DUI TLS Signature Series: Moisture issues

[Aqua-Andy]

I made a post about this awhile ago. Using the same undergarments, my Fusion always has moisture on the inside but I have never had any with my Bare Nex-Gen.

 

[mark01]

I dive with five guys. We all have dry suits - two of us have TLS-350s. All of us experience exactly what you have described. No worries.

 

[mahjong]

I dive a TLS. I sweat quickly and rather profusely. Added to the sweat is condensation. Sometimes I think I'm wetter inside my drysuit than is the ocean on the outside. I've gotten used to it. And even on a 2nd dive, when I'm soaked on the inside, I tend not to get too cold. Just zip up and go. To keep the moisture as far from my skin as possible, I most often wear multiple efficiently wicking layers: On top, I wear an UA Coldgear compression mock T-neck, a loose fitting mock T-neck made of the same Polartec material, an REI Polartec Powerdry heavyweight baselayer, a ~200g Thinsulate vest (for skiing--tailored for diving), and finally the Bare SB Midlayer (a very dense Polartec material that resists compression and is also a wicking machine). Sometimes the REI baselayer is soaked (I might change this for a dry one between dives; been meaning to try wearing the Thinsulate vest as the outermost layer, in which case the REI baselayer might wick into the SB Midlayer and stay dryer). Almost always the Bare SB Midlayer is moist on both sides. Almost always the inside of my TLS is moist to wet. The Midlayer and the TLS dry very quickly, though, once exposed, esp if the sun is out.

Mark at Superior has been my go-to drysuit guy for the last 12 years. He's great!

 

[pmmpete]

I have used drysuits for many years while whitewater kayaking. My first drysuits were made of non-breathable coated nylon, and depending on how much I was exerting myself and how long I remained in the drysuit, I would get a fair amount of condensation on the inside of the drysuit. Then I started buying breathable drysuits made out of materials like Goretex. Big improvement! You stay really dry inside a breathable dry suit while kayaking. This is particularly nice on multi-day unsupported kayak trips in cold weather, when I wear the same clothing for a number of days in a row both on and off the river. However, breathable fabrics don't work when underwater, because they rely on a higher vapor pressure in the warm moist air inside the dry suit driving the water molecules out through the breathable fabric to the lower vapor pressure in the cool air outside.