Drysuit in the Tropics

[Stijn]

Hi

I am looking to buy a drysuit. I work in Indonesia where our coldest watertemperature is 26 degrees (I will never understand your fahrenheit :06: )

I do 3 dives a day and they last usually 70 minutes. We get thermoclines in the dryseason and I don't have a lot of bodyfat to protect me

I have never owned a drysuit but have decided to get one because being cold spoils your dive. I had a look on the www and found that there are trilaminate drysuits available which would be suitable in the tropics. One that caught my eye was the Scubapro anchorage Trilaminate Drysuit.

Has anyone experience with scubapro drysuits or any advice on different kinds of tropical drysuits?

Thanks

 

[StevenB]

Here's a tropical drysuit. I have not tried it, but did see one at a dive club meeting. It was very light weight. I think my concern would be damaging the material on rocks, coral, etc. But if you were careful it would be great. Just wear your shorts and flower shirt under it and once you're out you're ready for lunch.

http://www.ossystems.com/diving/manta.htm

Steve B

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

Whites drysuits also makes the Tropical explorer drysuit www.whitescoldwater.com

 

[Tom Winters]

26° Celsius is a notch below 79° Fahrenheit. If that's your coldest water, you might run into overheating problems in a drysuit no matter how thin it is - your body just won't be able to cool itself down under any kind of load. You're going to sweat something awful in there too if you're doing any kind of work underwater.
If you're diving in contaminated harbor or industrial water, then you're stuck going dry. I bet there are some pretty exotic substances in the waters there.

 

[Stijn]

Hi Tom

Thanks for the advice

But there is no way I can get overheated over here. I guess I'm a little bit spoiled with the warm water diving over here but I have been here since over 4 yrs now which means that my body adapts to the climate over here and I get sooner cold then someone who just comes here for 1 week.

At the moment I am doing 3 dives a day, 70 minutes a dive and am doing this 7 days a week. I am usually guiding which means just drifting with the current and not moving to much.

Last year I was diving with 14 mill and was still getting cold.

Anyway, I would much rather sweat than be cold.

Steven & wreckdiver, thanks for the links

 

[Sprinter]

"At the moment I am doing 3 dives a day, 70 minutes a dive and am doing this 7 days a week. I am usually guiding which means just drifting with the current and not moving to much."

This is a good example of how the worst day diving is still better than the best day working

 

[hardhat]

http://www.bare-wetsuits.com/bareshop/dive.asp is another manufacturers site you can check out. They have a range of suits that you can take a look at.

 

[stoiclown]

I know that O.S. Sytems has a bilaminate drysuit that they specifically market for tropical conditions.

 

[hardhat]

Bi-lams are cheap suits that are not built to last very long. They delaminate pretty fast and start to leak as soon as that happens. For the amount of time you are in the water I most certainly wouldn't even think of a bi-lam.

 

[kidspot]

While our weather gets a bit cooler (24c) in winter it's pretty close - and at least one diver I know on Oahu wears a Bare nex-gen drysuit happily -