Drysuit noob questions

[EireDiver606]

Otter dry suits, O'Three dry suits and Northern Diver dry suits are made in the UK and all three have a good reputation.

Northern Diver drysuits are made in Asia (China) now. They used to be made in UK and then they moved out to get better profit, their quality control is bad and I would not buy a suit from them.

 

[Christozs]

For what it's worth, for my diving just on the other side of the bridge (hej!) having my body be warm and dry increased my tolerance for cold fingers and head a lot. I have the dry gloves, but have been diving regular 2mm wet gloves and 3mm hood since it was about 10 C in the water this spring.

Glad to see more divers from Scandinavia! I am really surprised of how many people dive here even if the water temperature and visibility are not even close to good.
I admire each and every one of you guys!
I think my cold tolerance as a Greek is a biiiiiiiiiit lower than the Scandinavians. I can barely jump in the water without a suit during "summer"

A question that i have (and i should research about it) is that if i install a dry glove system, will i be able to switch to wet gloves at any time if the water gets warmer?

That Si-Tech Antares ring system is garbage. Go with something else. I use the WaterProof Ultima rings which are great, and I hear good things about Kubi too.

Yeah, i read that in a couple of posts too. I will try to get the KUBI ones but if they don't fit Ultima is my second choice! Cheers!

Hello. It seems like you've answered your own question. Keep doing your research, and buy what is comfortable for you, and what you like.
Cheers.

I thinki i am one step before getting the BARE drysuit.
It will be the fastest to arrive (1-2 days), it has a shop in DK that can fix any leaks or issues i may have and it is a reliable brand.
I also have the chance to try it and return it within 14 days, which is a big plus!

 

[jborg]

Sure, you can always use wet gloves and not the dry ones. The rings will still be there on the drysuit, unconnected to a dry glove, but that does no harm.

And yeah, there's a surprising amount of diving going on here, and at least on the Swedish side there's some quite good diving to be had slightly further north along the west coast. And wrecks in Öresund I guess, if that's your thing...

 

[EireDiver606]

Well, not always. My zipper leaked after 10 dives (like, within a month) and it was not repaired under warranty. My dive shop had to pay for it. The E.motion was a real lemon. It fell apart, quiet literally, after 150 dives. I'm sure the other suits are just fine. Many happy customers, but I'm diving Ursuit now.

No company or business has a perfect reputation. Santi service is widely regarded as very good. It’s why a lot of GUE and non GUE instructors, explorers etc use their products. What is the reason of saying your point when we all know not everyone gets a perfect suit. They’re custom made by hand, a lot can go wrong with any manufacturer. Not every time it can be perfect.
Edit: we all know the E.motion was a real lemon

 

[Martijn]

Been happy with my Otter for years. And for a very small added fee ( I believe 100 eur ), it was made completely made to fit. Pretty sure other brands do that as well, but not all the ones mentioned here.

Since it's all about fitting, definitely something to consider.

 

[broncobowsher]

If you are diving in cold enough water that you want a drysuit you are going to want dry gloves as well. Having had both the SiTech and the Kubi, the Kubi is the one to get. As with other drysuit features they come in different sizes as well. Which is better than the one size fits most approach most use.

I recently got a new suit. The old suit was made with an innovative material that didn't last. Delamination. Quickly discontinued. I took the gamble and lost. But the manufacturer made good and I got a fair deal on a replacement. This time I splurged a little and got a made to measure. The old suit was an off the peg and I fit in the specs, it worked. The made to measure is way better. As you would expect, it fits. Hard to describe the difference between it just fitting and it being fitted to you. Besides the Kubi it was the best money ever spent on a drysuit. Not to say an off the peg isn't right, most people will fit into one. And you may be the perfect model for suit. But for me it was great to have the suit made to fit. One of the examples, I didn't realize I have skinny legs. The old suit was a bit baggy around the calf. Not a big deal. Always had floaty feet. Got some leg gaiters and that fixed it. Used them for years. Once I got a fitted suit I found I no longer needed them. Since the legs fit correctly the air space is now controlled.

 

[Storker]

I really like the waterproof Ultima system but with care the si-tech Antares is good too,

I've used the Antares rings and the Ultima rings. I've sold my Antares rings and won't go back to them unless at gunpoint.

Antares suck. Plain and simple. Otoh, I love my Ultimas.

 

[Oldenboldiver]

...


For the BARE, the shop adviced me to add the SI-TECH dry glove system but i think i would go for the (almost twice more expensive) KUBI. Do you think it is worth it?

SI-TECH Antares are a pain. Because they are oval, the glove side and the suit side rings MUST be perfectly aligned otherwise they will leak. Lining them up is a pain. If the suit already has Antares suit rings in place then I suggest you look at the Waterproof Ultima system. The suit side rings can be swapped directly for the Antares, saving a lot of hassle, the Ultima system is reliable and cheaper than the Kubi.

For inner suit i am thinking of the FE arctic (2 pieces) and when 2021 comes having the SANTI bz400x on top.

If you put a BZ400 over FE Arctics you'll barely be able to move!

 

[lexvil]

First off, waterproof Ultima is a great system and my preferred dryglove system, now that the memory of mounting the glove to the glove side ring is faded, they are, so far 100% reliable and I use them with very short wrist seals.

Second the Antares are not junk but they can be a pain, I still use them on a back up suit, by indexing them

And using the “keep the lock clear” inserts and making sure I hear the clicks

They work well, are super easy to put on and take off and don’t leak

I could mount 100 pairs of gloves in the time it takes me to put one set on the Ultima. The oval makes it imperative that you get the glove on right unlike the much more forgiving round systems but they are very easy to mount and remount. Antaries are cheap on the secondary market and very nice to learn to love drygloves, and after you use them for a while by the waterproof.

 

[Storker]

First off, waterproof Ultima is a great system and my preferred dryglove system, now that the memory of mounting the glove to the glove side ring is faded, they are, so far 100% reliable and I use them with very short wrist seals.

Second the Antares are not junk but they can be a pain, I still use them on a back up suit, by indexing them
View attachment 609372 View attachment 609373 View attachment 609374
And using the “keep the lock clear” inserts and making sure I hear the clicks
View attachment 609375
They work well, are super easy to put on and take off and don’t leak
View attachment 609376

I could mount 100 pairs of gloves in the time it takes me to put one set on the Ultima. The oval makes it imperative that you get the glove on right unlike the much more forgiving round systems but they are very easy to mount and remount. Antaries are cheap on the secondary market and very nice to learn to love drygloves, and after you use them for a while by the waterproof.

My main gripe with the Antares system is the locking. I've broken one set of retainer arms already. The Ultimas use the same circumference suit side rings, and it's ridiculously easy to swap an Antares system for an Ultima system. Both systems are a major pain in the butt WRT mounting the gloves on the rings, but that's something you don't do very often. With both systems - and I assume any other ring system - you can use any waterproof glove and don't have to buy ridiculously expensive drygloves. I use Showa gloves bought at the nearest hardware store. Cost about 10% of dedicated smurf gloves and work just as well (if you disregard the cussing involved in mounting the gloves on the rings)