Drysuit drag

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SparkySFD

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Which type of drysuit has the best (less) drag characteristics?

1. Crushed Neoprene
2. Trilam
3. Vulcanized Rubber

I know there are a few others. But these are the major three. The ones I'm interested in anyway:).
 
I'd say...going out on a limb here...that drysuit drag is more a function of 1.) fit...how baggy is it and 2.) smoothness of the surface layer. In terms of diving...I'd say the suit material itself is not going to be as big a factor in the overall drag picture as steamlining your gear and diving a wing with lift matched to your configuration.

I would think the Vulcanized rubber would be the smoothest...but perhaps it fits baggier...the neoprenes can be smooth and relatively well "fit" but the trilams can go eitherway in terms of smoothness of material, and some are much baggier than others.

This didn't help did it... :(
 
I agree with Bwerb. Fit is important. Dont worry so much about the drag coefficient of each type of suit. I think you are overanalyzing... Not everyone has a trilam drysuit, many people do just fine with neoprene suits, and vulcanized rubber suits. My choice would be a trilam, but thats just me. I think any of these suits would be a good choice as long as its (a) what you want for the type of diving you are doing, and (b) it fits. A big baggy suit will drag you down (pun intended!!!)...
 
Drag increases at a proportionate ratio to speed.
Go slow, not much drag. Go fast, drag increases exponentially.
Sooo... the velocity at which you're traveling will have a greater effect on drag than suit material.
Suit material comes into play more noticebly nearing the maximum velocity you can attain in relation to the force applied. Like when scootering, or riding a torpedo.
 
Bob is right of course...to a point. Drag increases as the square of the velocity so twice as fast means four times the drag. That means that even a very small increase in speed requires a lot more power which burns a lot more air.

Or to look at it from another perspective, if you switch from a wet suit to a dry suit, you are going to go a lot slower on the same power even with all the other crap you are dragging through the water. So dry suit drag is a very important consideration if you actually plan on going anywhere during your dives especially given the low overall swiming speeds in scuba diving.

The vulcanized rubber, crushed neoprene, or neoprene suit has a potential avantage as it will have some stretch (a lot of stretch in the case of a neoprene suit) to it which means you can tolerate a snugger fit. A back zip suit is also potentially more streamlined as the extra torso lenght (and bagginess) normally found in a self entry suit is not required.

In this regard, the ideal drysuit from a streamlining perspective is a back entry neoprene suit as neoprene is very stretchy and the suit can be very form fitting without restricting your range of motion. Trilams and other suit materials that do not stretch at all or as much need to be cut bigger to ensure adequate range of motion and are inherently baggier and draggier.
 
Don't go the other way of course..... a suit that fits too nicely, and is the most streamlined can cause problems such as friction burns.

In my case it was me getting fatter rather than buying the wrong suit, but beware of suits that are too small (especially in non stretch tri-lam suits)

Jon T
 
After diving in a Viking a few times I was just shocked at how much slower I swim through the water. I hadnt even considered a crushed neoprene. Now I am looking very hard at them.
 
All my mates use HOTnDRY suites some complain about Drag some now have gone back to wetties
I use a DR 905 ,can tell no diff wettie or dry so i use my dry all the time
But it is a very good off the shelf fit for me
(could have little longer arms & no my knuckes don't drag on the ground)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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