OP
Matt S.
Contributor
Thanks, lots to think about. The semi-drysuits are appealing due to cost, I'll have to look into them more but most of what I read pushes me to a full drysuit.
Exposure suit choice for cold & warm water diver?
- Thread starter Matt S.
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Scared Silly
Contributor
My first dives were in the PNW. From day one I have dove dry. Anytime the water is below 75 I dive dry. I do not mind being wet nor do I mind being cold but not wet and cold. So in my closest is a dry suit along with several warm suits.
I was fortunate as I was able to borrow a dry suit and gear for a couple of years while doing my early dives. So it gave me time to see if I was going really stick with diving. So the expense of a dry suit was not an issue.
If you decide to go dry there are a few more tasks that you will have to learn both above and below the water.
I was fortunate as I was able to borrow a dry suit and gear for a couple of years while doing my early dives. So it gave me time to see if I was going really stick with diving. So the expense of a dry suit was not an issue.
If you decide to go dry there are a few more tasks that you will have to learn both above and below the water.
I know people DO dive wet in the Sound, but I can't imagine doing it, and I especially can't imagine any enthusiasm for a multi-dive day later in the year than -- maybe -- October.
I have both a trilam and a compressed neoprene suit, and each has its virtues. The trilam is lighter to haul around and dries a little faster, and doesn't have to fit as well. The neoprene is MUCH warmer and has some stretch to it, but it's heavy to lug around (not a problem while wearing it). It's also bulkier by quite a bit, so I have to readjust my harness to go from one suit to the other.
As others have said, it's not expensive to buy a 3 mil suit for the tropics. I know SB's kidspot dove dry for a while on Maui and liked it (and there's still the attraction of peeling off the suit and being warm and DRY), but I've never been willing to make the effort to wad up a drysuit and try to pack it in my luggage. Wetsuits are much more obliging that way.
The other advantage to a wetsuit is that they aren't as fragile -- get a small rip in one, you're still likely to go diving, whereas if you tear a seal, your diving day may be finished. There are ways around that (eg. zipseals), but Bob's saying is still a truism: "All dry suits become wetsuits, and then you get them fixed."
You can get good buys on drysuits if you're patient and diligent. I got my first one for $800 because the shop wasn't carrying the brand any more. Penopolypants just posted that Underwater Sports is apparently offering a new USIA suit for something like $975. My husband got a used High Tide (over $2000 new) for $600, plus what it cost to put new boots on it. Don't write a dry suit off over cost.
I have both a trilam and a compressed neoprene suit, and each has its virtues. The trilam is lighter to haul around and dries a little faster, and doesn't have to fit as well. The neoprene is MUCH warmer and has some stretch to it, but it's heavy to lug around (not a problem while wearing it). It's also bulkier by quite a bit, so I have to readjust my harness to go from one suit to the other.
As others have said, it's not expensive to buy a 3 mil suit for the tropics. I know SB's kidspot dove dry for a while on Maui and liked it (and there's still the attraction of peeling off the suit and being warm and DRY), but I've never been willing to make the effort to wad up a drysuit and try to pack it in my luggage. Wetsuits are much more obliging that way.
The other advantage to a wetsuit is that they aren't as fragile -- get a small rip in one, you're still likely to go diving, whereas if you tear a seal, your diving day may be finished. There are ways around that (eg. zipseals), but Bob's saying is still a truism: "All dry suits become wetsuits, and then you get them fixed."
You can get good buys on drysuits if you're patient and diligent. I got my first one for $800 because the shop wasn't carrying the brand any more. Penopolypants just posted that Underwater Sports is apparently offering a new USIA suit for something like $975. My husband got a used High Tide (over $2000 new) for $600, plus what it cost to put new boots on it. Don't write a dry suit off over cost.
Don't bother trying to get somethign that will work for all conditions, eventually you'll end up buying separate suits anyway - trust me. If I were you I'd go for a drysuit and then pick up a cheap tropical suit for 100 bucks or so. The advantage of the drysuit is that once you get out of the water you're still dry and warm and don't have to bother with all that getting changed business which I can tell you, in the winter is pretty horrible. The advantages of getting a wetsuit though are that a) you can pee in it and b) in the summer months you won't cook to death before getting in the water.
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