Dry suit boots -- slightly large vs slightly tight

[markfm]

A new ND Divemaster suit. I'm a true US size 12 foot.
I either go with the ND UK size 11, and my big toe is right up to the edge of the boot, else bump a size, likely means a UK 12, 1/2 size too large.

Thoughts? I get the feeling that even a slight toe jamb would just gnaw at me over time.

Thanks.

 

[H2Andy]

i wear a 9.5 (US), and my new (used) suit came with rather large boots. i have
about an inch to spare.

it's given me no trouble either walking or finning yet. so... i would say err on the side
of space if you have to err

(disclaimer: i have a grand total of 2 dry dives)

 

[markfm]

That's what I was thinking. Life is too short to be irritated -- I can always bulk up slightly for a 1/2 size mismatch, but it's not like I can shorten my toes.
I've already contacted my LDS, to let them know I want to bump -- hope they're available locally, since my first open water dive is scheduled Sunday

 

[Doc Intrepid]

That's what I was thinking. Life is too short to be irritated -- I can always bulk up slightly for a 1/2 size mismatch, but it's not like I can shorten my toes.

Thick Wool Socks

 

[markfm]

Not wool -- Polartec 300 14" Heavyweight Sock My Polartec bottoms stuff into them nicely. (A Bay is brisk this time of year) They're large enough for me to comfortably add another sock as an underlayer.

(The advantage of a misspent youth -- no scuba experience, but a lot of trekking -- Nepal should be on everyone's must-trek list.)

Apologies for posting here -- I probably should have put this in exposure suits.

 

[jonnythan]

Where are you and what kinds of water temps will you be diving in?

 

[jonnythan]

Apologies for posting here -- I probably should have put this in exposure suits.

No problem. Moved.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Not wool -- Polartec 300 14" Heavyweight Sock

Use whichever you prefer, but wool socks will tend to keep your feet warm when (not if) the day comes that your suit leaks. The goal is to ensure that the day your suit floods isn't the day you have 45 minutes or more of decompression to do! But, if your suit ever DOES leak when you have decompression to do, you'll stay warmer if you're wearing some sort of thinsulate-type (reflective) undergarment rather than polarfleece. (And at least my feet stay warmer in wool socks. I know this because before I had the DUI that I now dive I owned a Viking. After 15 years it gave up the ghost, and before I could figure out where the leaks were and what to do about them, I'd done about 15 dives enjoying various states of leakage - from just the legs being wet to the entire suit being flooded. (I wasn't a bright child...) It did, however, give me a chance to compare and contrast the thermal effectiveness of various types of soggy undergarments. Hence my recommendations for wool socks! But YMMV.)

 

[markfm]

Thanks for the info. I picked Polartec 300 specifically due to its combined warmth and wet characteristics -- I'm brand new water wise, but switched years ago from wool to polartec for hiking. I'll have plenty of time to experiment, try both, as the water stays brisk up here until June. I absolutely agree about YMMV -- at a certain point personal styles really come into play, different people prefer different things. (I will skip cotton though, even if drysuit in jeans would have a certain flair

As to where, Alexandria Bay on the Saint Lawrence -- WTMP is 36.5F now, it may be closer to a sultry 37 by Sunday. (They grow us hardy, if dense, here

 

[yknot]

Another consideration for foot size is the style of boot. You will need to practice how to dive a dry suit, specifically how to avoid going feet up and how to roll out of that position. Some dry suits have rather soft attached feet, some require an additional shoe, like DUI rockboots and others have hard sole attached boots, like fishing waders. If the boot is too oversize and could allow too much air in it is very possible to blow your fin off. I can almost gaurantee you won't be able to get your fin back on in the water. I would think this is far more unlikely to occur with the rockboots or any other well fitting hard sole boot.