Question Lady drysuit divers, what's your go to diaper brand?

[passedoutwookie]

I'll lead with I am not a lady, but have a lady friend diver who has a question that I am not equipped to answer! She is a relatively new drysuit diver, and has not found a "relief" system that she is confident in yet. She has tried a few different brands of adult diapers, and not been impressed with the performance. She is pretty opposed to the she-pee, so I think we are sticking with diapers unless someone can convince her otherwise. She is 5' 9" and athletically built.

What brand adult diaper have you had the most success with? Any tips or tricks I can pass along to her? Don't be shy, we know you all are wearing something under there!

 

[chthonicly]

None. The she-p is really the only durable solution. There's a knock off now called the dive-p, which some people like, but it has most of the features/bugs as the she-p. Here's a good comparison: She-P vs Dive-P... - ProTec Dive Centers | Cave Diving Playa del Carmen & Tulum, Mexico . They do have a steep learning curve. But once you have it dialed it works well. There is a facebook group which is female only which can help out.

I am often all day in my drysuit and there's no way a diaper will work. Remember some cold water dive boats are tiny and may not have heads, many cold water shore dive sites have no facilities, and people just stay in their suits for the whole day, even if the dives are short. My longest dives are around 3 hours. I bring water with me on the dive, diapers don't work in that situation either as they have a limited capacity. Also drysuit zippers last about ~500 zips, so if you have to unzip a lot, you'll be replacing the zipper more frequently. So the choices for her are either going to be doing short dives with a diaper which will turn into a disaster during the inevitable drysuit flood or biting the she-p bullet. I avoided the she-p for my first year of drysuit diving, but had no other choice when I started cave diving and the reality of 4-6 hours/day of in-water training sunk in.

The tips for the she-p is as follows:

• prep the area (clippers, hair removal, etc) -- skin must be free of lotion and very dry for the adhesive to work best
• if in the US, skinister adhesive is the best for the she-p -- let this dry for about 5 minutes before applying to skin. If the she-p is brand new, do a base coat or two the night before.
• some people use things like kt-tape or thongs on each side to add more support to the sides and top. The adhesive works better with pressure so keeping pressure on the device while putting it on and wearing it helps. The crotch straps on bp/w or sidemount wings are also great for this.
• some people use period underwear to catch small leaks.
• do a squeeze test once you have it on, but before you consider yourself done with the application (eg, see if it keeps a seal by plugging the outlet and squeezing the reservoir, if it can't maintain a squeeze the seal is not water proof)
• A balanced p-valve is preferred. The halcyon p-valve has been frequently reported as working well with the she-p.
• use a quick disconnect.
• if possible, prime the she-p before use at depth and make sure the valve is open. ideally not during a bubble check.
• control the flow, making sure it's not too much at once.
• pee in trim.
• bring backup clothes in case of leaks, esp for the learning period (eg, 1st 20 uses or so).