Drysuit Maddness

[ingreevox]

As A First Time Buyer Of A Drysuit, And Reading And Reviewing All Sorts Of Drysuit Stuff, I Have Found Out 3 Things.

1. Drysuits Cost Alot.
2. With All The Choices Out There, It Is Hard To Find Exactly What Is Good. (dont Forget Every Lds Or Drysuit Owner Will Assure You The Brand They Have/carry Is The Best)
3. I Have No Clue Anymore What Is The Best Options For Me.

Conclusion: With This Investment, Where You Cant Afford To Buy Badly At All, There Is No Definitive Source For These Things.

Heres My Mo: I Am A Ow Diver..bout 40 Dives To My Name. I Am 6'2" And 220 Lbs. I Wear A Large Wetsuit Size. I Dive Cold Water (pa/nj). I Am Not Made Of $, But I Would Like To Spend Under 1100 Bucks, For A Suit That Is Durable, Warm, And Hopefully Stylish And Not Easilly Outgrown As My Diving Gets Better And Better.

Hey Drysuit Fairy! Got Any Ideas?

Thanks For Letting Me Rant On!

 

[spurtill]

Hi,

As you've saids there is no right answer. Most dry suit companies will customise the suit to fit you correctly so your build should not be a big issue. Any of the better known dry suits will suffice. Once it keeps you dry and fits you won't out grow it as your diving extends. One of the senior lads in our club has used the same suit that he bought for about 100 pounds 8 years ago and he dives to ridiculous depths in it

Try on a few suits and see what feels right on.

My personal preference is the Gates VSN 1100 (now called Hunter VSN 1100) but I've a friend that has one and says he prefers the feel of the Typhoon dry suit he used to have (can't remember the name of it but its made of some sort of elastic neoprene so its REALLY stretchy). Mind you the Typhoon was fully of pin prick holes so he sent it back and got the Gates instead.

Suppose I'm not being much help here, but there is no right answer jusdt different opinions

 

[JerseyDevil]

I went throught the same thing this year buying my drysuit. I ended up getting a Diving Concepts Dura-Tek Flex custom suit. It came in around your price range. So far it has worked well for me. One of the guys at the shop at fequent got one too, as did another frequent customer. I also bought the Diving Concepts underwear with it, since I too dive the pa/nj area it has been plenty warm enough for me.

 

[Tractor Tom]

...and got it from Bob3 here on the board, for a lot less than the amount of money that you are talking about.

I'm a big guy (6'-4" 275lbs) and he had a suit that fit me just great. Indeed, I have less than $1100 in my suit, undergarment and drysuit gloves! We were diving at Gilboa Quarry last weekend in 40 degree water and I was warm and comfortable the entire time.

You might check with old Bob3 and see if he can help you keep the costs down a bit.

Good Luck!

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The first drysuit I bought was a Diamond trilaminate. It had the heaviest self entry zipper I have seen on a dry suit, had wonderful sitec valves and was made from 420 denier nylon and was notably more rugged than a DUI TLS 350. It should be available in your price range.

My current drysuit is a Scubapro Cape Horn trilaminate that I bought slightly used form a guy in Florida for under $300. Other than the cuff mounted dump valve I like it a lot. E-bay is an option that can save you a lot of money but it helps to know exactly what you are buying, what size you need and what it is really worth.

My wife dives an Atlan neoprene drysuit and swears by it and I am seriously considering trying one. Neoprene drysuits can generally be had for substantially less money.

 

[lakesdiver]

Like Tom, my wife and I each have a Viking X-Treme and really like them. Price for each of ours (suit, underwear, drygloves) was under the 1100 you stated as a price cap. I prefer it to neoprene because I don't have to carry as much weight. FWIW.

 

[MechDiver]

This is the same as buying a computer. There is a bewildering array of choices, you look until you find one that works for you. If you continue to beat the decision to death, the only thing you will accomplish is never owning a drysuit.

Make your best choice and buy it. If in a couple years you find/want something different, sell the one you have and get something else.

It ain't rocket science.

MD

 

[mwilding]

I am very happy with my Dacor Drysuit. It is basically the same suit as the Dive Rite 905 without any pockets. It's a high quality Trilam suit with latex seals. Dacor is getting out of the drysuit business, so the suits are being sold at closeout prices. Divers Direct sold their stock at $400. That deal is long gone, but you can get one HERE for $679.

 

[diverrick]

I have to agree with tom about contacting Bob3. He has a great suit from what I saw, though I bought a used suit in the end, I was going to buy one from him. He was invaluable, in helping me out. The suit he sells is really nice, and the price is good if you want to go with a new custom suit, or off the rack for that matter. He also sells other dive stuff that's cool.
What I did when I decided to go dry, which was two months ago, was to go out and find out what all the different options were for suit materials, seals, front entry vs. rear entry, pee valves Etc. Once I decided which type of everything I wanted in my suit (I made a list) I then struck out looking at who made what I wanted, then it was the price. I was able to find almost exactly the custom suit with all the items I wanted on E-bay, a virtually new trilam, so I ended up going that route, only because it was such a close fit.

 

[ingreevox]

hey divers,
i appreciate the input. I especially appreciate the links.
Here are a few more questions to address.
If anyone has more links to look at, I am interested. I am gonna do this right the first time.


Thanks again!