I need drysuit advice!

[GONEHAWKN]

Bare Trilam HD Tech for me. custom cut and i love it!!! hey, and they are made in Canada to boot....

Bill

 

[fishb0y]

My Bare HD Tech just came in today... I get to pick it up in the moring.

 

[Narcd_dvr]

I plan on doing mainly cold water reck diving, but down the road I would like to try cave/tech diving, and I don't want a closet full of drysuits (well.....I do, but I can only afford one). Thanks.

Look at Bare's XCD2 Tech dry suit, its made of compressed neoprene, closed to being bulletproof and its a lot cheaper than DUI.

 

[rhephburn3900]

I live in the gta area, buy a bare drysuit, there are no DUI dealers in my area so
when i see most instructors wearing a bare cd4, or a next gen. suit, that should tell you something. I went to a number of experienced divers as well as instructors and asked why they liked their suits. Take this info and make a educated decision.
I now have a bare CD4 With a neo neck seal and dry gloves and use rock boots
Just my two cents worth
R.H.

 

[asmackofjellyfish]

No one has piped up about White's Drysuits, which are very common on the west coast (They are made on Vancouver Island). I just bought the White's Catalyst 360 and so far so good. www.whitesdiving.com

I would recommend that you get out to some LDSs and rent as many different brands as you can. If I could have, I certainly would have, but nobody around me rents xxxl suits!!!

Best of luck.

 

[Hockeynut]

hockeynut recently purchased a pinnacle and very happy, in fact i was looking at the suit for myself today so maybe you can pm him to find out what sort of diving he does, ect

http://www.scubaboard.com/member.php?u=22689

cheers

Like Mrs A said, I'm really happy with my new pinnacle 2. I dive cold mine pits and it is great for that!!

 

[scuba66]

you could look up sea tux dry suits as well i dive here onthe east coast for work from october until may all winter long and i use the seatux gatortech dry suit. never have been cold and i do 4 tanks a day for 100 days a season for sea urchins. its puncture resistant and stretches better than the other materials out there ie no pinches . these suits are made in lanceville british columbia.

 

[tangfish]

As a canadian diver who just did his first dive past 70' this past weekend, It has become all too appearant to me that my next purchase needs to be a drysuit. I am very interrested in the Pinnacle Evolution II, however everyone in these forums seem to say DUI is where it's at. Is this true? Is anyone familiar with both brands? Please help if you can.

Hi Max,

You're definitely starting off right if you're asking questions before getting into a drysuit. It's not an easy thing to choose, since different suits are used for different types of diving, and most people prefer different fits and options on their suits.

If you're hearing that DUI is a great suit, you're getting good advice. There are lots of good suits out there, but in my opinion you can't go wrong with a DUI.

You'll also have to decide whether you want a shell suit or a neoprene one.

I just published my account of choosing, ordering and eventually diving a Signature Series (custom made) DUI CF200x. You can read it here if you're interested:

DUI CF200 Crushed Neoprene Drysuit Review

Cheers and good luck,

Calvin

 

[mahjong]

Ditto all the great advice, but might add one bit: If you will be moving quickly toward penetrating wrecks and cave diving, make durability under extreme conditions (abrasion resistance, etc.) a key consideration. On this score, I would recommend looking closely at the DUI CF200 series--a "very" rugged compressed (or whatever DUI calls it) neoprene. Shell suits are lighter and faster drying and for some perhaps more comfortable, but the CF200 is real tough stuff, and I like the streamlined feel of it over a shell (but a good shell suit that is properly fitted can also be quite streamlined). I too tried to go for one all-purpose drysuit, but right now my closet is as empty as it's ever been with two suits--CF200SE and TLS350 (both DUI). Good luck.

 

[nereas]

As a canadian diver who just did his first dive past 70' this past weekend, It has become all too appearant to me that my next purchase needs to be a drysuit. I am very interrested in the Pinnacle Evolution II, however everyone in these forums seem to say DUI is where it's at. Is this true? Is anyone familiar with both brands? Please help if you can.

DUI does some marketing ploys that put a lot of their suits into circulation. There is nothing really great about them.

Diving Concepts probably makes the best drysuits. These are basic trilaminate shells, some with the DUI-fold and others without the fold at the middle.

I prefer suits without the fold.

I also prefer attached boots, rather than separate rock boots.

Front zippers diagonally along your chest and torso are infinitely more convenient that zippers along your back. You can zip and unzip the front zippers yourself. This issue, although not rocket science, will still result in a lot of debate by others.

For some people, a trilam shell suit is not warm enough. In that case you would need to look at crushed/compressed neoprene drysuits. For others, those suits can be too uncomfortable.

I am lucky because my trilam suit, plus argon, and thick "woolies" (which are not made of wool) work best for me.