Dry suit questions????

[tstormdiver]

I hope no one minds,... I am also looking at purchasing a dry suit soon (& will get instruction for using it). Right now 99% of my diving is in freshwater quarries & the temps below 60' stay at 42 degrees year round. Right now I have a 2pc. 6.5mm wet suit that I really don't like (but dive in, because it's all I have right now) because, to me, it feels very inflexable. I'm leaning more towrds the shell style suit & away from the neoprene, because of the discomfort of the wet suit. Is there a big difference in the between the wet & dry neoprene or are they about the same, when it comes to range of motion & comfort? Also, I'm kind of hard to fit. I'm female 5'6" and weigh about 200# (yes, I know, I need to drop some #'s- middle age spread & all). Most of the dry suits (shell style) I have found, based on most dry suit sizing charts I would have to be about 5'10'- 6' tall to find one that fit my girth. Any ideas? I don't know if I can afford a custom made suit, are they much high in price than an "off the rack" one? Jsut curious. Thanks.

 

[caveseeker7]

Tammy, I would recommend saving a while longer and then getting a suit that actually fits you correctly. The one friend I have that hated dry suits so much she won't get near one had the opposite problem that you have, too tall and skinny for rack sizes. She ended up having trouble with bouyancy, needing piles of lead and getting welts trying to keep the gas volume at bay. Really no fun. Even stock drysuits cost a pretty penny so the extra money to dive it comfortably is well spend.

Regarding the material, I've only used shell suits (I lucked out and two brands I tried have fitting trilam stock sizes) so I can't comment there.

 

[Mr.X]

I second what Caveseeker said. Save for a suit that fits you properly. I have used all types of drysuits. Typically, most female dive instructors I know favor trilam. suits because of their flexibility. As per neoprene drysuits...there are three types I know of:

* crushed neoprene - very flexible and tough + non compressible..expensive!!! I've had one last upwards of 16 years
* compressed neoprene - thinner than regular neoprene, flexible, tough but will compress...something of a compromise between the proprietary formula (DUI) of crushed neoprene and regular neoprene
* regular neoprene - regular stuff...takes tons of lead to get down and compresses...may give you a few years of service before it breaks down

IMO...trilam is nice stuff. Swims well, packs light and looks pretty darn good when you add colors and such. For wrecks and hard diving I use crushed neoprene suits, and when I feel I'll get major cuts from steel and concrete I use a neoprene drysuit.

x

 

[cummings66]

I'd like to clarify a statement made above, you will always find wrinkles in a drysuit contrasted to a wetsuit. Those wrinkles are one reason many people say a trilam or similar material drysuit isn't as efficient as a well fitting wetsuit. My suit will fix the 400 gr thinsulate undergarment I use, but when I drop down to a lighter undergarment it gets a lot more wrinkles in it.

Honestly I don't notice it being harder to move about, I still have pretty much the same distance covering abilities in a drysuit vs a wetsuit.

How much weight you use depends entirely on the undergarments. Get a nice 400 gr thinsulate and you will find yourself needing more lead compared to a 200 gr fleece undergarment.

I have played with a Viking Artic Plus undergarment. You'll see that it's actually heavier than a normal 400 gr thinsulate undergarment due to the fleece liner. It takes more lead on that one, much more.

I don't think it's that hard to manage a drysuit, you just get used to 2 methods or controlling air. My first dive was definitely tough, I learned things from it and by the second dive I got rid of the ankle weights (commonly used on the first several dives as a crutch to prevent feet first ascents) and by the 10th dive it was becoming natural. Now it's no big deal. The key is not putting too much air in it, and frequent venting as you ascend. There's many items of safety you'll learn about diving it, and I have stuck an inflator once and that's one of those things you've got to be able to fix without thinking. Mine stuck at 100 feet and due to training I knew what to do and fixed it without problems.

 

[caveseeker7]

Just came across X-ray magazine's current issue, has a section on drysuits.
X-ray magazine
Current issue X-Ray_#13
PDF-issues can be downloaded complete or in sections, this has the drysuits in them.

 

[*Floater*]

3) will I use a noticable amount more gas due to having one more thing to inflate

Think about it this way, if you didn't inflate your drysuit, then you'd have to inflate your BC that much more, unless you keep inflating the drysuit and dumping the wing in return. Also, there's no need to inflate to compensate for wetsuit compression unless you get a non-compressed neoprene drysuit, so it should all even out.

However, in my limited drysuit experience it did increase the drag relative to my wetsuits, presumably because of the folds that formed on the bilaminate material. With a really slick fitting suit or a neoprene drysuit increased drag would probably be much less of an issue.

 

[jiveturkey]

Well, there is a bit of a learning curve with a ds so I'd have to disagree with some of the other posters who say you'll master it in a couple dives. But it's certainly not hard. You have to think more in the drysuit but after "x" number of dives you'll just do things naturally without really concentrating too much. For me, I think the ds even improved my technique. My trim is better and since you have to pay attention more during an ascent, I tend to ascend slower which for me, is a good thing.

 

[cummings66]

Just came across X-ray magazine's current issue, has a section on drysuits.

Nice magazine, I downloaded it to check it out. I disagree with using only the drysuit for buoyancy control, but that is one method taught by many dry suit courses.

It's certainly less work if you have only one source of buoyancy control, that is true.

 

[tstormdiver]

I second what Caveseeker said. Save for a suit that fits you properly. I have used all types of drysuits. Typically, most female dive instructors I know favor trilam. suits because of their flexibility. As per neoprene drysuits...there are three types I know of:

* crushed neoprene - very flexible and tough + non compressible..expensive!!! I've had one last upwards of 16 years
* compressed neoprene - thinner than regular neoprene, flexible, tough but will compress...something of a compromise between the proprietary formula (DUI) of crushed neoprene and regular neoprene
* regular neoprene - regular stuff...takes tons of lead to get down and compresses...may give you a few years of service before it breaks down

IMO...trilam is nice stuff. Swims well, packs light and looks pretty darn good when you add colors and such. For wrecks and hard diving I use crushed neoprene suits, and when I feel I'll get major cuts from steel and concrete I use a neoprene drysuit.

x

I just saw a crushed neoprene suit today & was impressed:14: . After seeing what it had, it is certainly an option. Any idea where I can find a custom shell style or the crushed neoprene suits? I did a half hearted internet search a little while ago & really didn't see much. I'd like to get the ball rolling in finding a good fitting suit & with being a bit on the short & full figured side, I really haven't found anything off the rack that looks like it would work in my case. Unfortunately my LDS doesn't carry dry suits, so I'm kind of on my own to find one. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[LI Diver]

Thanks everyone,great article too. Now I look at all that new gear and the fact that I'll probably need a custom suit as well and now I'm thinking $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$