DUI Thinsulate 200 or Ultra 400?

[bertschb]

I dive in Oregon and Washington state and I'm in the process of buying a new drysuit. I've narrowed my choices to a couple of DUI suits but now I'm having trouble deciding which of the DUI Thinsulate undergarments to get.

Does anybody have experience using the DUI Thinsulate 200 or Thinsulate Ultra 400 in Oregon or Washington waters?

 

[sasdasdaf]

I use the 400G in New York waters. It's fantastic and the first time I used it in cold water I was sold. It is very expensive but IMO worth every penny.

I do find that if the water isn't too cold (say 60s) and I am working hard (like in a current), it is possible to get too hot. For this reason, I am in the market for a 200G undergarment... unfortunately more $$$.

A nice side effect of the 400G is it is quite positively buoyant. This is a benefit when diving heavy steel tanks (e.g. doubles) as you might be overweighted otherwise.

 

[bertschb]

Is your DUI Thinsulate 400G the same as the "Thinsulate Ultra 400" in the DUI catalog?

 

[sasdasdaf]

Yes that is the one.

 

[bertschb]

So you have the TLS350 with the Thinsulate Ultra 400. What is the water temp in NY? It ranges from 45-55 in my neck of the woods.

 

[bertschb]

BTW, do you where anything with the Thinsulate Ultra 400?

 

[sasdasdaf]

Yes, I have the TLS350 and 400G and wouldn't do it any other way.

It gets down to the 40s here and lower if you go deeper. I have used the 400G in the high 40s and it was toasty warm. When I came back from the dive, I actually thought the temperature was in the 60s.

You aren't supposed to wear anything under the 400G but sometimes I wear a thin layer of polyester to extend the life of the 400G.

 

[brianw]

I have a DUI 400g suit, wear just a thin turtleneck longsleeve shirt with it and shorts. Once I tried putting a polartec on with the 400G but found I lost alot of the flexibility I had without it because there just wasn't much room to move around under the shell with both the 400G and the polartec. So it works fine with just the 400G under the shell and a light shirt underneath that. I dive in San Diego and we get temps in the high 40's,lows 50's at depth. The 400G works fine in these temperatures.

 

[theskull]

Must also consider how sensitive you are to cold. I use the 200g suit, with just a cycling jersey under it in water temps from 50-70 F. For 35-45 F I also wear a set of polartech cycling tights under it, or use Argon. The 400g is alot of suit, which is great for many folks, but it will just be too warm for alot of us except for in the coldest waters on low effort dives. I am not the toughest dude around, but I am not ultra-sensitive to cold either--YMMV.

theskull

 

[SparkySFD]

You fellas that have the thinsulate undies. How thick are they compared to a polartec undie? I received my new DUI today. I have a DUI polartec suit. The only other undies Im familiar with are Viking undies.