lemke
Contributor
How many weight belts are you going to wear?
Freediving in a dry suit? Need experiences and tips.
- Thread starter walkonmars
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OP
walkonmars
Contributor
Ha, ha. I get it. Not comfortable.
With my 7mm suit I wear around 12-14 lbs, as I recall. I suspect with a USIA laminate, custom fitted I would still need around 16-18 lbs. I don't need to do this a lot. Just the once or twice a year when I drive up to northern California for a few days and free dive. It looks like it is very cumbersome and uncomfortable but possible. I still have a wetsuit but it is getting torn up and I don't want to buy another if I'm drysuit diving, from now on.
With my 7mm suit I wear around 12-14 lbs, as I recall. I suspect with a USIA laminate, custom fitted I would still need around 16-18 lbs. I don't need to do this a lot. Just the once or twice a year when I drive up to northern California for a few days and free dive. It looks like it is very cumbersome and uncomfortable but possible. I still have a wetsuit but it is getting torn up and I don't want to buy another if I'm drysuit diving, from now on.
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keep the wetsuit, or get a decent enough used one and use that as backup to the drysuit, it'll be better in the long run...
More specifically I meant any drysuit used with underwear. I dove a custom DUI compressed CF-200 for years that fit about as tight as you can get and still don with underwear. It was definitely less drag than a Trilam, but worse than a wetsuit.
Non-compressed drysuits that fit tight enough that you cant use underwear suffer the same problem as wetsuits compression and loss of insulation value. The currently available wetsuit materials compress much more than Rubatex G231n that was used on wet and drysuits 10-20 years ago.
phishphood
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Like everyone has pretty much said...not worth it/don't do it. Save the wetsuit for freediving OR sell it and invest in one of the 'more specialized' freediving suits. Take it from my cheap arse, it actually is worth it. You can probably find a used one for a decent price. Yes, you need some sort of lubricant to get the un-lined neoprene on, but even wearing a 2 piece 7mm freedive suit I have more mobility than a 1 piece 7mm scuba suit and stay much much warmer. The suit and a pair of long blades are probably the 2 pieces of gear that will most drastically affect your freediving.
Also remember, even if you're not using a compressed air tank (ie argon or whatever drysuit inflation gas), you are NOT allowed to be diving for abalone with it in the water and will possibly have a hard time explaining possession of abalone and a tank if you get stopped at a check point. Not going to go in to legality of it/probably cause etc in this thread. Just a heads up.
Also remember, even if you're not using a compressed air tank (ie argon or whatever drysuit inflation gas), you are NOT allowed to be diving for abalone with it in the water and will possibly have a hard time explaining possession of abalone and a tank if you get stopped at a check point. Not going to go in to legality of it/probably cause etc in this thread. Just a heads up.
David Wilson
Contributor
As I mentioned in my previous message, the fault may lie with state-of-the-art drysuits being too bulky and overengineered for breathhold diving, though not necessarily so for surface swimming and snorkelling.
In the early days, drysuits were simple watertight coverings worn over light clothing. Here is a recent forum thread started by a modern breathhold diver successfully using a commercially available reincarnation of a simple late-1950s/early-1960s drysuit for a 20-foot descent:
Vintage Double Hose
The answer, as others have said, is to buy a 7 mm freedive suit. Our "freedive" suits have smooth rubber interior which helps to eliminate the flushing and movement of water into and out of the suit. With an attached hood and no zippers, and a double layer over your torso, this wetsuit is extremely warm and since we use the best neoprene available (Yamamoto 39), the suit is still very flexible and strong.
We sell direct to the consumer with no retail store overhead, so our prices are EXTREMELY competitive. For only around $260 you can get a wet suit that is so warm and comfortable, that you may be tempted to leave the bulky drysuit on shore, even when scuba diving.
Yamamoto Reef Camo 2-Piece Open Cell Wetsuit | MAKO Spearguns
We sell direct to the consumer with no retail store overhead, so our prices are EXTREMELY competitive. For only around $260 you can get a wet suit that is so warm and comfortable, that you may be tempted to leave the bulky drysuit on shore, even when scuba diving.
Yamamoto Reef Camo 2-Piece Open Cell Wetsuit | MAKO Spearguns
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walkonmars
Contributor
OK, I get it. No laminate drysuit for free diving. I still have my older step in 7mm wetsuit and the wrists and ankles are tearing up because it is the "titanium" suit without nylon interior. Most of the tearing occurs during removal. It looks like any suit with the slick rubber interior will have this issue. I never tried spraying lubricant inside when trying to remove it. My girlfriend's suit that is a year old feels like a "wetsuit" when you pinch the material. My wetsuit is starting to feel more like a leather shoe. I just didn't want to buy another exposure suit if I was going to buy a $2000 laminate drysuit. I will probably use the wetsuit once a year. Anyone tried to glue wrist and ankle seals onto a wetsuit, yet? 
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