drysuits

[christine]

Hey Ladies!!!!

I thought I'd ask you girls this ? first.........I'm new to diving, love it, But I live in the Northwest, I'm going to NEED a drysuit. I'm little, 5'2 100lbs, All the dry suits look huge. I'm leaning towards a neoprene suit, maybe an Apollo. Do you think this is a wise choice and will it keep me warm and dry.....I 've heard that some neoprene drysuits aren't so dry...Your input would be great!

Thanks,
Christine

 

[diverlady]

I have a 4mil compressed neoprene drysuit and it keeps me dry. Mine is a custom Abyss suit.

What I did find was I needed the latex seals. I originally had the neoprene ones as I thought they would be warmer but with my skinny wrists, the neoprene just could not conform properly so I got wet (tendons on inside of wrist protrude a lot). Same with the neck seal. I switched to the latex seals and now I'm dry.

While the neoprene will provide a bit of insulation for you, it's mainly your undies that will keep you warm.

Diverlady

 

[Kaos]

christine once bubbled...
Hey Ladies!!!!

I thought I'd ask you girls this ? first.........I'm new to diving, love it, But I live in the Northwest, I'm going to NEED a drysuit. I'm little, 5'2 100lbs, All the dry suits look huge. I'm leaning towards a neoprene suit, maybe an Apollo. Do you think this is a wise choice and will it keep me warm and dry.....I 've heard that some neoprene drysuits aren't so dry...Your input would be great!

Thanks,
Christine

A friend of mine who's 5'0" and most likely doesn't weigh more than you uses a basic Extra-small Bare Neoprene suit. As well, many manufacturer (like Whites and Abyss) offer Custom-made options to their suits for approx $100 extra. That might actually be the better option.

 

[FreeFloat]

I'm 5'2" and weigh approximately 118 lbs soaking wet (I'm not kidding, as my dive buddies can attest)

I'm also a wetsuit size 7/8. So if you can picture the proportions (my profile pic has me in a wetsuit currently) I'm pretty sure I'd be looking at a custom suit when/if I decide to go Dry.

 

[Warren_L]

Yes, I for one can attest to the fact that Freefloat is certainly a petite when it comes to sizes ....

One thing to keep in mind with the neoprene drysuits is that there is some compression that takes place at depth and there will be a buoyancy change. With the 7mm neoprene suits, you will have the greatest change in buoyancy with this suit as it compresses at depth and will lose some of its thermal insulating properties.

The compressed 4mm neoprene that diverlady has is not fully compressed neoprene and will still compress a little at depth, and would still have some buoyancy change as well. You can get hypercompressed neoprene (2mm or so) that compresses even less at depth (as it is pretty well fully compressed as it is) and this will have even less buoyancy change as you go down.

The good thing is that the compressed neoprene suits are generally tough as nails and fairly easy to repair. And as others have said before, the insulating factor lies primarily with the undergarments you wear.

Hope this helps.

 

[FreeFloat]

warren_l once bubbled...
Yes, I for one can attest to the fact that Freefloat is certainly a petite when it comes to sizes ....

Tee hee hee........some tanks are taller than I am. Probably weigh more, too.

On a related topic, say I have acquired an older 7mm (I think) non-crushed neoprene drysuit. How would I weight it and how would the weighting compare with the amount I now use for my 7mm wetsuit - more, less, about the same? When I say how do I weight it, are weight belts still used with drysuits or not?

I was thinking about it - I know that diving wet I often need to snug up my belt at depth to prevent it rotating on my body or heaven forbid slipping, but wouldn't that interfere with a drysuit's inflation?

 

[scubagirl15]

Not sure if you have Whites dealers in your area, check out http://www.whitescoldwater.com.

Whites makes an off-the-rack dry suit called Nexus. It's a nylon shell. The advantage of a shell over a neoprene dry suit is weight: the shell is so easy to get into and out of. You will probably fit their XXS (the Nexus comes in unisex sizes)...I know a woman who is just under 5' and about 95 lbs who fits the XXS.

The other advantage of a shell over neoprene is that the shell doesn't compress at depth.

Even if you have to go custom, it's not that much more money, as I think someone else has already pointed out. I recently had myself sized for a custom Whites suit and costed it out. Not much more than off-the-rack. No, I didn't end up getting one...figured I'd rather spend the money and go dive some place warm over the winter...like Belize, for instance! Maybe next year....

 

[Warren_L]

FreeFloat once bubbled...


Tee hee hee........some tanks are taller than I am. Probably weigh more, too.

On a related topic, say I have acquired an older 7mm (I think) non-crushed neoprene drysuit. How would I weight it and how would the weighting compare with the amount I now use for my 7mm wetsuit - more, less, about the same? When I say how do I weight it, are weight belts still used with drysuits or not?

I was thinking about it - I know that diving wet I often need to snug up my belt at depth to prevent it rotating on my body or heaven forbid slipping, but wouldn't that interfere with a drysuit's inflation?

Just like when you got your wet suit, you will have to do a weight check. Whether you use more or less weight than with your wetsuit, it really depends, but I suspect that you will have to use more. Consider that if your drysuit is 7mm and your wetsuit is also 7mm, you still have to account for the buoyancy of the air space inside the drysuit that you don't have with your wetsuit.

I'm not sure if you dive all the time with a steel tank (I don't remember if those tanks you had on the weekend were your tanks or rentals), but if you use steel tanks with your drysuit, that should reduce the amount of lead you will have to wear on a belt. And yes, you would still need the weight belt, in all likelihood. I would highly suggest a drysuit course or some instruction before using your drysuit too.

 

[Diver Lori]

One of my dive buddies is 5'2" also. At one time she was the shortest woman to get a DUI TLS350. She is able to wear both DUI and Abysmal off the "rack" so to speak.

I've attached a picture of her from earlier this month in her Abysmal drysuit. We sunk a Christmas tree in Gilboa Quarry in Northwest Ohio.

 

[FreeFloat]

warren_l once bubbled...

Just like when you got your wet suit, you will have to do a weight check. Whether you use more or less weight than with your wetsuit, it really depends, but I suspect that you will have to use more. Consider that if your drysuit is 7mm and your wetsuit is also 7mm, you still have to account for the buoyancy of the air space inside the drysuit that you don't have with your wetsuit.

I'm not sure if you dive all the time with a steel tank (I don't remember if those tanks you had on the weekend were your tanks or rentals), but if you use steel tanks with your drysuit, that should reduce the amount of lead you will have to wear on a belt. And yes, you would still need the weight belt, in all likelihood. I would highly suggest a drysuit course or some instruction before using your drysuit too.

I wouldn't consider diving my drysuit without some form of instruction on it, be it from a scuba instructor or LDS.

Yes, I dive steel tanks - I have dived aluminum but haven't really got to the point where their inherent positive buoyancy when close to empty is a factor. Generally speaking I can last as long on a steel 72 as most similarly-experienced divers do on an 80....... plus I don't have to nurse the head-lump from constant collisions with the first stage

I need to try out an AL63 sometime - I've had a couple of buddies offer to loan me one of theirs - unfortunately it looks like it won't be til next year now (read: warmer water).


Oh, the pain of being vertically challenged mind you I can swim through tinier spaces than some other divers...............