Durability for NW shore diving?

[pauldw]

I'm getting back into diving, and my favorite place to dive is the northwest US coast, which typically involves shore diving off of rocks covered with mussels and barnacles and the like. It's doable in two layers of wetsuit, but I'd like to save for a drysuit if it's feasible. The thing is, I don't want to buy a drysuit and have the rocks I'm sliding off of or climbing up onto physically shred the thing. Or even put a small hole in it. Does anyone have an opinion on the durability of particular dry suits for these conditions?

 

[Seaweed Doc]

Others will tell you why I'm wrong (it's the internet, after all!) but in my clearly errant opinion, a neoprene wetsuit works pretty well. It's also easy to patch. I'm using an Apollo suit at present, and several instructors in the shop I work with have the same model. The only drag is the zipper's on the back, so I need a pal to zip it up.

I've used trilam, and they're fine. In one I did have a catastrophic neck seal failure i (that was a quick and cold end to a dive) once, but it was a 1990's era, cheaply-constructed suit. I used a decent trilam from 2006-2015 or so, but got tired of replacing the seals. If you could get trilam with a neoprene seal, I think you'd have most issues covered. (However, I'd definitely get attached boots.) On our rough coasts, I worry most about the drysuit seals. (I also work around a lot of exposed rebar and stuff, so some added hazards around my hands/wrist seals.) You'd have to fall hard on a really sharp object to cut through trilam. Abrasions can always be patched over before they leak.

 

[pauldw]

Thanks. Yeah, that's one problem with dry suits. I usually dive alone, so if I have someone with me for shore support then they could zip a back zipper closed on a dry suit, but otherwise it could be a problem.

 

[kelemvor]

You can get trilam "bag" drysuits like my Bare HDC Tech suit that has kevlar on places likely to see wear. For example, the knees. Alternatively, you can get neoprene drysuits that are supposed to be kind of "the best of both worlds." I think the neoprene drysuits are generally cheaper, and the toughened suits with cordura and kevlar the most expensive. Mine was custom cut and had every option and I paid around $3,500.00 for it. I did get the silicone seals, and "quick change" rings. I think silicone is supposed to be more comfortable (that's all I've used so I have no frame of reference). The rings make a seal change into a 5 minute or less job that you can do at the dive site. No fuss, no muss.

 

[runsongas]

crushed neoprene would be easier to repair, but not many options for self donning (i think DUI might be it). for trilam, get a kevlar reinforced one if you are worried about durability. lots of options for front zip these days and you can get a replaceable seal system which makes seal replacement easy. you can get extended length gloves/hood to help cover the seals for durability.

maybe look at an ursuit heavy light cordura FZ.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I'd definitely recommend a tri lam where the zipper comes from your left shoulder down to the right waist.

If you have a dry glove system (or are considering it), I'd suggest Kubo as I have yet to hear anyone talk having leaking issues.

I dive a DUI CLX450 with zipped gloves and integrated boots. The boots are a little thin in that I can feel the rocks, but durable enough. The zipped gloves make it a pain to get off. I've injured both shoulders, so I need help getting out.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I like Cordura for shore entries/exits. I have a Waterproof and a Diving Concepts suit that I bought just for rocky shoreline dives.
Products - Waterproof

 

[rjack321]

There are very few Pacific NW shore dives that require any kind of rocky scrambling. Salt creek is really the only one in WA where you might end up on your knees due to surge or barnacles. Lots of people dive trilam suits here for hundreds of leak free dives with no durability issues.

 

[ORsolodiver]

I use a Bare XCS2. Crushed neoprene. Can't say that I have to do a lot of scrambling over rocks but it has been very durable over the several years I have used it. I also dive alone a fair amount and really recommend the diagonal front zipper. Easy to don and doff solo.