Dry Suit

[Dutchman]

So I was thinking about buying one. Wanted to know how high of a water temperature you can us these.

 

[kidspot]

I've used my shell suit in water as warm as 84* ... it's comfy so long as there is water on the suit (ie - I dump a bucket of water on top as soon as I suit up and I stay cool)

Aloha, Tim

 

[King Kong Matt]

Off the New England coast, the water is always cold enough to dive dry, so I might be guessing here (meaning you might get a second and third opinion ), but...

The drysuit usually doesn't provide much, if any, of the thermal properties (especially if we are talking about something like a trilam suit). It is the undergarments that do that. So, I would think that if you altered your undergarments appropriately, you could dive dry in almost any instance. Of course, at some point, diving dry might be more hassle than not, which is another issue altogether...

Hope that helps.

 

[spectrum]

Yea, as far as water temp you're OK in a shell suit. If you have warm water intentions do not get a neoprene suit since you will be inherently over insulated. Remember that you will perspire in the suit and that can accumulate. Perspiration is part of what the undergarments manage. If you have little or no under garments, well you get the picture.

The other aspect is topside comfort and safey. Sealed in a bag you can get uncomfortable real quick. I'd certainly make sure you get a style you can get out of unassisted.

Pete

 

[Kwbyron]

Not sure about warm water, but for surface time.....
I used my dry-suit in my AOW class in Austin this past march/April the water was rather cold(50s i think) but it was pushing 80 on the surface, I drank LOTS of water and I made sure that everything was set up so that once I donned the dry suit, I was in the water in like 5 minutes(it got HOT and FAST). Our last dive, it was warm enough not to wear gloves and hood, which was nice...but I still had the 400 weight undergarment on. If I go home this summer I'll probably dive wet, just for the fun of it, enjoy cool water on a hot day.

 

[BarryNL]

So I was thinking about buying one. Wanted to know how high of a water temperature you can us these.

A dry suit doesn't insulate you in itself (well, the neoprene ones do a bit) - it's the clothing you wear underneath. So, you can happily dive in quite warm water with a drysuit. A trimlaminate drysuit with a T-shirt underneath would probably be OK in almost any sub-tropical temperatures.

 

[J75]

I've worn fleece undergarmets in 70 degree water, so I would think that by just wearing a t-shirt and shorts, you could easily wear the suit in 80 degree water. Personally, when I'm in water *that* warm, I'm happy to dive wet.

 

[Dutchman]

Cool. Thanks for all the great advice.

 

[H2Andy]

i have a shell suit in florida, and i find that if i get in the suit, then get wet,
i can handle the suit much better, like kidspot said

i have found that even on hot days, just a few minutes in the water will cool
me very nicely