Drysuit Material

[DA Aquamaster]

What a deal, if it's dry.

One thing I would add is buoyancy issues. With a Neoprene dry suit you have compression issues and will tend to carry more lead to offset the neoprene, crushed is not the same that way. A trilam doesn't have this issue either.

So, you'll find a trilam dives very similar to the Viking you have now and a 6 or 7mm neoprene suit dives differently due to compression.

Well..it sounds logical and it seems to make sense when you think about it, but it does not really work that way in practice.

Everyone understands neoprene "wet suit" compression, but many divers seem to miss the point that the air in your drysuit is subject to the same pressure increases and is in fact more compressible than neoprene.

In my experience, I use much thinner underwear with a 7mm neoprene suit than I use with a trilam. And the larger volume of air in the trilam's thicker insulation is a lot more compressible than the neoprene in the neoprene suit fabric. Consequently, what I have found is that I have to add less air less often on descent with a neoprene suit.

I do agree there is a significant difference in how the two suit styles "feel" during a dive however as the neoprene suit is much more comfortable and stable in the water.

 

[MarkH]

I agree. My first 2 drysuits were neoprene and I used less weight than with my more recent shell-type suits.

 

[cummings66]

Maybe it depends on your undergarments weight. With me in 36 degree water I only use a 200 gr undergarment, not much more than a neoprene suit user would use. I've never felt the need for anything heavier so maybe that's why I find I use less lead than a person would in a neoprene suit.

I would agree with some of the shell suit divers I've met useing 400 gr undergarments that they use more lead, I keep forgetting some drysuit divers need lots of thermal protection compared to myself.

 

[*Floater*]

There really is no ultimate material, although vulcanized rubber comes close.

<snip>

Great commentry DA. I'm wondering if you've tried one of the high quality trilams such as a custom-cut TLS 350? I ask because GUE promotes those heavily, and they usually only promotes what their/WKPP years of diving have shown to be the best.

I bought a Bare Nex-Gen as my first drysuit. It's a bilam, the construction is rugged and it keeps me warm and dry. The MLT size I got is pretty good for me too I think. There's some extra length in arms and legs, as there should be, and I only used 150g fleece underneath it so far, so the suit size and undergarments did not restrict mobility, yet underwater the suit locked up because of the outside pressure, and I lost a great deal of mobility. I felt like I was in a cast - I could move though, but there was resistance to it, especially in the arms - no way could I reach my valves even though I can reach them without problem in a 5mm wetsuit. I'm told this is probably just the way the Nex-Gen's are and the TLS 350 is supposedly totally different to dive and would increase mobility if correctly cut (relative to thick wetsuits I suppose). So that's why I'm wondering what you think of the top-of-the-line trilams. I'm also wondering if I should have just got a cheap neoprene drysuit as my first one instead of the Nex-Gen. It's fine to dive otherwise and my kicks weren't restricted - at least I could do them all (frog, back, etc.), but for tech/cave diving I also need to reach my valves...

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I have not tried a custom cut TLS. It's a lot of money to spend to take a chance on a suit that may not be everything it is supposed to be. If I was not totally happy with my current suit, I might consider it.

I am also not entirely in agreement with GUE promoting what their WKKP experience has shown to be "best". My understanding is that there is also some politics involved as well as the willingness of various companies to work with them. The Scubapro-Apeks thing is a good example. Scubapro regs were pushed as "the" way to go until there was a falling out with Scubapro. The relative performance of the various regs available did not change, just the feeling of a key person toward Scubapro and suddenly overnight Apeks regs were pushed as "the" regs of choice.