Cold Water Drysuits??? What should I be looking for?

[Doppler]

hey. I'm looking to puchase my first drysuit. I live in newfoundland, canada. and this is where 90% of my diving happens. I'm currently diving a wetsuit, and i dont normally have any problems with getting cold, altho the other day, at about 85 feet, the bottom temp. dropped dramatically, and my extremities got a little cold. Alot of the ppl i dive with are diving with laminate drysuits, some whites fusion, some Bare CD4.

what i'm wondering, is what is the best suit out there for cold water?

which suits have the best warmth to weight ratio? or which require less lead?

Neoprene or laminate?

And Which drysuit gives you the best value for your money?

Thanks people. Love this site!

I suggest you contact Steve Moore who lives near St. John's and who reps a couple of brands. PM me for his email address. In addition to some of the advice already given, I'd suggest staying investing in the best you can afford (which is NOT necessarily the most expensive brand) and putting aside a good portion of that investment for thermal protection... undies. The suit is only part of the equation.

 

[Wayne at DiveSeekers]

Everyone posted some great info, I personally am a fan of the Trilam for some of the posted reasons. What really brings the warm is having quality undergarments and wicking layer. Of all the manufactures that I have used, I find the Santi BZ400 to be the warmest on the market. As far as the drysuit, for maximum range of motion and flexibility I just got the Santi E.Motion. Before that I had the E_Lite. I dive dry everywhere I go so I made the switch to the lighter weight suit. Diving here in the North East so water temps really vary, Summer months I use the BZ200, Winter BZ400. Two years ago I got a heated vest from them as well. Easy to install by yourself, just swap out the inflator valve so now I am really enjoying being warm.

 

[Shftrdog]

The BARE SB System is higher end but totally worth it. I dive one myself, I only need 10lbs which is insane for a drysuit I know and that is why I love it. Def the way to go.

BARE SB System Link
Dry Suit Oceanic, Cressi, TUSA, Pelican, Underwater Kinetics, StahlSac, BARE, SeaLife, Sea & Sea, Sea Doo, Syderco, Aqua Lung, Scuba Pro, Atomic, UK Lights, Pelican Boxes, Pelican Lights

 

[Aqua-Andy]

The BARE SB System is higher end but totally worth it. I dive one myself, I only need 10lbs which is insane for a drysuit I know and that is why I love it. Def the way to go.

BARE SB System Link
Dry Suit Oceanic, Cressi, TUSA, Pelican, Underwater Kinetics, StahlSac, BARE, SeaLife, Sea & Sea, Sea Doo, Syderco, Aqua Lung, Scuba Pro, Atomic, UK Lights, Pelican Boxes, Pelican Lights

It does sound like a great suit but they have suspended production due to a "issues with the material". The Bare rep that services my LDS said that Bare turns away close to half the material they receive for the suit as it does not meet there specs. I would not be surprised if bare put the SB suit on the back burner for awhile until the technology behind the fabric used improves.

 

[Wayne at DiveSeekers]

The BARE SB System is higher end but totally worth it. I dive one myself, I only need 10lbs which is insane for a drysuit I know and that is why I love it. Def the way to go.

BARE SB System Link
Dry Suit Oceanic, Cressi, TUSA, Pelican, Underwater Kinetics, StahlSac, BARE, SeaLife, Sea & Sea, Sea Doo, Syderco, Aqua Lung, Scuba Pro, Atomic, UK Lights, Pelican Boxes, Pelican Lights

BARE has stop total production of suit, they were having QC issues. Secondly, I feel pockets are key and you can't mount Bellows Pockets on the suit!

 

[eelnoraa]

If money is no object, I will go with Santi. If you see one in person, you know how well they are made. Detail and finish is a level above other I have seen.

 

[adamp69]

great posts guys. lots of good info here. i know i posted earlier that i had no intention of buying a used suit. but yesterday, the owner of my lds offered me his whites fusion tech. we are the same size except he may have a bigger belly than me, lol. i'm gonna dive it and try it out.

is condensation really that bad in the trilams?

 

[Wayne at DiveSeekers]

No on Condensation. I tried out a Fusion for 50 dives to see what the hype was about. They may have made some changes since then but getting in/out of a trilam is a lot easier. I didn't like the pockets, a lot easier accessing bellows pockets and more room in bellows as well. Mine was not an attached boot, I prefer to have it flexible and attached. As far as in the water, it dives like a wetsuit but after so many dives in a trilam, I think having a gas in suit and managing it is a good thing and actually helps with trim. I dive doubles for the majority of my dives so I was able to have control in the water and be in trim, I just felt like I had to work harder at it. Fusion seemed to be a big craze years ago but I know a lot of divers that have switched to a regular drysuit (because of similar reasons I stated) and I am just not seeing as many of them locally like I use to. Still, you have the opportunity, test dive the suit and try a trilam if you can as well.

 

[mdb]

hey. I'm looking to puchase my first drysuit. I live in newfoundland, canada. and this is where 90% of my diving happens. I'm currently diving a wetsuit, and i dont normally have any problems with getting cold, altho the other day, at about 85 feet, the bottom temp. dropped dramatically, and my extremities got a little cold. Alot of the ppl i dive with are diving with laminate drysuits, some whites fusion, some Bare CD4.

what i'm wondering, is what is the best suit out there for cold water?

which suits have the best warmth to weight ratio? or which require less lead?

Neoprene or laminate?

And Which drysuit gives you the best value for your money?

Thanks people. Love this site!

adamp69: You are getting a lot of good advice from active drysuit divers-typical of Scubaboard.

Here is another option to consider:
Video Review of APOLLO SPORTS 4.0MM BIO-PRO DRYSUIT

 

[tc]

Give the Fusion a shot Adam, I think you'll like it a lot. I've used several different types over the last 20some years and I like my fusion the best.

I've got to disagree with Wayne on a couple of points- the fusion is easy to get into, it does lose a bit of the slickness after a while but spraying a bit of sailkote inside makes it slide right on. I really don't understand the part about having gas in the suit making it easier to trim out, to me having enough gas in the suit to remove any squeeze is perfect. In the fusion the elasticity of the suit spreads that gas out pretty evenly. In the less elastic trilams or non elastic shell suits having too much gas in the suit creates a bubble moving around that makes trim much harder to manage.

What brand(s) are you carrying at Diveseekers Wayne?

The fusion was the first suit I had with soft feet instead of boots. At first I didn't like it but once I figured out using soft boots on the boat trips and The heavier boots with some ankle support for hiking over rocks I changed my mind.

I've got the fusion sport- lycra outer shell so attaching pockets doesnt work, I picked up a pair of the neoprene shorts with pockets- that solution works just fine and the added benefit is that I can use them with my wetsuits as well when I have the need for pockets. Not sure but I think the tech you're trying may already come with pockets.

The biggest advantage of the fusion for me has been the streamlining in the water, it's just like diving a wet suit instead of the added resistance you get from most of the other types of drysuit.

Let us know how it works out for you!