anyone ever use a neoprene wet suit as a dry suit undergarment ??

[rick00001967]

i suppose the traditional fleece type undergarment would be more comfortable, but has anyone ever tried using a neoprene wet suit as insulation for their dry suit ?
i have a 1mm full i might try to see how it works under my bare nex gen. it fits pretty good and doesn't restrict movement much. and it wouldn't hurt to have it on if my dry suit springs a leak.

any thoughts.....or is this not a good very good idea

 

[eelnoraa]

well, it won't too effective because wetsuit will compress as pressure increase, you will lose insulation.

 

[manni-yunk]

There have been some pretty interesting debates and long threads on this in the past. Do a few searches - but at the end of the day, its not a good idea.

 

[Glenn08]

If the fleece is too warm, try a sweat suit instead, or don't wear a hood. If the water is too cold for the 1 mm, it will be too cold for a 1 mm inside a drysuit.

 

[spectrum]

First of all if you think that 1mm neoprene will be enough insulation why are you bothering with a drysuit? Eliminating flushing is a big advantage but not that big.

The neck should work but getting a landing zone for the wrist seals won't be easy.

The suits will probably bind together hard with a little squeeze.

The neoprene will not recover with the addition of suit air whereas a true dry garment will gain loft and insulating value.

All in all, just say no.

Pete

 

[jIM STEELE]

If the fleece is too warm, try a sweat suit instead, or don't wear a hood. If the water is too cold for the 1 mm, it will be too cold for a 1 mm inside a drysuit.

Glenn is right closed cell will compress under pressure and you will lose some isolation

 

[TSandM]

One of the biggest problems with wearing neoprene under a dry suit (and don't feel at all bad -- I contemplated the same thing) is that it doesn't breathe. When you are diving wet, that's not an issue, because the water deals with the skin respiration or sweat, but if you are diving dry, all the water that escapes from your skin will be trapped between the wetsuit and you, which is yucky. Add the fact that the wetsuit will lose insulation with depth, no matter how much air you put in the suit (unlike fabric undergarments, where the air permeates the layers and keeps them lofted), you have a recipe for an uncomfortable and ineffective undergarment.

 

[covediver]

a friend and his wife both have shell drysuits and wear wetsuits as undergarments. while it seems a little unorthodox, my friend swears by it. the trouble I see wiht neoprene as insulation is it does not wick moisture away from the body snd prevents layering. interesting concept but I will stay with my garment. the bottom line is that diving is a matter of self-preference. if you find the insulation satisfactory, why not. heck of a lot less expensive than a undergarment.