Dry Suits? Good, Bad? What and Why?

[TommyAHS]

Ok so today dry suits have been a hot little topic here on SB. With that in mind, what is everybody out there diving and why? What makes one suit better than the other and what would you look for if you were on the market for a new suit? I am currently diving a HOG Tech suit (bi-laminate) with latex seals and love the thing. The only time I swap it up is when conditions are outside the realm of safe diving and I find myself in one of the Whites or Viking Hazmat suits. This also means I get to switch it up and deal with both Si-Tech and Apeks valves. What would you buy if you had to choose? Finally, dry suit extras . . p-valves, relief zippers, pockets, front vs back zip . . . . what's on your wish list?

Conversely, some divers are not fans of diving dry. Does this mean you travel in the winter months (if you are in a cold climate) or do you grin and bear the colder waters?

 

[Aqua-Andy]

Here you go. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ex...st-worst-your-dry-suit.html?highlight=nex-gen

 

[tbone1004]

Hog predator is trilaminate btw, and for reference for those that aren't aware, it is all but identical to the USIA Techniflex, great suit especially for wreck diving, super durable. I dive a Rofos trilam, similar to the TLS350 as far as weight is concerned, nice and light for travel, dries almost instantly, and great for the caves. I hate integrated boots, much prefer neoprene socks, especially as I dive with neoprene socks and my overboots when diving wet which allows only one set of fins.

I like my Apeks valves, but have nothing against Si-Tech, they have a bit nicer dump valve, but I haven't had any issues with Apeks on all of the suits I've had.

P-valves should be a requirement, I like the Dive-Rite one, but have had others, would never consider a drysuit without one. Relief zippers I don't really see a point in with P-valves as cheap as they are and infinitely more convenient.

I don't like pockets since I go back and forth between sidemount and backmount, so I use Dive Rite thigh pockets so I can move them around, or just don't use pockets....

Front zip for me, back zip isn't that bad if you're team diving, but I find front zip more comfortable, especially with the Ti-zips which I do prefer over brass for flexibility.

I do prefer diving wet and Waterproof gets the nod there, I get hot easily and I have always loved the water, so I like being wet, but it's tough when you're doing really long and deep dives, so places like JB and Orange Grove get drysuit, Peacock gets wetsuit most of the time, ocean is almost always wet due to surface conditions.

 

[TommyAHS]

I love some wet diving too. Barring insane cold (in my own cold-rating opinion) I prefer to be diving wet, but with some of my all day teaching adventures in 40ish degree water, a dry suit has become an essential piece of kit. Similarly, I love a front zip capability and though my suit has pockets, I too love the DR thigh pockets. They make switch-overs easy when I decide to swap exposure protection.

In regard to valves, I have not had issues with either brand, though I have heard many horror stories and done quite a few replacements for people. Honestly I think it often comes down to care of the suit performed by the owner.

Haha, with P-valves, I love the feature, but have a close friend who cannot get along with his and has simply chosen not to use one any longer. That being said, p-valve failure can become a storied history for dive shop talk any day.

My personal issue is foot warmth. I have worn every type of undergarment (for feet) and every type of sock and there are still times where I feel like I've been walking on ice. Maybe it's just me, but in the end, multiple layers of wool winter socks have been my best foot saver so far.

Lastly, the HOG Tech (formerly the Predator) is made of bi-lam stretch techniflex fabric now. That may have been different in the past but not for the past few years. That's what makes the suit so pliable and a little less bulky. I copied the dealers guide below, and for honesty-sake double checked my personal suit. May of the suits one the market made by different companies are tri-lam these days but I have loved my bi-lam so far and have run it through some pretty rough places when needed.


Built of Black Techniflex bi-laminate stretch fabric
• 16 Available standard sizes available at stock pricing
• Semi-custom pattern alterations and Full custom made to pattern sizing available for additional charge
• Telescoping front entry body with diagonal zipper and elastic crotch strap
• Foot covering options (select one)
• Attached rubber hard sole boots – based on men’s USA shoe size
• Attached Bi-laminate Nylon socks – based on shoe size
• Attached Latex rubber socks – based on shoe size
• Latex Rubber Neck and Wrist seals
• Suspender tabs provided – suspenders are optional for additional charge
Other available options available:
• Zippered or Velcro cargo pockets
• Protective knee, butt, thigh, cuff and shoulder colored Cordura overlays
• Urine dump valves
• Dry glove systems
• Relief zippers
• Entry zipper protective cover
• Removable Silicone or Latex Rubber wrist and neck quick change sealing systems available for additional charge

 

[Akimbo]

I have had a tolerate-hate relationship with drysuits most of my life. I use them when a wetsuit won't keep me warm enough and a hot water suit isn't an option. They are delicate, high maintenance, relatively complicated, and a PITA to don and doff.

