Goliath needs a dry suit

[1982shawn]

Sooooo, I have signed up for the first three TDI courses, Intro to Tech, Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures. During the interest meeting the instructor was adiment that a dry suit was needed. The training will be done at Millbrook Lake in Northern Virginia. I am a big guy, i have called close to 20 dive shops to see if anyone rents dry suits in my size and nobody does. 3 shops even suggested the rent to own idea, but since i dont know what kind of suit i would like i dont want to jump into the rent to own method. There is a DUI demo day at Dutch Springs PA, in May, but the instructor has said the Quarry work will be over by that time. I have been to the bottom of cold Quarries many times in very cold water and after looking back through my dive logs the temps have varied from 42-50 F. I do not get cold easily, in the winter i leave the heat in my house at 50 and would leave the A/C at 50 in the summer if it would cost so much to cool the house. I think I can make it through the training without a drysuit and just buy one after the demo day in May when i get to try out a few different kinds. I'd like some ideas and opinions from those that have been doing this much longer than me about what I should do. I'd really like some input from other big guys that have had the same problems. With the fact that i do not get cold easily and sweat very easily a drysuit that stays cool on the "warm/moderate" days would be preferred. I have read some complaints that the crushed neoprene drysuits get hot quickly.

 

[Imla]

I am not familiar with the TDI courses, but what is the reason for the instructor to be adamant about a drysuit?
I know in GUE one of the reasons are redundancy in regards to buoyancy. Could this be one of the reasons?
What _is_ your size? Maybe folks here can give you advice on which suits and sizes to start trying? (Ie. height, weight and chest/hip measurements)

 

[1982shawn]

I am waiting for a reply from the instructor but i believe it is a combination of the cold and buoyancy redundancy.

Ah, I forgot to add my measurements in the initial posting. I am 6'6" tall weigh 400 lbs, have a 60" chest, 44" waist, not sure of hips will measure later, and a 34" inseams.

 

[decompression]

As you progress into these types of courses that have longer bottom times, deeper depths and complex task loading, the use of a dry suit is paramount.
1. Your body needs warmth to assist with task loading underwater (ascent strategies, nav, deco, lost gas etc). Also with decompression.

2. A thick wetsuit in deep water will kill you. You should be diving a balanced rig and your instructor should show you why and how. If not, let me know and I will.

3. Contingency buoyancy incase of wing failure.

You are definitely not an "off the rack" size (me too). So finding a used suit for low bucks could be difficult. The only one, off hand I can think of is a whites fusion 4xl. So it maybe custom suit or rentals if possible. Best of luck and enjoy your courses.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tbone1004]

I think you're in custom suit world, fortunately they aren't too difficult to come by or that expensive.

I'm 6'4", 280. 54" chest, 38" waist, 32" inseam. Not all that big, but an odd dimension, so nothing off the rack works.

Deco has it right on the reasons you should have one, you shouldn't be doing those kind of dives in a wetsuit, especially in those temperatures. If it was warm that's one thing, but not in those temps at those depths. Call Dive Right in Scuba, they are drysuit wizzes and will be able to walk you through the selection process. I would recommend a trilam suit over neoprene since you get hot easily, I'm in the same boat for that. The USIA Techniflex custom cut to you with a P-valve *you're an idiot if you buy a suit without one btw*, it should be under $1800 with undergarments. Less than half the cost of a comparable DUI btw. I dive a Rofos for cave country, similar to the TLS350, but would not recommend that type of suit for a lot of wreck penetration, the full cordura suits are a bit more durable for that. The Techniflex is a very well built suit and DRiS will take care of you. Nice thing with USIA is all suits are built to order which is why custom sizing isn't all that expensive, and they're made in USA.

 

[dbulmer]

To the OP,
You'll probably hate me for saying this but ... if I were you I'd sort out your drysuit requirements long before you start your training. That might mean postponing the training for a wee while - perhaps a talk to to your instructor might help as a ds is a big investment and a poor fitting suit will hinder your training.

 

[barilhu]

I agree with dbulmer. Drysuit diving is very different from wetsuit diving, and you should be very familiar with your drysuit before you start your other training. Intro tech is task loading, don't add your drysuit on top of that.

 

[Mr.X]

If you signed and paid for three tech courses - I think its incumbent on the instructor to have a private discussion with you regarding choices in equipment beyond some type of group discussion and intro. A custom drysuit is nowhere in the neighborhood of being inexpensive....as is the complementary gear needed for tech courses.

Mr. X - IANTD/NAUI tech instructor

 

[1982shawn]

Thanks for the input everyone. After thinking about it all day and all of last night, im am heavily leaning towards putting off the classes until i have sorted out the drysuit issue.

Decompression, you said "a thick wetsuit in deep water will kill you" can you elaborate more on this? I am curious what you mean.

tbone1004, the USIA suits do look nice, though i am going to wait until the demo day to see what type of suit i like. What full cordura suit would you recommend?

 

[tbone1004]

Thick wetsuits at depth cause you to become seriously overweighted which puts strain on your wing and makes your whole rig unstable, combined with losing most of their insulating quality. Drysuits retain their same buoyancy at 3' that they do at 300, same with their insulative qualities. At those temps and the depths required for AN/DP, you're going to be putting some very serious thermal loading on your body and you will be legitimately hypothermic by the end of the class in a wetsuit. Cold adds to your risk of DCS, so there's also that, big part of why commercial divers in those temps usually wear hot water suits.

the demo day will only have DUI drysuits, and they start around $2500 without a P-valve and without custom cutting, from DUI that is usually at least another $500 for the custom cut, and generally around $200 for p-valve. They also use idiotically expensive zip seals that are proprietary and about 5x the cost of normal seals. Also the odds of you actually able to get into one of the suits is going to be pretty much 0 since none of their stock sizes are anywhere close to your size, you'd never get in it. All you would get to do is touch and feel the difference between the polyester lightweight suits that we use for cave diving and warm water stuff, and the full cordura ones that are usually used for wreck penetration.

Luckily most drysuits are all about the same as long as they are of the higher quality brands and fit you properly. You really need to call the guys at DRiS and talk to them about what you are looking for in a suit and give them a budget. You won't be disappointed. They are one of the few shops that have a wide selection of suits and the experience to guide you in the right direction. Most other shops only sell one brand and don't stock many if any. Give them a budget and the type of diving that you're wanting to do and they can put you in the right suit.

Also may be worth a call to Northeast Scuba Supply to see if John has some in stock that might fit as a rental. Bit of a drive, but may get you out of the bind you're in. Drysuits aren't all that difficult to learn how to dive if you're fundamentals are there, but with under 100 dives, it may be a bit too much task loading.