Drysuit Lifespan

[FishDiver]

What is the economic argument for owning a drysuit? How long do they last based on number of dives or age, whatever is the most relevant? I am assuming the suits are not abused and are maintained properly.

I realize that seals and zippers require replacement. How long can you expect the main body of the suit to last? Forget standard neoprene, Any significant differences between crushed neo and trilam? I have heard that trilam is a PITA to repair but that it "ages" better than crushed neo.

I have one estimate of annual maintance costs:

http://www.njscuba.net/gear/eqpt_03_exposure_suits.html#drysuit

Does this look reasonable?

 

[dannobee]

I know people who have over 1000 dives on their drysuits, with seals being the only maintenance. And properly cared for seals will normally last a few years.

The water temps out here routinely get below 50 deg F, and we'll still dive two or three dives per day, over an hour each (more if they're deco dives). Being warm, and not just "not hypothermic," is priceless.

 

[spectrum]

Depending on your luck with seals and zippers and given the total cost of gearing up for diving dry I find it hard to belive that there is an economic incentive. Mainteneance and amortized drysuit purchace money would keep most divers in nice wet gear for a long time.

My decision to own a drysuit was based on wanting the ability to make colder dives comfortably and safely.

Pete

 

[DA Aquamaster]

it also depends on how much you pay up front. A $4000 custom suit for example, will take a very long time to pay off economically (as in "very long time" equals "never").

For example if I do 100 dives per year, I seem to go through a $200 semi-dry about every 2 years - so I igure it costs about $1.00 per dive. So to get ahead financially with a $4000 custom suit would take me 4000 dives and 40 years, not counting interest on the greater up front investment that has to be made. It also assumes the drysuit is going to last that long, which it won't.

If I spend $1500 on a less expensive and more basic off the rack suit, it will still take me 15 years and 1500 dives to begin to see any financial benefit. However, while it's possible get 1500 dives out of a shell dry suit, you will go through 2 or 3 zippers and at least 3 sets of seals to acheive it. At $250 a pop for a zipper and $100 for each seal replacement, the costs over 15 years are now $800 to $1050 on top of the $1500 purchase price.

So at best, your cost per dive in a dry suit is at least 50% greater than with a wet suit. Consequently you don't dive one to save money, you dive one because you need to stay warmer (a very good reason), or you dive one for the bragging rights of having a dry suit (a very poor "wanna be" reason).

Personally, I tend to take advantage of deals on lighty used dry suits when they come along. That same $1500 suit will sell for $500-$800 and suddenly becomes economically attractive.

Neoprene suits are also potentially a good deal (plus I like the way they swim a lot better) as you can buy a new one for around $500 and you can still expect to get 300 to 400 dives out of it with very little maintenence required (about $1.40 per dive but wqith much less up front money required than with a shell suit). On the used market, a very seldom used neoprene suit in excellent condition will go for $200-$275 giving you dry suit performance at wet suit costs.

 

[Scottri]

My last USIA Bi Lam suit lasted about 14 years, the body of the suit is still good but I decided I needed a new one. If you take care of them they will last years. I can't comment on crushed neoprene vs tri lam.

 

[Frog77]

it also depends on how much you pay up front. A $4000 custom suit for example, will take a very long time to pay off economically (as in "very long time" equals "never").

For example if I do 100 dives per year, I seem to go through a $200 semi-dry about every 2 years - so I igure it costs about $1.00 per dive. So to get ahead financially with a $4000 custom suit would take me 4000 dives and 40 years, not counting interest on the greater up front investment that has to be made. It also assumes the drysuit is going to last that long, which it won't.

If I spend $1500 on a less expensive and more basic off the rack suit, it will still take me 15 years and 1500 dives to begin to see any financial benefit. However, while it's possible get 1500 dives out of a shell dry suit, you will go through 2 or 3 zippers and at least 3 sets of seals to acheive it. At $250 a pop for a zipper and $100 for each seal replacement, the costs over 15 years are now $800 to $1050 on top of the $1500 purchase price.

So at best, your cost per dive in a dry suit is at least 50% greater than with a wet suit. Consequently you don't dive one to save money, you dive one because you need to stay warmer (a very good reason), or you dive one for the bragging rights of having a dry suit (a very poor "wanna be" reason).

Personally, I tend to take advantage of deals on lighty used dry suits when they come along. That same $1500 suit will sell for $500-$800 and suddenly becomes economically attractive.

Neoprene suits are also potentially a good deal (plus I like the way they swim a lot better) as you can buy a new one for around $500 and you can still expect to get 300 to 400 dives out of it with very little maintenence required (about $1.40 per dive but wqith much less up front money required than with a shell suit). On the used market, a very seldom used neoprene suit in excellent condition will go for $200-$275 giving you dry suit performance at wet suit costs.

A great and useful analysis. A lot depends on how often you dive. I doubt I'll get 50 dives a year.

 

[Web Monkey]

What is the economic argument for owning a drysuit? How long do they last based on number of dives or age, whatever is the most relevant? I am assuming the suits are not abused and are maintained properly.

The economic argument is that you'll be warm, dry and happy, however only you can put a value on that.

What's air-conditioning worth? If you live in Greenland, probably not much. If you live in Texas, probably a lot.

I consider getting to dive all year in beautiful, calm, clear, cold fresh water to be priceless and would still buy a drysuit even if it only lasted a couple of years.

Terry

 

[RJP]

Originally Posted by DA Aquamaster
...it also depends on how much you pay up front. A $4000 custom suit for example, will take a very long time to pay off economically (as in "very long time" equals "never").

The better economic "savings" analysis is probably based on whether a dry suit extends your diving season.

In NJ, if you dive wet you're only diving a few months a year at best. If you dive dry, you can for sure dive April-November. And the only reason you can't dive Dec-Mar is that the quarries are closed and the boats are out of the water.

So, assuming that all of your other equipment cost $3,000. And just looking at one year, what is your ECPD (equipment cost per dive0 if you...

Buy a $300 wetsuit?

$3000 + $300 = $3300
Dive every weekend June-Sept = 16 weekend x 2 dives = 32 dives
$3300 / 32 dives = $103 cost/dive


Buy a $1000 drysuit?

$3000 + $1000 = $4000
Dive every weekend April-Nov = 32 weekends x 2 dives = 64 dives
$4000 / 64 dives = $62.50 cost/dive

So, my ECPD has decreased 50% even though I've spent $1,000 more. In fact if you do the math, in this case you COULD just about buy the $4000 custom drysuit and still have about the same ECPD = $112 vs $103.

Sort of like when my wife comes home from the mall, points at all the shopping bags and says "Look at all the money I saved!"

 

[MarkH]

When I took my open water course, the instructor said that it's worth it to buy a drysuit (from them of course) because they last much longer than a wetsuit. From what I've seen in the past 10 years, that's BS. I rarely see someone whose suit has lasted longer than 2 years unless they have the zipper/seals replaced. This service costs much more than a wetsuit up here. We dive drysuits because they're warmer.

 

[newportscuba]

It all depends on how you take care of it.
My 1st drysuit was purchased in 1995 I put over 2000 dives on it my self between 1995 and 2003. it has had about another 100 dives put on it since I donated it to rental stock for the dive shop.
Still has the original wrist and neck seals and all original valve components (serviced annually)
the zipper wore out in 2002 and was replaced for $300.
but other than that it is still a solid suit.
(DUI Trilam front entry)

I paid $1200 for the suit and underwear and $300 for the zipper repair.

$1500/2100+ dives = $.71 per dive tops so far.
probably get another 2-3 years of rental service out of it too.