree water regularly and although sometimes I feel cold, I can tolerate it. Usually by the end of the dive I'm shallower and therefore it is warmer. My fiance, on the other hand, has the same 200 gram suit and gets cold easily. She has tried out a Santi 400 and liked it a lot more, but also know you might not be as flexible. This can really be an issue if you're diving doubles and need to be able to reach your valves. Also, think about how hot it might be on the surface. Sometimes it is a bit rough getting into our drysuits when it is really hot out.