first dry suit

[RJP]

so the option remains to either get a dry suit OR use a lift bag (which is far from a best practice and is actually frowned upon but is better than nothing)

Why do you keep suggesting that "everyone frowns" at this? It's the recommended approach for redundant buoyancy in cases where the diver isn't diving a drysuit or their drysuit fails. (Recommended... after diving a balanced rig, of course.)

 

[geoff w]

I love my DUI TLS 350 and would replace it with the same exact drysuit if it had to, and it's my first drysuit. It's light, flexible, easy to get in and out of by myself, comfortable and dry. It's probably outside your budget. DUI recently bought OMS, and is making the OMS suits in San Diego along with the DUI suits. They're very similar, but no customization like DUI, and look to be a fabulous economy-focused drysuit. Definitely check them out. The DUI web site also has a listing of bargain drysuits, either demo / used, or ones that came back because a customer didn't want it (some brand new). If there's one that fits you, it's a total no brainer. Also, depending on where you are, check out the DUI demo days to try several to get an idea what all the tradeoffs are so you are better informed when you go to actually buy a drysuit

My LDS sells a lot of Bare drysuits, and people seem pleased with them. They're on sale right now for huge savings. PM me if you want contact info. It will probably come in around your budget

Besides the drysuit, you'll need decent undergarments, especially if you're somewhere cold. You can spend a lot of $$ on good warm undergarments, so don't forget to factor that into your budget. Seller rondel101bjrr on ebay has very economical undergarments that are decent quality

 

[Yoyoguy]

Why do you keep suggesting that "everyone frowns" at this? It's the recommended approach for redundant buoyancy in cases where the diver isn't diving a drysuit or their drysuit fails. (Recommended... after diving a balanced rig, of course.)

correct me if im wrong, and I am wrong a lot as I am a new diver, BUT ive been told by many tech divers, DIR divers and others (all on this scubaboard) that lift bag as back up buoyancy is no longer a practice and is only given as advice if there is simply no other option. They basically told me to either buy a dry suit OR limit my deep dives, unless I consistently practice using a lift bag as a buoyancy device on a routine bases to make it second nature in an emergency because we all know that it is one thing to "know" what you need to do in an emergency and quite another to "DO" what you need to do in an emergency.

 

[victorzamora]

the issue is neither trim nor is it the BCd/wing being full...its IF the wing or BCD should fail, there would be NO way for you to swim up that amount of weight. I dive 7mm one piece. I need 8lbs lead, plus 12lbs between my backplate and my 6lb weighted STA. That's 20lbs. Now add in 4lbs for your 1st/2nd stage regulator set-up. Now we are at 24lbs extra weight. Then factor in all other objects which may be negatively buoyant and finally if the failure happens at the start of your dive, even an aluminum 80 is about 2lbs negative. So say 26+ pounds which you now need to swim up (aint going to happen unless you are a true athletic swimmer). This is why it is recommended to have a second buoyancy source (one reason why dual bladder wings came out but people are against those as well). so the option remains to either get a dry suit OR use a lift bag (which is far from a best practice and is actually frowned upon but is better than nothing)

You are VERY wrong here, Yoyo. It's a mistake people FREQUENTLY make and it drives me bonkers. If you are weighted right (not always an easy option in tech), you should only EVER have to swim up the compression of your suit plus the weight of unbreathed gas in your tank. The amount of lead you wear is inconsequential. If you are weighted right, you would be neutral with an empty (or nearly empty) wing and drysuit at 15ft for your safety stop. You will NOT be 28lbs negative. You shouldn't be 28lbs negative at depth in a thick wetsuit that has compressed aggressively.

I dive very negative at the beginning of dives because I'm carrying quite a bit of gas on my and I'm diving heavy tanks. Your AL80 has about 5lbs of gas in it, and your suit wouldn't lose a ton. I'm carrying 30lbs of gas on many of my dives. I'm not including weights of tanks, or weights of my stainless fin straps or weight of my GoPro. You needn't be including the amount of lead you carry because you're not taking into account how much floaty crap you're carrying. My guess? About 20lbs of floaty crap if you're weighted right.

 

[Yoyoguy]

You are VERY wrong here, Yoyo. It's a mistake people FREQUENTLY make and it drives me bonkers. If you are weighted right (not always an easy option in tech), you should only EVER have to swim up the compression of your suit plus the weight of unbreathed gas in your tank. The amount of lead you wear is inconsequential. If you are weighted right, you would be neutral with an empty (or nearly empty) wing and drysuit at 15ft for your safety stop. You will NOT be 28lbs negative. You shouldn't be 28lbs negative at depth in a thick wetsuit that has compressed aggressively.

