Drysuit, Travel and Liveaboards - advice?

[Lorenzoid]

I purchased a Pelican 1615 Air case.

I wonder a liveaboard would frown on a hard case like that, as it doesn't stow very compactly? Anyway, we have two soft-sided roller bags that we have used on many dive trips, so ideally we would use those.

If you are going on a liveaboard, your problems might be solved automatically. Some liveaboards carry rental wetsuits. There is a good chance they will have vinegar on board. Ask them about both.

You cannot carry any liquids? Why not? If you took a bottle of an alcohol/vinegar solution for ears, it will work fine on your P-valve, too. You just need to bring enough for both.

Without any kind of a vinegar solution, a very thorough fresh water rinse for the P-valve should work for a week-long trip.

Whether I bring a backup wetsuit or inquire about the availability of an emergency rental, it feels like an admission of what every drysuit owner knows: a suit WILL develop a leak; it's just a matter of when. <sigh> If rentals are only available by prior reservation and payment, then it's a question of which costs more: paying the liveaboard for a rental, or paying the airline for an overweight bag.

As for the vinegar, my concern is that liquids are bulky and heavy. At home I run the vinegar and water solution through for about a minute, which uses a lot of vinegar. Someone suggested buying some locally, which makes more sense than trying to bring it in checked baggage from the US. If I can find it easily, that's great, but I would rather not spend my days before the liveaboard hunting for supplies in Egyptian grocery stores when I could be out sightseeing.

Since you're on the Aggressor, you'll be in a cabin with a shower - ask for an extra towel and put it over the shower curtain rod, then drape the drysuit on it. Make sure the zipper is not folded over when you drape and hanging without any pressure on it. I saw a few divers do the same thing with a towel but on one of the outside boat railings. They secured it in place with bungee tie-downs cinched around the middle of the suit.

Draping it on a towel over the rail seems reasonable. I can't really picture the bungee arrangement, though. For drying undergarments, I am planning to bring some of those large plastic clothespins that are used for things like keeping beach towels secured to chairs.

 

[boulderjohn]

Whether I bring a backup wetsuit or inquire about the availability of an emergency rental, it feels like an admission of what every drysuit owner knows: a suit WILL develop a leak; it's just a matter of when. <sigh> If rentals are only available by prior reservation and payment, then it's a question of which costs more: paying the liveaboard for a rental, or paying the airline for an overweight bag.

When I dived in the Galapagos, the problem was the difference in water temperature between certain sites. I thought my new ScubaPro 5mm suit would be suitable for most sites, but I was not sure about the colder sites. The dive boat said they would have a supply of 7mm suits on hand for anyone who needed them--no reservation required. When I saw the boat's 7mm suits, I had a bit of a laugh--they were ScubaPro 5mm suits, identical in every way to the one I had brought.

The point for this thread is that the boat had a supply of 7mm (OK, 5mm) suits on hand regardless of circumstances. I am sure not all liveaboards are like that, but the one you are using might.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Red Sea Aggressor replied that they do not have any wetsuits available onboard as backups for guests.

I guess we will be taking a backup wetsuit.

 

[w3dge]

You could wear your drysuit on the aircraft to prevent damage...

 

[boulderjohn]

You could wear your drysuit on the aircraft to prevent damage...

I have been on some flights where that would have been a good idea.

 

[Lorenzoid]

You could wear your drysuit on the aircraft to prevent damage...

It would be cool to puff up like the Michelin Man when the cabin pressurizes to 8000 ft.

Or wear the wetsuit. Make the TSA patdown challenging.

I have seen at least one rebreather worn aboard a flight (Bonaire, if I recall correctly).

 

[Umuntu]

I guess we will be taking a backup wetsuit.

And if you have to take a backup wetsuit why not just leave the dry suit at home?

If a dry suit is not necessary for the dive location, are you taking it just for its Santi Coolness factor?

Gotta wonder …

 

[Lorenzoid]

And if you have to take a backup wetsuit why not just leave the dry suit at home?

If a dry suit is not necessary for the dive location, are you taking it just for its Santi Coolness factor?

Gotta wonder …

Trip reports I have read have said that the wind in winter months makes it chilly between dives--especially on the Zodiac ride back to the liveaboard--and a drysuit or a 7 mm wetsuit are good options. Four dives a day like that would chill me to the point of turning an otherwise great trip unpleasant. To me, this means a wetsuit would be tolerable in a pinch, but a drysuit would be more comfortable. I hate being chilly, and that's why I bought the drysuit. The air and water temperatures where we dive locally are very much similar to the Red Sea in December, and we tested out our undergarment selection recently. When we bought the drysuits, we had just such a December Red Sea trip in mind, as well as the Galapagos someday. And some California diving--where I lived when was certified but hated diving locally because of the chilly water. In other words, the drysuit was bought for travel and for temps ranging from the low 60s to mid 70s. However, it being my first drysuit purchase, I wasn't aware at the time how relatively common it is for these things to tear and leak. It does seem that taking a wetsuit as a backup somewhat defeats what I originally had in mind. Oh well.

Believe me, I can hardly wait to return to someplace like Cozumel, where gear choice and packing are non-issues. I could pack for a Coz trip in an hour.

 

[elgoog]

I can't really picture the bungee arrangement, though.

I couldn't figure out a good way to really show this at home but here's a couple of photos that kinda convey the same idea - Hanging drysuit

The photos are of my drysuit on a clothes rack so you can't see it cinched down as much as you can on a railing. Basically, the bungee/rope/whatever is cinched tight enough so that the drysuit won't fall of the rail when there's wind or the boat is moving. Try to cinch it away from the zipper - that way you can go a lot tighter without damaging anything. This worked really well and dried out the suit waaay better than hanging it in the shower.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Update:

Trip was great. The only thing I'll add is that we were glad we brought the drysuit-sized hangers, as there was really no place to drape a drysuit anywhere near the dive deck. The hangers were a bulky addition to our luggage, but pretty much a necessity.

My concern over rinsing the p-valve was mooted by the fact that the divemasters limited us to relatively short dive times--around 40-45 minutes. No need to pee with dives so short.

I posted about the comfort in the thread about drysuits for Red Sea winter diving.