Cold water dives and drysuits

[LowDrag]

Dries slowly = not dry by the time we get back to dock and I have to pack up, or at least mostly. I recall being in high springs and wrapping my last dive of the day in my fusion bullet around 3pm. The suit hung outside for about 16 hours and I could still wring it out when I had to pack up and head for the airport. Nothing like paying that overweight fee for some authentic Santa Fe river water.

16 hours? Really? I have not had that long of a drying time yet. What was the temp where you hung it out at? It has been averaging between 55° & 70° here in Portland over the last week or so. Last Sunday the temp was about 68° and my Bullet and my wife's Fit were both practically dry over night and that was after rinsing them off to hang at about 6:30 PM. To practically means that I could feel damp coolness but not even close to wet. Doesn't seem too long to me but like TSandM says time is relative and personal idea. For me, I would only dive waters like the we have around here in my Fusion. Next trip to the Caribbean we will have 3mm wet suits to dive in...maybe 2mm...

 

[Gilchristz]

I am a new fusion one owner and could not be more happy with it and for the price its pretty hard to beat and the black and orange to me looks pretty cool

 

[tanksforthememories]

Personally I have a Bare SB dry suit and love it. Pricey ~$2000, but worth it. Easy to put on by myself easy to move in, nonrestrictive. Dries fast. And most importantly you don't have to take it off or wait for a buddy to unzip you so you can pee (men anyway...)

 

[Aqua-Andy]

Personally I have a Bare SB dry suit and love it. Pricey ~$2000, but worth it. Easy to put on by myself easy to move in, nonrestrictive. Dries fast. And most importantly you don't have to take it off or wait for a buddy to unzip you so you can pee (men anyway...)

Wasn't the Bare SB suit recalled and production stopped?

 

[VicScubaVentures]

So my questions is that if someone is going to be doing dives (and sometimes multiple dives) in the Pacific Northwest waters possibly even up to Canada, what would be an ideal choice for a drysuit.

Canadian Pacific Northwest diver here. When I started diving, I had a 7mm farmer john wetsuit. I was good for 2 dives a day, after which I was cold and miserable. When I started diving "professionally" as DM and instructor, I went dry and haven't looked back. My personal opinion, the Whites Fusion (in some variant depending on desired durability and up-fitting options, cannot be beat, and can be purchased brand new for less than your maximum budget.

Previously I've owned a Bare CD-4 crushed neoprene suit and a Bare HTR Trilam suit. The Whites suit fits better, is likely more durable, accommodates slight fluctuations in body size / shape / density without feeling too big / too tight. Combined with the Whites Thermal Fusion undergarment and dry gloves I've never been more comfortable in the water.

Suggest you find a dive shop with a variety of options for drysuit rentals and try them out until you find what fits best, and what you are the most comfortable diving in.

Good luck, happy shopping.

 

[tracydr]

I dive a Diving Concept trilam. It dries quickly, is easy to don and is light. I really like it. It's unfortunately no longer available as they recently went bankrupt.
I'm new to drysuit diving, just started drysuit diving last summer. I started cold water diving in 1997 when I did my medical residencency in Tacoma, Washington. I really learned to dive in Puget Sound since I had recently gotten my OW cert in San Antonio on a rotation at the Army base down there, didn't get a chance to dive for nearly a year and then dove a bunch while stationed in WA. I dove with a wetsuit as a poor intern but really loved it. I did watch longingly as all the drysuit divers got in and out of the water. It had been my goal since 1997 to get a drysuit but took me a long time to get there.
Now it's my goal to go back up to the Pacific NW and try diving again, now that I have a drysuit and more experience, plus a much, much more enjoyable partner!

 

[tanksforthememories]

Wasn't the Bare SB suit recalled and production stopped?

No recall, and still for sale at Baresports.com.... I haven't had any problems with mine. I checked Bare's website for info and found no mention of problems. A google search only found one mention of problems. I will call Bare tomorrow and keep you posted. I can't dive for a long time to come anyway...

 

[RayKay]

I believe Bare SB had some issues with some of the suits delaminating (something to do with a production issue) so they suspended production to sort the issue though there was no official recall. It was not every suit so many had no issues, but a few had it happen. I think they are getting things sorted out with production and plan to start shipping again sometime in the not-too-distant future. They kept them on their site since the intention was always to ship them again once they got things sorted out.

BARE suspends production on SB SYSTEM drysuits | ScubaGadget - Scuba News Service

 

[tanksforthememories]

I called Bare today and all you say is true, no recall but they will replace or inspect any SB suits... Thank you for letting me know. There was no mention on the Bare website I find that very disappointing for a $2200 item. Shame on them.

 

[tamas970]

I am about to buy my first Dry for winter (up to 0°C water)/maybe an ice-diving trip once to Greenland. Am I going to be fine with a Seac Sub 3.5mm hi-density neoprene suit or shall I look for a 5mm crushed or compressed suit? I want something that has some inherent protection. Regarding budget: I am looking in the sub-1000$ range (The seac sells for 400€ around here).