Dry Suit Crushed Neo or Laminate

[jgarysmith]

Divers,

Can anyone give me thier thoughts on what thre prefer and why. Looking to buy my first dry suit and trying to decide which material. Most dives are in Va Beach and the Outer Banks of NC. Wreck dives, but not seriuos penetrations. I currently dive a Mares Isotherm Semi dry,but want to make the upgrade. Currently diving singles HP 120's, and will continue. Eventually will move to doubles, but not in a big hurry.Plus scooter with an Apollo.

My thoughts are in Va Beach dives the water stays pretty cold and cool all year, but in Hatteras,NC I can go with no undergarmets like I see other guys do and not get too hot. Can you do the same with a CN suit or are they pretty much for colder waters. Is this making sense. I had my mind set on a Whites Catalyst or similar, but have recently become fond of the Whites 45th Anniversery suit or the Pro Dry,both neoprene. suits.

Any help would be appreciated or does anyone dive the Pro DRY or the 45th Anneversery suit.

 

[TSandM]

If you don't have significant problems with cold, and you're not diving in conditions where your suit is at constant risk of tearing, it seems as though the trilaminate wins hands-down. They're lighter and easier to handle, and they dry much faster.

The advantages of compressed neoprene are better insulation and resistance to tearing. Compressed neoprene also gets cut closer and is a little flexible, whereas trilam is cut baggier because it has no stretch.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

I'm diving exactly where you are.

IMHO you will be happier with a trilam drysuit than with compressed neoprene. Care and feeding is a big thing, actually,...a trimlam often dries on the boat ride back in, or you can hang it at the hotel and it'll dry in the evening. A compressed neo suit dries much more slowly. Your hotel room winds up smelling funkeriffic after a few days.

While you can wear various undergarments beneath both types of suit, and compressed neo suits are indeed more rugged, IMHO when you're trying to pull your drysuit on over your undergarment about 15 minutes before the boat arrives on station, and the pitch and roll is impressive from 3-5' seas, lighter trilam suits are hard enough to pull on. Personally I wouldn't want to wrestle with a compressed neo suit.

It's strictly a matter of personal preference - particularly if you are not going inside; the performance of the two suits underwater is likely to be equivalent. (If you DO go inside, your suit will get rusty and oily - but thats as hard to clean up either way...) That said, the water temps off Morehead City and Beaufort are warm enough that the extra thermal benefit of the compressed neo suit is not really a benefit - you need to wear something beneath the suit, and a drysuit can be pretty warm in 74 degree water...

I did watch a guy hole a brand new trilam DUI 350 going after a lobster, (but the hole was patched and diveable in 3 hours) so some degree of ruggedness is desirable around the wrecks. The guys I dive with and I all wear DUI 450 suits, and these are pretty much the shizzle for what you're looking at.

FWIW. YMMV.

Doc

 

[Mr.X]

I'll take the scootering perspective here ... I like trilams because they slip through the water faster. They also dry quickly which is nice.

I've test crushed neo., vulcanized rubber suits etc. with scooter. Vulcanized rubber is slow, slow, slow. Funny thing is you would think they are fast because they have a somewhat slick surface? I know some folks use Atlan neoprene drysuits and swear they are fast. If I am not driving a scooter for speed I like DUI's crushed neoprene suits for their durability, but they are expensive!