Help me choose, please!

[Teamcasa]

I need to expand my dive wardrobe so that I can dive locally and not just on tropical dive trips. Local = Great Lakes = COLD!

Anyone have any feedback on any of these wetsuits or general advice on whether this will be adequate for diving here, off California (in the plans), Puget Sound, etc., or do I really need to go dry?

Thanks!

Believe me when I tell you, diving dry will change the way and frequency of your diving forever. You will no longer worry if the water is just to damn cold to dive. You will forget about shivering on the surface intervals and your only real concern will be where to pee. (Pee valves can even solve that.)

My wife has the Whites Fusion and I dive a Catalyst - I doubt I will ever dive California waters in a wetsuit again.

 

[andrethediver]

I don't dive in cold water but I can tell you that I used my Pinnacle Merino-Elastiprene 5mm suit in 81F water on my recent trip to Cozumel and was quite comfortable...I should also note that I wore paper-thin rash guard underneath the wetsuit, so I am guessing that may have resulted in more water getting into the suit preventing me from overheating. Or not.

 

[TSandM]

People DO dive wet in Puget Sound, but the number of people who do it for very long is small. My husband, who has dived here both wet and dry, says that during the first dive, the two are pretty equivalent; it's after that that the dry suit really comes into its own. I personally can't imagine winter diving in a wetsuit. When it is 42 degrees and drizzling, I don't want to peel off a wetsuit and be standing in the cold air in a wet bathing suit, that's for sure!

 

[Scott L]

I don't dive in cold water but I can tell you that I used my Pinnacle Merino-Elastiprene 5mm suit in 81F water on my recent trip to Cozumel and was quite comfortable...I should also note that I wore paper-thin rash guard underneath the wetsuit, so I am guessing that may have resulted in more water getting into the suit preventing me from overheating. Or not.

Sounds like a .5mm wetsuit dive. I would have surely overheated...

 

[potato cod]

Hey, thanks for all the responses (including one PM)!

Lots of good advice to consider. It sounds like dry is favored by most, and I definitely see the appeal. Our LDS sells DUI, and although we are fiercely loyal to the shop, these are outside of our budget at the moment, but I'll check out some of the links & suggestions here and see if we can swing two of these. It is, unfortunately, an expensive summer for us, so I just don't know if we can make this work.

Our LDS does carry an Aqualung SolAFx 8mm semidry suit and the price they've quoted us on two of these is very reasonable. I agree that we might abandon these for drysuits in a few years if we really start diving a lot locally, but I'm afraid if we wait until we find reasonably priced drysuits we'll end up going another summer without diving locally.

Hi Frogman! It would be great to see you and your wife out on a dive this summer. We haven't been out yet because of our exposure protection issues, but hopefully that will be resolved soon and Lake Erie is warming up at bit now.

Cheers!

 

[redwoodcedar]

Dove 50+ dives in cold (Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island) water in 7mm wetsuit, and just found out how comfortable I can be. I just purchased an Aqualung Blizzard 4mm compressed neoprene drysuit and I love it. It comes with a hood and carry bag, and is reasonably priced. With Aqualung kevlar gloves and Pioneer fleece undergarment, wax and talcom powder, was $1116.00cdn before taxes.
Diving dry rocks!