I currently use a highly modified Whites Fusion Bullet because it dives more like a wetsuit than all the others I have tried. The first drysuit I used was an uncompressed Neoprene home-brew followed by an Aquala vulcanized front entry and the Navy Mark V deep sea rig. The first drysuit with a waterproof zipper was the Poseidon Unisuit followed by various custom DUI compressed neoprene suits and now the Whites.

Without a doubt the worst I ever tried was the Cousteau Constant Volume suit. It actually made the Mark V look good.

 

[TommyAHS]

Akimbo you have had the privilege to dive some pretty cool rigs, though it may not have seemed so at the time. Are you still doing any helmet diving?

 

[Akimbo]

Akimbo you have had the privilege to dive some pretty cool rigs, though it may not have seemed so at the time. Are you still doing any helmet diving?

By helmet diving do you mean deep sea/heavy gear? No way. See: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/advanced-scuba-discussions/433006-what-do-you-call-gear.html

I was in the group of "newbie/evangelists" at the time trying to replace heavy/deep sea gear with "lightweight" masks, hats, and hot water suits in the early days of Saturation Diving. I do get in the water now and then with modern lightweight hats used in commercial diving today, but not as a working diver anymore. Too old to compete or tolerate the lifestyle.

 

[CGE925]

... I currently use a highly modified Whites Fusion Bullet because it dives more like a wetsuit than all the others I have tried....

Apologies for the slight hijack. I, too, have a Bullet and I'd be very interested in learning what mods you have incorporated. Did you do them yourself or have a third party do them? Thanks in advance

 

[v101]

I am currently diving a pinnacle Black Ice. I like the suit as it has the merino lined wool inside the suit, and this in my opinion makes a big difference. I typically wear just a layer of merino undergarments, and I stay warm in most of the caves I dive. For quarry diving, as the temp gets a LOT colder, I will add lava core, and a thicker sock, and I stay very warm w/ that setup. The bad points about this suit are the stock wrist seals for me leak, as my wrists have ligaments that allow water into the suit, when I goto use my reel, i get a shot of water up my wrist seals..... So I dont like that about the suit...
But to DON/DOFF the suit, is very easy, I had installed a P-Valve and it works well. Over all good suit, easy to transport when traveling via AIR, and folds up nicely for storage.

In the past I've had DUI suit I think it was a FLX series, I did like the larger cargo pockets on the suit, however after time it would leak, and then after fixing it, would leak again, so that got to be annoying...When diving colder quarries w/ the suit, I would have to really put a lot of thick undergarments to stay warm. that was a bit of a pain, as I would often be sweating my brains out before getting into the suit/water, then freeze once I got in the cold water.. I tried a bunch of different undergarments, and less undergarments, & was still cold in the suit...

 

[Akimbo]

Apologies for the slight hijack. I, too, have a Bullet and I'd be very interested in learning what mods you have incorporated. Did you do them yourself or have a third party do them?...

I did the mods myself, but have a light industrial sewing machine. The main things were removing all the Velcro so the skin is separate from the Drycore (actual drysuit) and convert the boots to knee-high with a long zipper. Think of the skin like a pair of elastic protective coveralls. The boots add a lot of physical protection to an especially vulnerable part of any drysuit and function as knee-to-toe gaters.

The elasticity of the skin is enough to keep the particularly loose fitting Fusion Drycore from expanding very much and the knee-high boots keep the calf, ankle, and foot from expanding at all. I normally do a duck or jack-knife dive from the surface and swim head-down with no concern of the bubble moving to the legs and getting out of control.

This post describes the mods in more detail:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/dive-right-in-scuba/409617-necktite-removal-fusion.html#post6206221

The "gaters" function has a long history clear back to the earliest days of deep sea/heavy gear suits. They were called lacings. The commercially available gaters and the lacings are much less effective than this boot and are more hassle to use.

Here are images of the boots and the old deep sea suit lacings.