Dry Suit advice, part B: undergarment advice

[archer1960]

Im with tbone. I do not have special underwear. I use a good base layer that I have for cold weather hiking, something that is wicking, and then over top I have fleece pants and on top I use an Under armour cold weather sweater. I have been in water that is 2-4 Celsius ( need a US friend to convert that) and have been ok.

Freaking cold!

 

[Storker]

In Nordic: cool(ish).

 

[spc751]

You have a drysuit that gives you a lot of flexibility (I have a Fusion with a Sport skin and a Bullet skin). Make sure that your undergarment does not compromise your flexibility. I have a Thermal Fusion and like it. Warm, comfortable and flexible.

 

[dberry]

You have a drysuit that gives you a lot of flexibility (I have a Fusion with a Sport skin and a Bullet skin). Make sure that your undergarment does not compromise your flexibility. I have a Thermal Fusion and like it. Warm, comfortable and flexible.

spc751, what temperature range do you use your Fusion + Thermal Fusion in? How cold? How warm before you ditch the Thermal Fusion? (I understand that everyone has a different sensitivity to cold, but I'm curious.)

 

[KDAD]

Not quite ice diving, but almost:
(°C x 9 ÷ 5) + 32 = °F
(2°C × 9÷5)+32=35.6°F
(4°C × 9÷5)+32=39.2°F
Brrr.

Im with tbone. I do not have special underwear. I use a good base layer that I have for cold weather hiking, something that is wicking, and then over top I have fleece pants and on top I use an Under armour cold weather sweater. I have been in water that is 2-4 Celsius ( need a US friend to convert that) and have been ok.

Freaking cold!

 

[dberry]

I've been camping in the Sierra Nevadas in January when a 1 liter water bottle outside my sleeping bag (but inside the tent) froze solid in a few hours. So it's not really the idea of diving a drysuit in 0 deg C water that bothers me. But the thought of of a sudden suit flood at those temperatures is, well, disconcerting. After something like that it would probably take surgery to bring the boys back down into the daylight.

 

[KevinNM]

I've been camping in the Sierra Nevadas in January when a 1 liter water bottle outside my sleeping bag (but inside the tent) froze solid in a few hours. So it's not really the idea of diving a drysuit in 0 deg C water that bothers me. But the thought of of a sudden suit flood at those temperatures is, well, disconcerting. After something like that it would probably take surgery to bring the boys back down into the daylight.

With a drysuit midlayer, you are not paying big bucks for it to keep you warm when you are dry, you are paying for it to keep you alive when the suit floods.

 

[Pedro Burrito]

I wear a set of Cabelas Polartec underwear with my dry suit. Then a pair of fleece pirate pajama bottoms and a Carthart fleece pullover top for temps down to about 16° C. I've had a full suit flood in 18° C water and it's uncomfortable but not cold. Climbing up the steps after the dive, however, was not fun. I'll add another layer if colder than 16° C and warmer than 10° C.

I did splurge on a Fourth Element Halo 3D undergarment that I purchased through a key man deal. It's very warm, I've been down to 2° C wearing the polartec underwear and Halo 3D and wasn't cold at all. I overheated on land wearing that.

Since you've been hiking and camping in the cold, you probably already have most of the garments needed to stay warm and dry in your new dry suit.

Remember, it's not really a dry suit, it's a mostly dry suit.

 

[toby43]

I have the Fusion Tech (soon to be replaced with a Santi), and I've been pretty happy with my Fourth Element underwear. I wear a base layer, the Xerotherm, and the two-piece Arctic for Northeast diving, whereas the base layer and the Arctic are just fine for the Floridian caves. I was not terribly impressed with the Whites MK2 undergarment that came with my drysuit. That's partly because I am pretty short, and the damn thing was miles too long for me, so I had a lot of excess material bunched around my waist. The jacket was also a "straight up and down" affair, and did not follow the contours of my body - I have an hourglass shape, so I either had to yank it down over my hips, or pull it up so it ended at my waist - where I already had a lot of excess material from my onesie undergarment. If you're not a short woman, this is probably not relevant to you, but it was a huge PITA for me. I have had lots of drysuit floods, and the Arctic kept me fairly warm and dry - the MK2, much less so.

ditto, I have Whites Fusion Tech and use Fourth Element Arctics and Xerotherm: works well for me. I personally like the Arctic one piece when worn over the two piece Xerothem. I usually wear a Helly Hansen base layer as well.

 

[spc751]

spc751, what temperature range do you use your Fusion + Thermal Fusion in? How cold? How warm before you ditch the Thermal Fusion? (I understand that everyone has a different sensitivity to cold, but I'm curious.)

From about 4C degrees with a ice crust on the water to about 12C. I get cold easy but I also use the suit for buoyancy instead of using my bcd so that keeps me warmer. I have found that the Fusion suit performs better if I use it for buoyancy instead of my bcd. I never dive in water warm enough to ditch my thermal fusion unless I am in Mexico.