Current top drysuits for rec diving

[tbone1004]

Depth stable? The Seaskin is 3mm compressed neoprene. Compared to an Ri 2-100, how much actual difference is there in buoyancy at depth when you compare the 2? Even regular 3 mm (not-compressed) neoprene doesn't compress to make THAT much difference to buoyancy...

To make sure I'm understanding you, the abrasion resistance advantage of the seam tape is resistance to abrasion from your undergarments, right? Also on that front, Seaskin does recommend that you apply talc to all the seams on the inside of their suits, so that they do not stick to your undergarments. They even have a video on it. It's very simple and easy with the talc and bag they provide with each suit. And it does seem to work.

I'll grant you that the Ri 2-100 could be a higher quality suit. I mean, I trust your judgment, so I am perfectly prepared to believe that. But, the Seaskin is high quality (even if it's not quite AS high). And, I would definitely rather have two Seaskins and some change for the price of one Ri 2-100. Having a suit to use while your other suit is off getting a new zipper or whatever seems very handy...

That said, the OP specified "irrespective of price". So, I can accept Ri 2-100 as the answer. At least, for people for whom a neoprene suit is acceptable. If I only had 1 suit, it would be a trilam, for the better travel ability.

It's still there, does it matter? Probably not at that thin of a suit, but it is there, but more importantly it is the resin impregnation that makes the suit much more inherently abrasion resistant.
The bare urethane will abrade against itself at any creases in the suit, they're also prone to sticking to themselves when in a bag for any length of time, especially if it's hot. Most of the abrasion will be against itself at any creases vs against the undergarments, but it all depends on which undies you are using.

and the OP did say what was the best. I firmly believe that that suit is the best quality suit I have seen on the market and I did mention a few bag suits that I feel are top quality as well for travelling.
If I was doing a lot of cold wreck diving where I knew I was going to be beating suits up, then I would also likely be diving seaskins and treating them as disposable, but I usually only do warm wrecks, and in the caves if I know I'm going to be wriggling, I dive with cheap wetsuits.

 

[Danny D]

Any idea how the O’Three trilam stacks up against DUI, Santi, Ursuit, etc? I realize this just came out. Like most in the US , never heard of them. Currently dive DUI Clx 450.

 

[macado]

And the Zip wrist seals or dry gloves suck (in my opinion). You have to attach your gloves to your suit before you don the top half of your suit. Any other system (that I know of) allows you to fully don the suit, get all the rest of your gear on, and put your dry gloves on last. That is MUCH preferable (to me, anyway). Plus, I *think* (could be wrong, though!) that you cannot have zip seals on the wrist AND dry gloves. I.e. if you have dry gloves on, you cannot have a wrist seal, too. So, if your dry glove gets a hole in it, there is nothing to stop your whole sleeve (or suit) from flooding. Other systems let you have a wrist seal and a dry glove at the same time.

Agreed, zip dry gloves suck big time. The DUI Zip Gloves are absolutely my least favorite dry glove system. I own a pair purely as backups and never use them. I much prefer a system where I can take my gloves on/off and put them on last.

Just expanding on this a little bit but you absolutely can use dry glove systems in combination with ZipSeals. I've done it for years. The Diving Concept (defunct) rings worked well on zipseals, as does the KUBI system which I've used on my drysuit for about 5 years. The rings install on zipseals leaving your wrist seal intact and allowing you to easily change out both. I actually keep an extra set of zipseals (with extra KUBI rings already attached) in my drysuit bag.

Regarding ZipSeals being expensive. Yes that is definitely their one downfall. At the time when zipseals first came out there really weren't that many replaceable wrist or neck seal systems on the market for drysuits. Of course that situation has changed now and there are plenty of other drysuit manufacturer that have replaceable seal systems as options.

A lot of people are unaware they make two versions of the wrist ZipSeals (well 3 not counting silicone), normal latex and heavy duty (HD) latex. The heavy duty latex last FAR longer than DUI's normal latex zipseals.

A bunch of people also DIY their own version of ZipSeals by saving the broken/old zipseals and glueng normal latex wrist seals onto the zipseal attachments.

 

[PullYourselfTogetherMan]

Gotta throw a recommendation in for Seaskin.

 

[stuartv]

View attachment 575816 View attachment 575817 Gotta throw a recommendation in for Seaskin.

Congratulations!

 

[Schiønning]

View attachment 575816 View attachment 575817 Gotta throw a recommendation in for Seaskin.

Im looking into seaskin myself. How is the sizing? Would a 400 gram undersuit be comfortable with the standard size, or should one choose the "allowance for extra thick undersuit" option? I seem to be hearing conflicting reports about how big/tight their suits are..

 

[grantctobin]

Im looking into seaskin myself. How is the sizing? Would a 400 gram undersuit be comfortable with the standard size, or should one choose the "allowance for extra thick undersuit" option? I seem to be hearing conflicting reports about how big/tight their suits are..

I recommend selecting the option for extra space for undergarments if you’re often diving in water below 10°C

 

[PullYourselfTogetherMan]

Im looking into seaskin myself. How is the sizing? Would a 400 gram undersuit be comfortable with the standard size, or should one choose the "allowance for extra thick undersuit" option? I seem to be hearing conflicting reports about how big/tight their suits are..

I did not choose that option and I think that I'd have plenty of room for a 250gr undergarment. Depending on how compressible the undergarment is, I imagine that you could probably fit a much larger undergarment in there as well.

 

[stuartv]

I did not choose that option and with my 250gr suit on underneath, it feels like I would not be very comfortable if I put on something thicker. So, if you want to use a 400gr, I would suggest to check that box. I think the Seaskin description of that option specifically mentions using it if you plan to use a 400gr undersuit?

 

[lexvil]

I didn’t use the extra room option, I was using Hollis 450 fleece, now use waterproof 3D, both with heavy wool base, plenty of room to add another layer when needed.