Try a USIA suit, they have 3 grades of bi-lam suit. The Aqua Lite would be fine for most recreational diving. It's pretty inexpensive.
Best dry suit ever!!
- Thread starter Oli
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Oli
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Personally I like trilaminate suit better than neoprene. I wore neoprene when I was certified. Didn't have a good experience because I was dry certified in Hong Kong and they considered me as a big lady. My instructor forced me to wear a neoperene drysuit ( Medium, Men size). In Hawaii, most dive shops think I am crazy and apparently not many of them have enough knowledge to recommand a dry suit for me.
For those who use dry suit in tropical water, can you recommand what should I wear under my drysuit. For cold water like British Columbia, do I need to wear extra undergarment.
I am deciding in between Bear, Dacor and Viking.
Scottri. Is USIA good for tec dive too?? How's the price?
JimLap: Would that be okay if my buddy, who is not certified, dives with a drysuit. Considering I am a new drysuit diver and we dont know anyone uses drysuit here..
For those who use dry suit in tropical water, can you recommand what should I wear under my drysuit. For cold water like British Columbia, do I need to wear extra undergarment.
I am deciding in between Bear, Dacor and Viking.
Scottri. Is USIA good for tec dive too?? How's the price?
JimLap: Would that be okay if my buddy, who is not certified, dives with a drysuit. Considering I am a new drysuit diver and we dont know anyone uses drysuit here..
For British Columbia (like Seattle) you will definitely need an undergarment, and possibly layers. I am currently diving in a Diving Concepts 200g Thinsulate undergarment with a light polarfleece layer underneath it, and pretty clearly, as fall sets in, I'm going to have to augment that.
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TSandM:
Minor correction -- not ALL womens DUI drysuits are custom. You can get the CLX450, FLX50/50, TLS350, TLSSE -- in stock sizes.
http://www.dui-online.com/dry_fbr_sizing_wmns.htm
Kimber who owns a stock womens TLS350
That's interesting, Kimber, because my LDS owner called DUI while I was standing there and asked them the question, and they said yes, that the women's suits were all considered custom and therefore in the more expensive price range. That's also what the brochure said. Maybe they have changed things?
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TSandM:
That would be accurate for the CF200 and a couple of other suits - but for the suits I mentioned - the price is quoted as the same for a man or womans stock off the shelf suit on their pricelist here: http://www.dui-online.com/pdf/Price List retail.pdf
I have not seen your brochure - but when I purchased mine several years ago - there was no penalty in the price for being a womans stock suit. Now if you want their special colors added or to be able to choose your boot size - there is an extra charge for that but again it is the same price for a man or womans suit.
Kimber
Not sure if I'm understanding your question. Are you asking if a noncertified diver should dive a dry suit? I may catch some flack for this response due to the number of divers on here who list themselves as not certified.Oli:
But here goes and hoping I don't offend you guys. Better yet I'll answer it this way. A new diver with little or no experience who has not received proper training or instruction in diving in general should not IMO be jumping into a drysuit. How's that? :06: If this non-certified diver has on the other hand been diving for awhile and is fairly skilled IMO he still should not jump into drysuit diving lightly. It's not like going from a 5 mil to a 7 or vice versa where the only thing you need to adjust besides how you move to account for the thicker or thinner material is weight. A drysuit requires adjustments to weight, movement, kicking techniques, as well as buoyancy adjustments via the suit valves for not only buoyancy but squeeze also. Also ditching and donning your gear in one is a little more difficult until you get some experience and develop your own technique. Also for a new diver doing a heads down descent in a wetsuit is usually not a problem. Try this in a drysuit with out proper training and experience or just getting in a feet up position at depth can be a dangerous situation. Getting out of this requires training, practice, and staying calm. Too much air in the feet can take you up quick enough to get bent real fast if you don't know how to control this situation by using one of a few techniques. Dumping air in a drysuit also presents some challenges until you get used to it. How far to open the exhaust valve, when to push it manually, what if it doesn't vent fast enough. All these must be considered. I know this is getting a bit long but as I stated before, it is not a toy like a knife or collection bag. This IS LIFE SUPPORT EQUIPMENT and needs to be respected as such. Proper training and experience makes it a lot of fun. But it should never be taken lightly. P.S. If you'd like some help you could send me a plane ticket and I could help you and your friends locate and try some different models. I'll even bring mine.
