Dry Suits

[utediver]

Wow I just thought of something orm brought up. What happens if you need to pee when wearing a dry suit?

 

[drdaddy]

I dive the cold murky waters of the Pacific NW, and use a 7mm wetsuit year round. The temperature is 48 to 52 degrees Fahrenheit. Both my buddy and I are just fine for two one hour dives and will do more if the tides would just cooperate (and not push us out to sea on our jetty dives). We both use 7mm farmer john wetsuits, and obviously hoods and gloves as well.

A couple of weeks ago, I did a high altitude fresh water lake dive at Clear Lake/Santiam Pass, Oregon. The water was 41 degrees. I do this dive every year in late June. If I did this dive more than a couple of times a year - I'd go dry.

Jetty dives are rough on any exposure suit. Since we dive a hundred+ dives off the barnacles and rocks - we would not recommend drysuits. Drysuits get torn seals, have extra valves, etc., that the rocks, barnacles, and sand tear up. We do not want to call the dive (except for dangerous weather/waves) for exposure/drysuit problems (no time to patch with tides,etc.).

Last weekend I did a Waldport/Alsea Crab Hole dive in a one-piece 7mm. The water temp was very warm at 57 degrees Fahrenheit and I was just fine and caught a bunch of dungeness crabs!!!

I've got a Japan/Red Coral trip planned in a couple of weeks. 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm taking along a 3mm full wetsuit along with a 2mm hooded vest (may not need the hooded vest - but ...).

I'm not against drysuits - but to me, they're expensive and contain extra gadgets that may fail, including the suit material itself. If I was diving under 45 degrees year round - I'd buy the best drysuit that I could afford.

Hopes this helps.

 

[elmer fudd]

I own and dive regularly with both. Depth matters just as much as water temperature. For a dive with maximum depths of 50 feet or so and water temperatures above 50 degrees, I can manage in a 7mm for about an hour. I did a dive at Les Davis in Tacoma to 90' @ 50 degrees a couple months ago in a wetsuit and I only managed 30 minutes. I was doing fine until we got past 70' and then I got cold, really cold. On the surface snorkeling however, I'll be fine even in the low forties.

And yes, it does make a difference which wetsuit you use. I have an O'Neil J-suit, (very good, warm suit), and an older Seaquest farmer John. For diving, I prefer the J-suit. For messing around on the beach, the farmer John is better. The farmer John allows you to take off the top completely when you're out of the water, so it's easy to do things like work around the boat, wade in waist deep water on a summer day, etc... They're a superior design for someone who just likes snorkeling, fishing, crabbing etc...

Why would you use a wetsuit if you have a drysuit? Speed and flexibility. Wetsuits are sleeker, require much less weight and allow you to bend and stretch just about the same as if you were wearing street clothes. When temperature permits, I greatly prefer them.

 

[Scott]

Wow I just thought of something orm brought up. What happens if you need to pee when wearing a dry suit?

P-valve for the guys and She Pee for the ladies.

 

[utediver]

Thanks for the input everyone. So if I stick with using wetsuits it seems like a farmer john would be warmest since you would have 14mm around the torso. Is this correct? So I am guessing the warmest setup without going to a dry suit would be a farmer john with hood and gloves.

 

[dkktsunami]

Up until now the line has been the low 70s for me, but now that I have a DUI Tropical dry suit, which I haven't as yet had wet, that line might shift upwards. The 5mm was OK for a couple of hours in the cenotes this spring, which run a constant 76. Last week in Lake Ontario it was in the high 40s on the wrecks, and I was wishing for 400 gm Thinsulate.

I have just started diving with the DUI Tropical, my first dry suit, and I love the thing. Water here(off shore Georgia) is still in the low to mid seventies and I have been diving dry with absolute comfort (even in the steaming heat on deck). My 7 mm is now permanently retired.

 

[Scott]

Thanks for the input everyone. So if I stick with using wetsuits it seems like a farmer john would be warmest since you would have 14mm around the torso. Is this correct? So I am guessing the warmest setup without going to a dry suit would be a farmer john with hood and gloves.

Yes a farmer john style would add more warmth to the core.
Another option would be a jumpsuit style wetsuit with a hooded vest underneath. I've seen those come in 1.5mm, 3mm and 5mm. There may be thicker ones available.

 

[Brian Sharpe]

Thanks for the input everyone. So if I stick with using wetsuits it seems like a farmer john would be warmest since you would have 14mm around the torso. Is this correct? So I am guessing the warmest setup without going to a dry suit would be a farmer john with hood and gloves.

If you're going with the wetsuit option I'd be inclined to suggest a jumpsuit & hooded vest. Wear both when you need 14mm on your torso and ditch the hooded vest when the water temps are higher.

 

[elmer fudd]

Thanks for the input everyone. So if I stick with using wetsuits it seems like a farmer john would be warmest since you would have 14mm around the torso. Is this correct? So I am guessing the warmest setup without going to a dry suit would be a farmer john with hood and gloves.

Not in my limited experience. The one piece suit I have is noticeably warmer than my FJ. It does have a double layer of neoprene over the core though. The less water that circulates through the suit the better, so in that regard the one piece suit has fewer openings. A suit that didn't have an extra layer around the core probably wouldn't cut it though.

 

[RJP]

At what water temp do you guys typically go with a dry suit?

Anything colder than body temperature.

:cool2: