dry suit dir-ishness

[Blargh]

I ended up with an Oceanic FLEX 2000..

Probably not the greatest dry suit under the moon, but a decent price/performance compromise nevertheless, esp. considering the shop throws in the std PADI dry suit "specialty" in for (almost) free.

The wrist seals leaked like there is no tomorrow in the pool, and thats without being cut at all or anything .. *grumble*. I'll have to yank em up I suppose and free up a couple of inches of skin :cold: ...

I am due out to dear Stoney Cove this weekend to a) finish up the course, b) see how warm it will keep me in real water... which kinda brings up another question:

What do the kind folks on this board wear under their undersuits (if anything) ?

ttfn

 

[Lost Yooper]

There's a good discussion on underwear going here:

http://www.scubaboard.com/t2502/s.html

Mike

 

[sky50960]

Ok Guys,

Would there be somebody explaning to me the difference between NEOPRENE anTRILAM?
How to make up your mind for buying neop or trilam?

thank you

Fa,

 

[WetDane]

FA -

pretty simple in my mind... (And I know that there are other minds who will disagree with me)...

Neoprene will compress as you descent, alas, the buoyancy charateristics changes the deeped you go, and since the material is getting flattened, you also loose insulation... To top it off, neoprene takes ages to dry...

Trilam, does not change it's buoyancy characteristics or insulation - there is nothing to compress, oh, and there is no insulation either - you have to dress in a warm undergarment... and you will want to use argon if you dive in cold waters or for extended periods of time... (Argon is a gas with better insulation than straight air).

That said - I will tell you that there are people who do amazing dives in neoprene and there are people who do amazing things in trilam (WKPP.org) - sop it comes down to personal preference - I prefer the trilam over neoprene.
Try some different ones out - often shops will have demo days where manufacturers show up with a whole slew of suits and you can try them out...

Cheers,
Big T

 

[Lost Yooper]

Then you have crushed neoprene which is regular neoprene material that is, in essance, crushed so there isn't any bubbles in the material. Thicknesses can vary from 2mm to 4mm thick (that I know of). This stuff is very tough too (especially with a Kevlar shell), but dry time is longer than trilam or rubber. One advantage of crushed neoprene is repairability -- neoprene glue works. I'm not sure how easily trilams are repaired. There is some insulation value in crushed neoprene, but it's negligible, and one needs to have underwear and /or argon for colder temps just like any other shell suit. The DUI CF200 and the Abyss Pro Kevlar suit use crushed neoprene.

Take care.

Mike

 

[Blargh]

trilam is (relatively) easy to repair, and it can be glued wet

(or so the word of mouth goes)