Excessive sweating in my Fusion drysuit

[HenrikBP]

am thinking about getting the Fourth Element base layer the review are great.

I have no experience with the Fourth Elements base layer, but I wear Under Armor Heat Gear long underwear under my Fourth Elements Arctic undergarments. Works very well for me. The Arctic will feel damp when I get out of the suit, but the UA is relatively dry, and I've yet to feel wet or cold.

I think any of the new moisture transporting base layers would work fine. Your local outdoor store might be a good first place to look. I would recommend relatively tight (stretchy) fitting base layer for easier/quicker moisture transportation.

Henrik

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Neoprene suits by nature of the fabric, have water proof shells that also insulate. That keeps the inner surface a bit warmer and tends to reduce condensation on the inner surface, so you do get a bit less condensation in them when jumping into cold water.

They however can feel clammier as you need less undergarments in them so there is less to soak up sweat, etc.

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The Fusion, because it has an outer layer that soaks up water has will have some evaporative cooling going on once it is wet and you are back out of the water. This means two things:

1. Pre-dive, the suit will be a lot cooler to wear until you get in if you get it wet early in the process - either jump in the water for a minute or so, or wet it down once it is zipped with a gallon of water you bring along for that purpose.

2. For the same reason, post dive, some cooling between dives will occur. This could be good (if it's hot out) or bad (if its cold out.) If it is hot, stay in the shade, let the breeze evaporate the water and collong will occur as it will draw heat from the suit to provide the energy needed for the phase change of the water. If it is cold, wear a boat coat or rain suit to limit evaporation as much as possible.

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Also, the Fusion is mostly black and absorbs a lot of heat in the sun light. Keep the suit as cool as possible and in the shade prior to putting it on - otherwise you start out hot before you even get the suit on. That is important as the Fusion is work to put on - much like pulling on a full body set of nylons - more work than the average trilam suit.

To make it easier to put on:

1. Spray the inside of the suit with sailkote if you have the older less slick black inner surface (the newer grey surface is supposed to be slicker). Spraying it about every 10-20 dives seems to work fine.

2. Use talc on the inner surface of the seals.

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All of the above suggestions should get you to the water a bit cooler.

 

[TSandM]

I think you've already gotten some good information about using a wicking layer. I do use the 4th Element dry base, and it works very well, and definitely improved my warmth during the dive (without adding any need for weight, which was nice!)

Seals need to be snug, and I think I'd describe it as being a bit uncomfortable on land, but unnoticeable in the water. If you put your wrist seals on and your hands puff up or turn purple, the seals are too tight. But if you can easily get your hands through them, they are almost certainly going to leak in the water. One tip for donning seals more easily is to coat the inside of them with Seal Saver before putting your hands through. The extra lubrication helps a lot, and you don't end up with talc all over everything.

 

[Peter_C]

There was a thread in the NorCal section just on this issue. Of course it is a few pages back by now.

We all have to dress quickly and efficiently and the advice above about getting in the water is a good one. Of course it is not always feasible.

I have to wear a lot of undergarments to keep me warm on longer dives. Being cheap I just use fleece pants and a fleece sweatshirt with thick socks under my 400g undies. The Fusion barely allows my undergarments to fit and actually makes doffing pretty hard.

Oh I didn't see it mentioned before, but performing a fog dance is very important part of the packing ritual the night before diving

 

[fisheater]

In addition to the above advice, I think that you'll find less of a problem as you gain more experience. There's a certain nervousness in learning to dive a drysuit and that can lead to excessive sweating. Also, you'll get better and more efficient at suiting up with less physical effort and less time.

As for base layers, I've found that UnderArmour Base 2.0 does an excellent job of keeping my skin dry. Well, drier.

You'll always have some sweat and moisture in your "dry" suit. What you shouldn't have is "cold" in your dry suit.