Is dry suit worth it?

[Doc Harry]

Dry suits are the way to go.

Don't let Lobzilla's experience sway your opinion, these are not the words of an experienced dry suit diver, these are the words of someone who doesn't know how to use a dry suit properly.

You can do anything in a dry suit that you can do in a wet suit, and you will be warmer and more comfortable than if you were in a wet suit.

Experienced dry suit divers prefer to go dry even in moderate temperatures. I dive dry when the water is 75 degrees or cooler. During inclement weather (wind, rain), I have even gone dry when the water was 80 degrees. While others are shivering during the surface interval, I was toasty warm.

I love the flexibility of the trilaminate suits. Not only is it easy to move around in a trilam suit, but you can wear an infinite variety of undergarments to suit the temperature. I can wear everything from a skin to a snowmobile suit underneath, depending on the water temp.

Oh, yeah, a trilaminate suit drys in minutes.

...No matter how much air I pumped in the suit, the bottom (while floating horizontally) was always pushing against me.

At some point the crotch squeeze got so annoying that I had to do the 'grab, pull, shuffle, and tuck' routine under water.

I know that I have to go dry here in New England sooner than later but I now understand why experienced folks that have multiple drysuits dive wet when conditions allow.

Buoyancy and trim was not too hard to get back under control but the ability to rotate to ANY position and 'hang' there is gone. Horizontal is a neutral equilibrium with the right weighing. Feet straight up is absolutely stable, kinda fun to practice, but pretty useless. Feet down leaves you with squeezed legs and a puffy chest or squeezed all over if you vent. Anything in between is unstable which means you quickly end up feet up or down if you do nothing against it.
...

 

[SelkieDVM]

You might already be aware of it, but if you can make in down to Rawlings next weekend DUI is doing their DOG Days rally there. Personally I love my Fusion but a lot of people love DUI as well.

One thing I've found diving dry off NC, I can sometimes get a little quesy on a pitching boat with the small amount of extra wrestling involved getting the Fusion on. However, if I just take a couple deep breaths and look up at the horizon for a moment it passes. May not be an issue for you though.

Cheers,
Lilla

 

[TSandM]

Anything one can do in a wetsuit, can be done in a dry suit. I have dived with Uncle Pug, who is known for swimming around in the headstand position (I can't figure out how he does it -- I can GET into the headstand position, but danged if I can SWIM that way.) He does his ascents on his back, and generally regards gravity as irrelevant when diving.

It DOES take a great deal of practice to be that stable in all positions. But I have proof it can be done.

 

[ptyx]

I went to a DUI DOG Rally last weekend with the expectation to be totally blown away and knowing exactly what suit to buy.

Well, it did not happen that way. While the thermal comfort was there I felt like I was laying on a badly wrinkled, firm bed rather than floating freely in the water.

There is no free lunch. A drysuit require some time to get used to and adds some bulk. But then even a wetsuit isn't much fun compared to trunks and a rashguard. If it wasn't for that pesky water temperature...

Buoyancy and trim was not too hard to get back under control but the ability to rotate to ANY position and 'hang' there is gone. Horizontal is a neutral equilibrium with the right weighing. Feet straight up is absolutely stable, kinda fun to practice, but pretty useless. Feet down leaves you with squeezed legs and a puffy chest or squeezed all over if you vent. Anything in between is unstable which means you quickly end up feet up or down if you do nothing against it.

A drysuit in a pool is awkward, as relative pressure differences are very large. As soon as you go below 15ft, you no longer have one end squeezed and the other one ballooning (unless there is way too much gas in your suit).

 

[Crush]

Most respondents love their drysuits. I love mine as my dives are cold.

However, the OP indicated that he might use a drysuit sparingly. I am not sure that a drysuit is for him if this is the case. I am a relatively new diver. I have about 50 dives on my drysuit. The first five drysuit dives were really just getting used to the drysuit. I admit that my lack of experience is a factor in this, but I still prefer diving wet when possible as there is simply less to worry about and I can get lost in my underwater surroundings. Diving dry isn't horrible, but it is more work. Practice makes this work become second nature. To the OP - will you dive frequently enough to allow diving dry to become second nature? I don't know what constitutes "frequently enough" but perhaps one dive day every month?

 

[TSandM]

That's a good point, mpetryk. I think most people who have dry suits slowly use them more and more . . . but if you don't dive much in the first place, you may never dive a suit enough to feel really comfortable in it. If that's the case, you might be better off renting heavy neoprene on the occasions when you dive cold water (although heavy neoprene has its own challenges).

 

[deepdvr1]

Buy it and never look back! You can wear it in any temperature of water. I have dove my drysuit in 34-85 degree water. And if you take care of it, it will last much longer than any wetsuit!

 

[RoyN]

If you can't pay the drysuit all at once, get on a payment plan, it will make diving so much comfortable and easy. Doesn't matter which brand either, dui, pinnacle, or bares too.

 

[SeaHound]

Most respondents love their drysuits. I love mine as my dives are cold.

However, the OP indicated that he might use a drysuit sparingly. I am not sure that a drysuit is for him if this is the case. I am a relatively new diver. I have about 50 dives on my drysuit. The first five drysuit dives were really just getting used to the drysuit. I admit that my lack of experience is a factor in this, but I still prefer diving wet when possible as there is simply less to worry about and I can get lost in my underwater surroundings. Diving dry isn't horrible, but it is more work. Practice makes this work become second nature. To the OP - will you dive frequently enough to allow diving dry to become second nature? I don't know what constitutes "frequently enough" but perhaps one dive day every month?

Well ... I am guesstimating that my dry suit would get 10 - 15 dives a year if I am using my wetsuit for summer diving. My ice diving fantasies aside, this is where I would like to dive ...

1. Great Lakes
2. Channel Islands
3. Puget Sound
4. Bermuda (during winters when the viz is 150)

If anyone has done these dives in a 7 mm + wetsuit, I would love to hear their experience. The coldest I dived was 60 I believe and this was in a 3mm full plus 3 mm shortie. I could have been warmer ...

 

[SeaHound]

if you can't pay the drysuit all at once, get on a payment plan, it will make diving so much comfortable and easy. Doesn't matter which brand either, dui, pinnacle, or bares too.

you da man!!!