Best Way to Buy a Dry Suit?

[sunshower]

This feels like a dumb question but I'd rather be the source of a little laughter than screw it up. I've signed up for tech training and now need some gear - dry suit, wings, doubles etc. I've done little research on dry suits but would like to see if I can get in on any black Friday deals or other Christmas sales. With black Friday only a week away, what's my best approach? Stick with LDS only or try to take measurements for online retailers? Can I realistically buy a dry suit that fits well over the computer/phone? It seems like there are a lot of considerations; I'm eager to get the wheels turning but also don't want to rush into a bad decision; appreciate your input.

 

[Marie13]

DRIS - Dive Right in Scuba. I'm biased because they're also my LDS, but you can't beat them. They do lots of online drysuit sales and are very good about walking people through their measurements over Skype.

Look at the USIA Techniflex. It's a great suit, I love mine. Custom is only $150 over the stock price.

 

[undrwater]

Agreed. Dive Right In Scuba. Call them and ask about fitting you and black Friday deals.

 

[KevinNM]

Getting the suit to fit is essential. Choose a place that sells a lot of the kind of dry suits you want to buy and has a lot of satisfied customers. Go to that place and have them measure you in person. That is because you need the store to be willing to stand behind you if the suit doesn't fit when it shows up for some reason. And factory mistakes or misunderstanding happen.

You can buy a lot of stuff over the Internet, but don't do this with a dry suit. I live in New Mexico and bought my Santi suit from extreme exposure in Florida and got the Santi rep to do the measurement.

Put the few hundred bucks into a trip to avoid having a multi-thousand dollar suit not quite fit. Finding that you can't actually do a valve drill in the suit in a few months would suck.

 

[lermontov]

Getting the suit to fit is essential. Choose a place that sells a lot of the kind of dry suits you want to buy and has a lot of satisfied customers. Go to that place and have them measure you in person. That is because you need the store to be willing to stand behind you if the suit doesn't fit when it shows up for some reason. And factory mistakes or misunderstanding happen.

You can buy a lot of stuff over the Internet, but don't do this with a dry suit. I live in New Mexico and bought my Santi suit from extreme exposure in Florida and got the Santi rep to do the measurement.

Put the few hundred bucks into a trip to avoid having a multi-thousand dollar suit not quite fit. Finding that you can't actually do a valve drill in the suit in a few months would suck.

as kevin says spend the extra $ and get custom made - you wont regret it nothing worse than a badly fitting dry suit esp when you get head down!

 

[KevinNM]

I don't think you necessarily need custom, but whoever measures you should be able to tell you if you need a custom suit. The normal sizes are often pretty close for many people, but it all depends on your body type.

According to the guy who developed the cave cut suit, you should only choose that if you do a lot of very long DPV rides. If you don't already own multiple dry suits that probably isn't you.

 

[WarrenZ]

Some thoughts

What brands or styles are you considering? Some people (like me) either really love the fusion suits because they have lots of room to move while controlling the extra material and drag.

Are you looking in to the front zip for self donning or a shoulder zip where you may need assistance to get into it?

Are you looking at replaceable seals / dryglove rings? These can be added to most suits.

One other thing to consider if you get a drysuit from a local shop most will throw in a drysuit course which can save you problems down the road sometimes.

 

[sunshower]

Some thoughts

What brands or styles are you considering? Some people (like me) either really love the fusion suits because they have lots of room to move while controlling the extra material and drag.

Are you looking in to the front zip for self donning or a shoulder zip where you may need assistance to get into it?

Are you looking at replaceable seals / dryglove rings? These can be added to most suits.

One other thing to consider if you get a drysuit from a local shop most will throw in a drysuit course which can save you problems down the road sometimes.

Good questions. I don't know the answers yet, really value input from those who've already done this. Front zip seems preferable but maybe there's a good reason to consider a shoulder zip. Pros/cons of dry glove rings v replaceable seals? Other considerations?

 

[WarrenZ]

My current suit is a fusion with SITech oval rings. I once tore a wrist seal at a dive site on my previous suit I would have been out of luck for any additional dives. With the wrist rings I was able to pop in a new seal in 5 minutes once I was able to locate the replacement seal.

Front zip is the way to go especially if you dive solo now there are two types of front zips the normal front zip goes diagonally from left hip to right shoulder and is a long straight zipper. The Fusions came up with a u-shaped front zip from shoulder to shoulder dipping across the chest which takes some getting used to however I can zip it up myself. On my rear zip suit I would have to find someone in the parking lot to help me unzip or zip usually not a problem and is a strange icebreaker to walk up to someone and ask them to unzip me.

Have you decided on a shell sit vs neoprene vs some other laminate material. I have been looking at the new air core gore-Tex type breathable inner suit for my fusion as I tend to sweat while wearing my drysuit out of the water and my suit being able to breath would prevent the normal condensation that I experience in a dry suit.

 

[stuartv]

I watched the video that DRiS has posted for how to measure for a USIA suit. I would have no qualms about taking the measurements per that video and ordering the suit from DRiS.

Both my suits are diagonal front zip. I have no trouble totally dressing myself - then making fun of my dive buddies with a back zip that need my help getting in and out of their suit. I have experienced exactly zero downside to having a diagonal front zip. I have also really enjoyed my ability to take a whiz during a SI without having to even take the top part of my suit off.

I have been using the Kubi dry glove system, which fits on to the stock latex wrist seals. I really like that the rings come in different sizes, so you can get the lowest profile possible that will still fit over your hand. I have the 80mm rings and they are noticeably lower profile than other round ring systems that I've seen. And in over a year with them, my hands have only gotten wet once - the last time I dived, when I finally got a pinhole in the original set of rubber gloves that came with the rings. I found the identical gloves online to order replacements - for $2 per pair. I also like that I still have wrist seals in place, whether I am using my dry gloves or not. And I like that the whole system is a few machined aluminum rings, some O-rings, and inexpensive rubber gloves. Nothing that would be expensive to break and have to replace. My tech instructor has been using the Si Tech oval rings that came on his Waterproof D1 suit over the whole time I've had my Kubi setup and he gets out after almost every dive complaining about flooded gloves. He finally just ditched those in favor of some new system, but I'm not sure what it is (other than I know it's not Kubi).

For dry gloves, specific things I personally would definitely avoid are:

- Gloves that have to be attached to the sleeve before you don the top of the suit.
- Gloves that don't let you also have a wrist seal in place at the same time.
- Gloves that are expensive to replace if the glove gets a hole in it.
- Any system with plastic parts that could possibly break (like plastic tabs that could possibly break off).

As soon as I settle on a dry suit that is a "keeper", I am going to get the Kubi fitted rings installed, so I'll have silicone wrist seals that are replaceable. And I'm going to get the Si Tech Quick Neck system installed, so I have a silicone neck seal that is also replaceable.

Lastly, if you have the option, DEFINITELY get thigh pockets on whatever suit you get.