I think WetSuits are Safer and Better than Dry suits for the vast majority of divers

[Tigerman]

It doesn't matter if you have "wicking" base layers and a thinsulate/polartec/gore-tex 400gm jumpsuit. If you sweat profusely enough like I do, you will saturate your own undergarments with perspiration and become hypothermic. The only way to counter this is with an active battery powered heated & waterproof undergarment --see medical condition hyperhydrosis

Try wool.. It can be soaked in water and still keep you warm

 

[danvolker]

Here's a guy who doesn't get it. The Government can't tell me what to do, but *I* will tell you how to dive. You're making the exact same argument as Obamacare and asking people to pay to dive on your boat under the I know what's best for you model. Enjoy your hypocrisy and the tourist dollars you should be welcoming to the state of Florida to offset those state income taxes you already don't pay.

You're super-legit, dude.

Like so many of the people in this thread, you don't read well, and you make conclusions that have nothing to do with what you read.

1. I am not FORCING people under penalty of FINES or loss of business, to comply with a corrupt system that will help Socialize America and further destroy REAL Healthcare in America....the key here is I don't force anyone to follow my suggestions.....again my...."suggestions".... Did you read that?
2. I am not talking about Cave Diving or Tech diving, or Diving in cold water as in the PNW or Canada or the Mediterranean ( or what ever places Brits and Fins dive in those latitudes) --and, even though this spans many countries, this is a small number of divers, when compared to the HUGE recreational market that I was making suggestions to.....I made it clear that this was not about you guys in cold water, or caves, etc. It is not always about you...Sorry.
3. Because my ideas diverge from the propaganda machine of DEMA and the Dive Industry at large, you think they are ridiculous...The only thing YOU are going to "Get" is what others tell you. If you don't like this , work on processing what you read a little more thoroughly.

 

[Phil_C]

Sometimes while diving dry in South Florida, I use my rebreather.

Oh NO! as Monty Python would say - "Burn the Witch !"

P

 

[tracydr]

Wetsuits require multiple wetsuits for even small temperature changes which increases costs. I have a trilam and can change layers to account for various temperatures,from tropical to ice diving. Yes, undergarments can be expensive but they can also be very cheap, if you go the REI or Army surplus route. If you're not average sized, you have to order a custom wetsuit. Anybody price those lately? A good one can be as much as $800, not counting accoutrements!
Yes, as, my trilam was expensive and custom but I could have gone the Fusion route. Plus, drysuits usually have a longer lifespan than wetsuits so that also decreases the cost per dive.
Finally, as TSandM was saying about the DCS risk. I watched a DAN video presentation by Neil Pollack, probably very similar information to what she's referring to. If you start the dive with your heater on and it quits, even a very ordinary, recreational profile can carry the risk of DCS. It was very sobering to see the statistics of how many healthy Navy divers got DCS when they started a dive warm and ended the dive wet, even when they dove well within dive table limits.

 

[danvolker]

Now my turn to bite I'm afraid Dan - you seem to have a very limited view and experience of drysuit divers, and as result are making sweeping statements that I just do not recognise from my diving experience. For two weeks each month I dive warm water in the Eastern Med in a wetsuit, for the other two, year round, I dive in the UK and always dive dry.

Phil, We have more divers ( the kind I am making suggestions to--the warm water vacation divers) in one week in Florida, than are likely to frequent your areas in 52 weeks. A "limited view"? You read this as being about you, and it was never about you or the people you dive with...it was about warm water recreational divers visiting Florida or Caribbean in the winter, and of this group, if you saw 200 in wetsuits, there should be 10 to 30 in Drysuits--and maybe another 50 that are considering dry suits...maybe to never act on it, but still thinking about them... Of the ones that get Dry suits, most here will only use them a few times per year. Again, this is NOTHING like what you have in your experience, but this is a reflection of a population of divers exponentially larger than the one you have experience with.

I belong to two UK clubs - total diving membership about 120 divers, we dive year round with no breaks. ALL are trained from the outset to dive dry with proper weighting and trim, and most have good skills - I say most because in any bunch you get some cack handed folk who just don't get it no matter how hard they try. How many have done Fundies ? to my knowledge 2 !

On a UK dive I am likely to have more problems with someone in a wetsuit than a dry suit, and the cold with the inherent problem that adds of increased risk of DCI will cause me more concern than a drysuit diver. Regards - P

Phil, same here....we have many more bad divers in wetsuits, than the number of bad divers in drysuits....of course, only about 3 to 5% of our dive population in January or February would be in dry suits, so this should be a smaller group to worry about

If the bad divers in wetsuits, opted to get dry suits, the result would be reduced abilities in a group that can't afford to get worse.

 

[MMM]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Thread closed while it undergoes some clean-up. Thread re-opened. The split thread can be found here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/su...hritis-infrared-rays-health-care-systems.html Note that you need to "opt-in" to the Surface Interval forum.

Marg, SB Senior Moderator

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[victorzamora]

I think that most of us can agree that a diver with VERY poor skills that intends to dive less than one trip per year and is ONLY diving in extremely warm conditions and in very shallow water should not be diving a drysuit. What we are CLEARLY disagreeing with Dan Volker about is this type of diver is "the vast majority" of divers. Not only that, it is absolutely irrational to believe that these divers (ones with <1 trip per year with poor skills, diving only in extremely warm conditions in shallow water) would be interested in purchasing EITHER a drysuit or wetsuit heater.

Also, thanks for cleaning that up.

 

[nimoh]

Like so many of the people in this thread, you don't read well, and you make conclusions that have nothing to do with what you read.

1. I am not FORCING people under penalty of FINES or loss of business, to comply with a corrupt system that will help Socialize America and further destroy REAL Healthcare in America....the key here is I don't force anyone to follow my suggestions.....again my...."suggestions".... Did you read that?
2. I am not talking about Cave Diving or Tech diving, or Diving in cold water as in the PNW or Canada or the Mediterranean ( or what ever places Brits and Fins dive in those latitudes) --and, even though this spans many countries, this is a small number of divers, when compared to the HUGE recreational market that I was making suggestions to.....I made it clear that this was not about you guys in cold water, or caves, etc. It is not always about you...Sorry.
3. Because my ideas diverge from the propaganda machine of DEMA and the Dive Industry at large, you think they are ridiculous...The only thing YOU are going to "Get" is what others tell you. If you don't like this , work on processing what you read a little more thoroughly.

wouldn't you agree that you are drawing a conclusion here that has nothing to do with what you read?

It seems that you are saying that you are an independent thinker, and everyone that doesn't agree is a blind follower of the masses...but there I go drawing conclusions

 

[Dr. Lecter]

It seems that you are saying that you are an independent thinker, and everyone that doesn't agree is a blind follower of the masses...but there I go drawing conclusions

I cannot help but recall an XKCD here:

Hey, what are the odds -- five Ayn Rand fans on the same train! Must be going to a convention.

 

[undrwater]

I dive with a man who has an aversion to water yet loves to dive (go figure). Regardless of his skill or the water temp, he'll dive dry.

I believe I agree with you Dan, for the most part. There are always exceptionsfof course.