I dive very negative at the beginning of dives because I'm carrying quite a bit of gas on my and I'm diving heavy tanks. Your AL80 has about 5lbs of gas in it, and your suit wouldn't lose a ton. I'm carrying 30lbs of gas on many of my dives. I'm not including weights of tanks, or weights of my stainless fin straps or weight of my GoPro. You needn't be including the amount of lead you carry because you're not taking into account how much floaty crap you're carrying. My guess? About 20lbs of floaty crap if you're weighted right.

sorry but I and others would disagree with you because im talking about a 7mm WETSUIT not dry suit. I need to wear 20lbs of weight to get my wetsuit down. This is 12lbs backplate and weighted STA and 8lbs lead. Please enlighten me on the floaty stuff? The wetsuit loses ALL its buoyancy at about 100ft which means your wing is now lifting ALL or MOST of the weight. so you and your suit are now neutral. Now take the rig...the harness...neutral...the wing...neutral. Lights, tend to be just a smidge negative. Bolt clips...negative. Lead negative. Where is all this positive buoyancy you are speaking of? Now try and swim all this up? There are many people on here who have stated this fact. Yes I am new and yes I could be wrong again, but I think this is simple physics here unless im missing something? and I never said you need to hold 26 pounds up at the surface. its at 100ft deep at the start of a dive you must worry about.

Ive actually practiced this this past weekend at 80ft and when my wing was completely emptied, it was VERY difficult to swim it up to 60ft where my suit finally started helping me float up again.

 

[victorzamora]

sorry but I and others would disagree with you. Please enlighten me on the floaty stuff? The wetsuit loses ALL its buoyancy at about 100ft. so you and your suit are now neutral. Now take the rig...the harness...neutral...the wing...neutral. Lights, tend to be just a smidge negative. Bolt clips...negative. Lead negative. Where is all this positive buoyancy you are speaking of? Now try and swim all this up? There are many people on here who have stated this fact. Yes I am new and yes I could be wrong again, but I think this is simple physics here unless im missing something? and I never said you need to hold 26 pounds up at the surface. its at 100ft deep at the start of a dive you must worry about.

You're the floaty stuff. Your wetsuit doesn't actually lose ALL of its buoyancy. It loses "much" of its buoyancy at 100ft. The physics is there, and it's simple: you don't add up all of the negative stuff on you, you weight yourself properly (if possible) and then all you're swimming up is wetsuit compression plus unbreathed gas in tanks.

 

[Yoyoguy]

You're the floaty stuff. Your wetsuit doesn't actually lose ALL of its buoyancy. It loses "much" of its buoyancy at 100ft. The physics is there, and it's simple: you don't add up all of the negative stuff on you, you weight yourself properly (if possible) and then all you're swimming up is wetsuit compression plus unbreathed gas in tanks.

well then I must be a very weak swimmer because as I stated ive tried this and found it SUPER difficult at 80ft to swim up let alone 100ft(which I have not tried)...

 

[kwinter]

1. That's what drop weights are for. You need the extra weight to submerge, but it's just dead ballast at depth. Clip it off and you can lose a lot of air in your wing.
2. Double bladder wing for wetsuit diving is MUCH better than using a lift bag for redundant lift. And a lot cheaper than a drysuit.


iPhone. iTypo. iApologize.

 

[tbone1004]

Victors point was that if your suit only takes 20lbs to sink, then it is only 20lbs + weight of gas that you have to swim up. You should be able to kick up at least 10lbs without fins. 20lbs with fins is not fun but possible and that assumes total wing failure which is somewhat rare, you can usually get a few pounds in there. The important bit is to make sure that your total ballast doesn't exceed the wetsuit, which is a balanced rig. That also said, you shouldn't need 20lbs to sink that wetsuit, that sounds high...

 

[maj2]

ScubaPro makes a neoprene suit in your budget, but you'd run into the same compression problems with it that you have with your wetsuit.

I have one of those ScubaPro EverDry suits. Got it substantially on its price point, but also the recommendation of a number of local instructors who also used it. I liked the suit, but loved it even more a year or two later once I had the stock wrist seals for wet gloves replaced with a Si-Tech dry glove system. Most of the instructors who recommended it it have also since upgraded the suit to dry gloves.

I do not see any scenario now where I would go back to wet gloves for any dives where I would use the drysuit.

Keep an eye on what the total of future upgrades might be versus the cost of buying a suit with those upgrades from the start. That is when the axiom about making your second purchase your first really comes into play.