Just Kidding (NOT!!!) please bring me to Hawaii!! I'll be your dive slave.
Seriously- be careful, take your time, have fun and above all Dive Safe!
I'd also suggest two set of undergarments. My os systems came with a thin fleece and a quilted gore-tex type heavy fleece. the thin is good for about 75-80 degrees. the heavy 50 to 75, and together have been in water down to 44 degrees and was toasty warm. I did get a good deal thru my lds. HDPro front entry, relief zipper, wet hood, their commercial dry glove system, both sets of under garments including two pair fleece socks(light and heavy), semi custom sizing, bag, repair kit, wax, and shipping was total of 1639 give or take a couple bucks.
Oli:
I suspect everyone will tell you their favorite brands so I'll focus more on the materials.
What I get out of your post is that you want a drysuit that's usable in a wide range of fairly warm to fairly cold water and is durable for a wide range of conditions and fits a small woman.
The conditions I take it you mean are shore diving, boat diving, wrecks, coral and both rocky shore lines and beach.... close?
you didn't say anything about the type of diving you're doing but I'll assume it's recreational diving with and AL-80 for a tank.
Looking at materials you want something where most, if not all, of the insulation comes from the undergarment. Then you can peal off in Hawaii (water temps 20C+) and layer up in Washington (+/- 8C). Most neoprene suits will fall off the list right off the bat because they'll be too warm for Hawaii. Anything with 4mm or more of neoprene won't do. You might be able to use a 2mm crushed neoprene suit but in your situation I would be more inclined to choose a trilam suit.
Trilam is slightly less durable than crushed neoprene so if you're a total maniac about wreck diving (or you think you will become so) then in my mind that would tilt the scales back to the 2mm crushed suits for longevity. Same goes for if your buoyancy control is so crappy that you spend a lot of time bouncing across the bottom. Trilam suits are just more prone to getting little pin-holes in them from that kind of thing.
Once you decide on the material then think about how you dive. Do you need to be able to get in and out of it by yourself? If so then a self donning model is necessary (zipper is on the front). They're harder to get in and out of than the name makes you think so don't just order it, try it.
Seals are important. Most trilam suits have latex seals. If you're allergic to latex then that will be a problem. Also, latex seals tend to rub and irritate (especially the neck) if you wear them for long periods of time or dive intensively like every day, then you would probably be better off with a neoprene neck seal.
In terms of boots you have two basic options, built in or rock-boots. Rock boots are just like normal shoes that go over the "slippers" at the end of the legs. Built in boots have the advantage of being much warmer, but that's more relevant for people like me who dive in water that literally gets to the freezing point. The disadvantage of built in boots is that they tend to be a little more buoyant and you may need to use a tail weight or (gasp!) ankle weights. Rock boots more or less solve the buoyancy issue and tend to feel more secure on your feet but aren't as warm. In your situation I would opt for the rock boots.
In terms of valves you have options. Now I will mention manufacturers. Drysuits use basically one of two types of exhaust valves. Valves from Apeks and valves from Si-tech. What ever you do, don't get a suit with Apeks valves. At least not right now. Apeks has been having terrible trouble making their valves water tight for about the last 2 years or so and at this moment the only serious choice for exhaust valves is Si-tech. If you choose a DUI suit make sure they are willing to custom fit Si-tech valves for you.
More about valves: you can get the exhaust valve installed on the shoulder, or on the forearm. The forearm is easier to vent but it will also vent when you don't want it to. It takes more time to get comfortable with the shoulder valves but in my mind it's a better location for the valve. This choice seems to be very personal so my message to you is to try it and see for yourself.
IN terms of sizes there are some manufacturers who have a lot of stock sizes. Drysuits are slightly more forgiving fit wise than wetsuits are so I wouldn't foresee a problem finding a stock suit. All of the serious manufacturers on the market will also custom make a suit for you for not a lot more money than the stock sizes.
Hope this helps a bit.
R..
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