Drysuit gear

[charliem17]

Hey guys, I'm newly certified...I've been on 2 dives since being certified last month, and I love it. My question is about gear. My dive shop has drysuits on sale (Aqualung) for $800.00. My neighbour has a 5 year old womans drysuit in my size, incl. bcd with integrated weights, boots, hood...drysuit is ONeill 6mm neoprene...worn less than 5 times...selling all for $500.00 (including bcd as well)...

Which do you think is the wisest choice...should I pay more, go new with the warranty?

Or trial the used one in the water and get the deal?

Char

 

[Thalassamania]

Trial the used one in the water and get the deal.

 

[CalgaryDF]

As long as everything fits and is in good working order, go with the used one.

 

[a22shady]

Go used as long as it fit's right and doesn't leak. get a feeling of the suit and when your ready to buy new you will have an idea of the material. and can probably sell close to what you may have paid if it still is in good condition. Only downside to a neoprene suit is they are heavier and take longer to dry. They help keep you warm, very rugged suits. me personally prefer Tr-lam but hey the deal is what it is. Good Luck happy diving

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I'd recommend doing more research on drysuits before buying anything.

Here are a few questions that should get you pointed in the right direction:

• What are the pros and cons of various drysuit materials?
• What kind of drysuit diving do you plan on doing? (rocky shore entries/exits scrambling over sharp rocks/mussels, easy recreational boat diving, etc.)
• Do you prefer attached boots, separate rockboots, or DUI-style turbo soles?
• How would your footwear choice affect the kind of fins that you can use? (think size of foot pocket)
• What is your budget?
• What kind of undergarments do you plan to get? (camping fleece, specialty undergarment, or no insulation needed)
• Do you have any experience in a drysuit yet? (some suits are easier to dive than others)
• Do you know how to check critical features on a used drysuit? (condition of dry zipper, exhaust and inflater valves, seals, etc.)

Whatever you end up getting, please make sure the suit fits you well. Poorly fitting suits can trap air in weird places or restrict your movement and make it more difficult to enjoy the dive.

Hope this helps...

 

[knowone]

Buy it and get them to throw in some regs as well. Remember it's your neighbour.

 

[TSandM]

If the gear fits and is in good working condition, that is a pretty amazing deal. But be a little bit careful about buying stuff because it's cheap, if it isn't comfortable or doesn't work well. You won't dive if you are uncomfortable.

 

[elan]

Which do you think is the wisest choice...

The wisest choice would be to skip the neoprene dry suits altogether... and buy a trilam or bilam suit.

 

[spectrum]

It sounds like each suit is a neoprene suit. I am in the process of retiring mine. It has done a great job at keeping me warm and dry. It does require a bit more weight than I'd like, it's slow to dry and way to heavy to pack for travel. For modest depth cold water diving they are very warm suits.

Neoprene suits can be more difficult on deeper dives sine the neoprene will behave much like a wetsuit in terms of buoyancy loss. The kicker is that with that goes the loss of thermal value. Also if they have neoprene seals the fit can suffer from the same compression. Some have latex seals. At some point the neoprene foam begins to break down and leak tracing can be bizarre.

Such suits usually sell new for between $500 and $1000 so they are right in the price point as new suits.

At $500 for an entry level suit you probably can't go wrong if it all fits. This means that the seals haven't been over trimmed so as to be too loose for you. At those prices they can almost be considered disposable compared to other options. I found this post interesting when I got my first.

There is a good chance that your former fins won't fit the boots. You can flip the BC to cover that cost.

Pete

 

[charliem17]

Thanks to all for your valued advice, it was helpful. The used suit didn't fit in the end, therefore, back to renting for now.

Thanks,

Char