Drysuit weighting question

[bradshsi]

I finally got to tryout my new drysuit. My buddy and I went up to Detroit lake to test out the drysuit and some other gear we've been accumulating over the winter.

Aside from the 3 ft visibility (due to huge amount of rain we've been having), the dive was useful for tweaking the gear settings.

However I was somewhat surprised by the amount of weight I needed to add going from a 7mm wet suit to a drysuit. The specs are below (for fresh water):

Previous setup
Parkway 7mm full wetsuit with hood
3mm gloves
6mm booties
Sherwood Sillhouette BCD
PST E7-80 steel tank
Normal weight 14 lbs

New setup
Bare Trilam ATR
Scubapro undergarment (Thermolite/Polartec combination which is pretty thick)
3mm gloves
6mm hood
Diverite transpac 2
Diverite Rec Wing
PST E7-80 steel tank
Weight needed 38 lbs

I'm 180 lbs and 6' 0" tall

I am looking for suggestions/comments as to whether this seems normal or whether I am doing something wrong ?

To me the weight required seems high. I did the usual things such as squat down in the suit to vent excess air (aka shrink wrapping). I also checked that the Rec Wing was venting fully.

My feeling is that it is combination of the thick undergarment (thicker than the USIA Exotherm 2, about the same thickness as the Exotherm 3), and inexperience.

Thanks for your opinions.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

...My feeling is that it is combination of the thick undergarment (thicker than the USIA Exotherm 2, about the same thickness as the Exotherm 3), and inexperience.

On the one hand you're using a reasonably thick undergarment that requires a bit of loft to insulate well. On the other, many new drysuit users make the error of putting too much gas into the suit.

You only need a very small amount of gas in the suit to relieve suit-squeeze. Try putting far less gas into the suit as you descend and see what occurs (to your weight requirements).

As you noted, your weight requirements may decline a bit after you gain some experience with the suit.

Best,

Doc

 

[Cokedude]

My buddy and I dive the HD-Trilam too .the reason your carrying so much weight is your thermal protection is very bouyant.We carry 22-24 pounds in fresh water with the bare t200 undergarment .Thinsulite has the same thermal protection as the scuba pro 400g but with out the bulk .the suba pro needs the air to give it the warmth the thinsulite does not. Paul

 

[AquaGuy]

I am kind of curious as to how much weght the average person needs to add when going from a 7 mil farmer john (2 piece) to a dry suit? Bare Shell Trilam with Bare T100g undies.
I'm 6'4'' 240lbs and use about 30lbs with my wetsuit. On average, should I add 6-8lbs to start off with?

 

[bradshsi]

So it sounds like I should try or buy an undergarment with less thickness.

I got the Scubapro because I wanted to err on the warm side with my undergarment. However I felt like a leadmine when I was clanking around on the surface with all that extra weight that was needed.

Apart from the Bare t200 mentioned, are their any other brands (that people can recommend), which are warm but not very thick ?

 

[creamofwheat]

AquaGuy...well, that depends. What kind of dry suit? (trilam, bilam, neoprene?) What undergarments? I'm definitely no expert, but so far, all of my dives have been in a neoprene drysuit. i have noticed that if i change my underlayer, i need to change my weight. so it really depends.

 

[moneysavr]

I finally got to tryout my new drysuit. My buddy and I went up to Detroit lake to test out the drysuit and some other gear we've been accumulating over the winter.

Aside from the 3 ft visibility (due to huge amount of rain we've been having), the dive was useful for tweaking the gear settings.

However I was somewhat surprised by the amount of weight I needed to add going from a 7mm wet suit to a drysuit. The specs are below (for fresh water):

Previous setup
Parkway 7mm full wetsuit with hood
3mm gloves
6mm booties
Sherwood Sillhouette BCD
PST E7-80 steel tank
Normal weight 14 lbs

New setup
Bare Trilam ATR
Scubapro undergarment (Thermolite/Polartec combination which is pretty thick)
3mm gloves
6mm hood
Diverite transpac 2
Diverite Rec Wing
PST E7-80 steel tank
Weight needed 38 lbs

I'm 180 lbs and 6' 0" tall

IThanks for your opinions.

Seems to me like your 10 lbs over to start and with the steel tank sould be able to drop lots more,
Takes time to get the air out as you go down, this takes practice, but you seem to have way too much lead!
You should be down to 18lbs after several dives!
Brad