Drysuits and +/- lead?

[OCdiving Deb]

I am considering a drysuit purchase after shivering too much during surface intervals this past weekend. I normally dive So Cal in a 7 mm wetsuit and a 5 mm hooded vest. It is very rare that I get cold in the water.

My question is related to weighting and buoyancy in the variety of drysuit materials available. I currently use 18 lbs of lead for my HP tanks and 22 for an Al80 tank. I have heard that some divers add lead when they switch to dry and some use less. What do you think??? Is there a hard, fast rule regarding which materials need more or less lead? Does it depend on other factors?

Thanks for your help and let me know if you need more info.

 

[kelpmermaid]

I don't know about the crushed neoprene suits, but with a shell suit like mine which you saw, I did have to add a few pounds, but not much. How much weight one needs also depends on the undergarments and how much loft they provide. I have recently (like at the end of last season) switched from using my suit to using the bc for bouyancy control, and the retuning of weight and its distribution are still works in progress.

 

[OCdiving Deb]

Thanks for responding Kelpmermaid! I like that the shell you wear is a quick dryer, which also has weight implications when hauling all our wet gear after diving.

Is a shell the same as a tri-lam? If not, can someone tell me the difference? It appears that the choices in drysuits are many and I am trying to find out which will require the least amount of weight compared to what I have been using to date.

 

[scubasean]

I am considering a drysuit purchase after shivering too much during surface intervals this past weekend. I normally dive So Cal in a 7 mm wetsuit and a 5 mm hooded vest. It is very rare that I get cold in the water.

My question is related to weighting and buoyancy in the variety of drysuit materials available. I currently use 18 lbs of lead for my HP tanks and 22 for an Al80 tank. I have heard that some divers add lead when they switch to dry and some use less. What do you think??? Is there a hard, fast rule regarding which materials need more or less lead? Does it depend on other factors?

Thanks for your help and let me know if you need more info.

With my Trilam suit (DUI TLS350) I use roughly the same amount of weight that I used with a 7mm wetsuit (with hooded vest).

 

[spurtill]

With a shell suit the amount of weight you will need will depend on what sort of under suit you use. The crushed neoprene suits and any other type of suits are goinhg to be the same to varying degrees.

Personally i use 4lbs less lead with my dry suit (shell) than i do with my wet suit. Thats using a 100mg under suit. If i use a set of thermals under the under suit i add the 4lbs back on. i do this for 2 reasons (a) to counter the extra buoyancy of the thermals and (b) i usually only uise my thermals in really cold weather so i can add a little more air to my suit to keep the chilly water away

Basically you'll use similar lead with your dry suit as you will with your semi dry, though you may need to add a few extra pouinds initially to counter nervousness as you dive in it for the first few times.