First time Dry suit buyer needs help!

[charlieo]

Justin,
I have an O'Neil Neoprene suit. Bouyancy wise it can be a pain in less than 30 feet of water, deeper it's no problem. If you are doing shallow dives you can get away with light underwear. If you are past 60ft you will need the same underwear as the shell suits. When you combine the thickness of the suit at the surface and the underwear, you will need a lot of lead to decend. If I have nothing but shorts and T-shirt under the suit I need 24 pounds of lead in fresh water with a Zeagle ranger and single tank. I'm 5'10", 160 pounds. I've worn as much as 30 pounds of lead. You won't like all that lead on a weight belt. If you are diving doubles, BP, wings Etc. the weight of the equipment helps cut down on the amount of lead you must wear.
The advantage of a neoprene drysuit is it's cheap. Rarely mentioned but true, is that you are streamlined. This is a basis suit. Like many of the folks on the diving boards, it I knew then what I know now I would have done things differently.(Maybe, I have two sons and a wife, they all dive, so cost is a factor) I'll dive the O'neil for another year or so and then get a different suit.

 

[Genesis]

What if you dive four or five times a week? It's nice to wash them out and give 'em a chance to dry out between uses.
And you know when one suit gets sent out for repairs, that's the time the back up suit has a neck seal tear open...

A Trilam will dry in a couple of hours. Mine is bone-dry by morning.

I could see it if you had a crushed neoprene though.

I have two, a CNSe as a backup, and a TLS350 as my "primary." The CNSe has yet to be used, but having it there means I don't miss a day (or more!) of diving. I got a REAL good deal on the CNSe; couldn't pass it up.

Seals can be changed in a couple of hours, tops, by yourself if you're at all handy, including enough time to make sure the cement is dry. What's more problematic is a leak/rip that requires you to send the suit in for repair.

 

[hex92]

Justin: I am about to go dry too. And after alot of reading here on SB I have settled on the bare Nex-Gen. I just need to get my finances settled after the holidays and buy it. You say you want to spend $650 not including undergarments check these two sites:
This appears to be a LDS in Canada. Very helpful folks that answer emails quickly. Total Bare package (Including undergarments) for $900 Canadian (~$666 US)
http://www.divesource.com/new/prod.html?id=376

These guys don't answer emails and cost slightly more. Same package
Divers WHolesale

Hex92

 

[padiowsi]

I bought a BARE Nex Gen suit from Divetank.com and love it. I can use it in extremely cold water by adding more layers on underneath. My brother took it to the Galapagos last year and loved it by the fact that it was a light weight drysuit. I have the trek boots that came with it as well I bought the dry gloves. It is holding up great after a year of hard diving and the company seems to stand behind their warranty. QUOTE]