Drysuit fit

[sig]

Hi, I just recently purchased a compressed neoprene drysuit online. I have tried on shell suits and compressed neoprene suits on in the store and noticed the shell suits were far loser.

I suspect this is normal with the shell suits. The suit I have is comfortable for me and I can flex and bend just fine but it is snug fitting. With fleece jacket and overalls it only has a little bit of material I can grab in the abdomen area and very little in the arm. The suit has a cross zipper on the chest and to remove it I have to first pull out my right arm by putting my left hand against the armpit to allow my elbow to get out. I then remove my head by cocking it to the right to slip underneath the zipper. So my question is when do most of you feel that a compressed neoprene drysuit is to tight or to lose. The suit is a size large and I am 215 and 510 which is what they recomend on the webpage from the manufacture. The person I bought it from told me he was about an inch taller and also had to cock his head to get into it.

Thanks

 

[Lost Yooper]

Are you talking about a regular neoprene suit or a crushed neoprene suit. A crushed/collapsed neoprene suit is a shell suit just like a trilam or rubber suit, but is made out of neoprene material that is "crushed" to a dense, thinner shell (without bubbles in the neoprene) less than 1/8" thick or so. A regular neoprene suit is 7mm/1/4" thick regular neoprene (with bubbles).
I suspect you have a regular neoprene drysuit from your description of the fit. I only had a regular neoprene drysuit for a few months before I got rid of it, so I'm not the best guy to answer your fit question. It is extremely important that you are as mobile as possible (one complaint, of several, regarding neoprene drysuits).

Take care.

Mike

PS. What kind of suit are we talking about here? There is a suit I saw in a shop once, that looked like a regular neoprene suit (1/4" thick), but the sales guy claimed the bubbles within the material wouldn't collapse as you descend. I don't recall the name of the suit or the name of the material being used, but he claimed it was very tough, but not particulary flexible.

 

[sig]

Lost Yooper, I am definitely not a professional on the matter but my understanding is that there are basically 4 types of drysuits, regular neoprene, compressed neoprene, crushed neoprene, and shell suits trilam etc.... The suit I am using is a compressed neoprene which starts out at and I'm not being exact here but a regular 7mm compressed down to a 4mm. Crushed neoprene which I am the most hazy on is similar to compressed neoprene but is claimed to have a few better attributes the compressed neoprene. For all I know it may just be a product gimmick. Like I said I am not positive or sure exactly what the differences are. The suit I have can be seen at this link http://www.zeagle.com/cat2001_dry.htm The model I have is the second one down called the CN and as I was informed on the boards a few days ago is actually made by Otter for Zeagle. I find the suit extremely flexible and quite a bit more comfortable than my wetsuit. I'm sure it will work fine but I was not planning on taking a course. I was going to take it easy in the shallows using the knowledge I have gained from this board and some books. I guess what I am mostly curious about is how much room for air does there need to be in the suit. I apologize for any lack of knowledge but since I am not taking a class I would like to learn as much as I can before I go in the water which will hopefully be next weekend. Thanks and please feel free to educate me on the differences of crushed neoprene.

 

[Bob3]

Compressed neoprene still has bubbles, comes in 4mm-5mm thicknesses. Slight insulating properties, but not much.
Crushed neoprene is a registered trademark of DUI; some other places selling "crushed" have to call it "hyper-compressed" or some other such thing.
Your compressed fit sounds about right. It should be form fitting, but not snug like a wetsuit. A little extra bag here & there is very acceptable.
They have less drag than a shell suit & the buoyancy loss at depth is only a fraction of what a "normal" neoprene suit has.

 

[Lost Yooper]

Yeah Sig, Bob's right about the "crushed" neoprene being a DUI thing. It gets kind of confusing sometimes to talk about crushed and collapsed neoprene suits. My Abyss TX suit is a competely crushed/collapsed neoprene suit (no bubbles) that is 2mm thick.

Anyway, the suit should allow for an adequate amount of underwear to keep you warm and still allow you good mobility. You don't want an overly tight suit or tight underwear. If you're suit isn't doing this for you, trade it in while you can. Besides, you're not likely to get any smaller through the mid section, eh!

Take care.

Mike

 

[buff]

I believe that crushed neoprene(a system of treating neoprene)is exclusive to DUI. I also think that DUI builds a neoprene suit and AFTER it is put together compresses the neoprene under immense pressure. Why this makes a better suit, I can't remember DUIs argument but I know it makes a more expensive suit for sure.

 

[DrySuitDave]

Hey Bob3,

That was right neighborly of you to offer some suit gloves to a board member to try out.

I did notice you wre a Viking dealer. I am angling to get a replacement for my Viking ProTurbo model.

It seems that Viking no longer offers that specific model. I liked the weight and durability of the material. The only thing I didn't like was the attached hood with internal hood liner AND neck seal. It about ripped my face off getting my head in, even after I figured out to get my head wet first.

Perhaps you could steer me to an equivalent model of Viking to the ProTurbo, and to a separate hood. What worried me about a separate hood though is a thin latex neck seal that isn't covered by the heavier red rubber material. Does Viking have a custom option of a red material wrap that kinda velcro wraps around the lower part like some drysuits to protect the latex seal?

 

[Bob3]

Viking still has the Pro 1000, and the Turbo is still one of the hood options. They're popular with the PSD community (Public Safety Diver).
There are a whole bunch of hood options, most of which use a latex neck seal. The most popular is the "Surveyor", plain latex hood. A Thinsulate beanie works well under those.
If you're in cold water, my preference is the "Nautic", with a neoprene hood. That's available with either a latex or neoprene neck seal.
The "Magnum" is another option that uses the vulcanized material on the outside, but will handle a Thinsulate beanie underneath (no inner hood like the Turbo)
There are even options with a neck ring system where you can swap hoods back & forth. ("Combi")

A lot of German divers use an interesting approach of using the latex hood with a seperate neoprene wetsuit hood over the top. Keeps you dry, providing insulation and protection to the latex.

You can download the hood specs in *.pdf format here: http://www.dyk-brand.se/download/hood.pdf
Download the regular Viking catalog (*.pdf): http://www.dyk-brand.se/download/viking.pdf

The files may come through tweaked sometimes, if you have trouble viewing them, give a yell & I'll dig up an alternate download source, or just fall back & snail mail you one.