drysuit base layer

[vertaqua]

I'm about to buy a Henderson Arctic 2 drysuit, and I was told that all I need for undergarments is something that wicks moisture away from my body. What is everyones preferance when it comes to a base layer. Also tell me how you bought it(online, outdoors store, ski shop etc.)
Thanx,
Neil

 

[WreckWriter]

I got mine at http://home.att.net/~gchev91/

Good product, good prices, good service. Extremely nice folks.

The colder your water, the heavier weight garment you want.

Tom

 

[techdiver2us]

Having that same suit, I usually wear a union suit of Thermastat with it that I bought from a major outdoor supplier.

 

[vertaqua]

Has anyone tried the Harvey's 2nd skin undergarments? Suposedly it's made to be worn under a neoprene drysuit. The web site says that its a trilam suit with a nylon outer shell, vapex(whatever that is)in the middle and polyester fleece on the inside. Sounds good but it looks a little pricy at 250. I'm really not looking to spend over a hundred dollars on undergarments.
Thanx,
Neil

 

[metridium]

Kudos to Lost Yooper for pointing me toward:

this

P.S. Anyone know how to mask the link above under text?

 

[Tavi]

metridium once bubbled...


P.S. Anyone know how to mask the link above under text?

Scroll down on this page, under "forum rules" click on SB code,
in there, you will find how to "mask links" and more

 

[metridium]

Thanks, Tavi! The link above has now been 'corrected'.

 

[MNScuba]

Ok, since I don't dive dry...yet, this is only based on what someone who DOES dive dry told me... Don't waste your money on specialized dry suit undergarments, simply wear sweatpants and a sweatshirt... We recently did a dive to 80 feet at 38 degrees and he was fine. Of course I was too wearing my neato Mares Isotherm semi-dry! But, he was dry and I was damp...

Anyway, that's my two cents... again, not from personal experience so take it with a grain of sand.

 

[Bob3]

I do the layer thing, adjust to water temps & work load.
A thin layer of polypro undies for the base wicking layer, then add a heavier layer of military surplus arctic weight polypro for colder water, with more layers as needed.
There are some excellent synthetic fibers out there, like Capeline that have outstanding wicking capabilities (pricey though).
Plain old sweats of 50/50 cotton/polyester work fine over this for intermediate temps.

 

[Soggy]

I have 100 weight Andy's underwear. I've done dives to 43 degrees with it because I can layer underneath. On that particular dive, I wore a t-shirt, long sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt, Karate Gi pants, sweatpants, and thick wool socks.

I was nice and warm. My face froze, but the rest of me was toasty. Just remember to add a few lbs for the extra layers. There is little worse than being underweighted in a drysuit at the end of a dive!