Drysuit purchase planning

[2airishuman]

I'm planning a transition from tropical dives in a 3mm wetsuit to cold water dives. Several people have suggested that I avoid purchasing heavier-gauge wetsuits entirely and instead get a dry suit.

I'm trying to understand the products available and figure out what is right for me and am having a difficult time of it. Local dive shops do stock drysuits but brand selection is limited. I am reticent to solicit much advice from them since I know that the nature of retail is that stores sell what they have.

My long-term plans include:
- local (Minnesota) lakes and rivers in spring and fall. Generally shallow water with poor visibility
- Ice diving
- Wreck diving in the great lakes

I don't plan to travel by air with my drysuit, because if I fly somewhere, it will be somewhere warm.

I don't think that neoprene suits are durable enough for what I want to do.

Sizing is likely to be a problem, mainly because I have unusually long arms for my height. I am wearing an XL-T shirt right now, the sleeves are too short, the neck is too small, and it's a little too big in the belly. I buy custom dress shirts because it's the only way I can get anything that fits.

So here are the problems:
1) I can't figure out the differences in materials because there are so many proprietary multilayer fabrics. Leaving out the neoprene suits, is there a difference among fabrics other than weight?
2) Are the mid-weight fabric suits durable enough for what I want to do?
3) Sizing. Can I just get something that's too short in the arms and put up with it? Or have it altered? Or do I need to get a custom or made-to-measure suit?
4) Are EPDM dry suits worth considering or are they obsolete given the advancements in fabric suits?
5) Are the lead times long enough, given all this, that I should just get a heavy gauge wetsuit (or semi-dry) and dive that for a season first?

 

[tbone1004]

neoprene suits are generally considered more durable than trilam suits btw. The CF200 is the gold standard for NJ wreck diving...

1. yes, the main difference is Nylon based vs Polyester based. FLX is Nylon/cordura based, the TLS is Polyester based. Cordura is more durable than PET but is heavier.
2. define mid-weight
3. custom cut is easier
4. obsolete
5. no

USIA custom cuts suits in short amounts of time. Call Dive Right in Scuba and get a quote on a custom cut Techniflex. With P-valve will be under $2k and will last you a VERY long time

 

[JohnN]

I'm planning a transition from tropical dives in a 3mm wetsuit to cold water dives. Several people have suggested that I avoid purchasing heavier-gauge wetsuits entirely and instead get a dry suit.

I'm trying to understand the products available and figure out what is right for me and am having a difficult time of it. Local dive shops do stock drysuits but brand selection is limited. I am reticent to solicit much advice from them since I know that the nature of retail is that stores sell what they have.

My long-term plans include:
- local (Minnesota) lakes and rivers in spring and fall. Generally shallow water with poor visibility
- Ice diving
- Wreck diving in the great lakes

I don't plan to travel by air with my drysuit, because if I fly somewhere, it will be somewhere warm.

I don't think that neoprene suits are durable enough for what I want to do.

Sizing is likely to be a problem, mainly because I have unusually long arms for my height. I am wearing an XL-T shirt right now, the sleeves are too short, the neck is too small, and it's a little too big in the belly. I buy custom dress shirts because it's the only way I can get anything that fits.

So here are the problems:
1) I can't figure out the differences in materials because there are so many proprietary multilayer fabrics. Leaving out the neoprene suits, is there a difference among fabrics other than weight?
2) Are the mid-weight fabric suits durable enough for what I want to do?
3) Sizing. Can I just get something that's too short in the arms and put up with it? Or have it altered? Or do I need to get a custom or made-to-measure suit?
4) Are EPDM dry suits worth considering or are they obsolete given the advancements in fabric suits?
5) Are the lead times long enough, given all this, that I should just get a heavy gauge wetsuit (or semi-dry) and dive that for a season first?

I went through a similar analysis and ended up with a custom HOG (USIA) suit. A bonus for me is they (USIA) are local (within 40 miles) for me. You give them a pretty extensive list of measurements and they are good about only charging you for changes where your measurement(s) are outside of the 'normal' range.
When you get the suit, my recommendation would be to spend the little bit extra and get the replaceable SiTech neck and wrist seals. They'll pay for themselves with the first seal change.

 

[KevinNM]

My suggestion is to go to the dealer who is selling you the suit and have them measure you in person. And use a dealer who sells a lot of that brand of dry suit. So when the suit comes in wrong they can get it fixed.

Exactly what suit you want varies by your budget, what you plan to do with it and other constraints (like not wanting to pay the airline to haul many pounds of wet dry suit because it takes 3 days to dry...).

In general the rubber suits are used for diving in contaminated water (they hose off very well) and seem to not be very popular outside that niche.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba.]

If you call our shop and ask to talk with Mike or Chris, you will get good advice on your options from people who really know the ins and outs of a wide variety of dry suit choices.

Replaceable seals are very valuable. I saw someone who had driven 7 hours for a weekend of diving, including motel rooms, miss out on the whole thing when he blew a wrist seal putting it on the first time. In contrast, I have blown a wrist seal and been ready to dive 5 minutes later.