Life without a pee valve

[rodrico]

Having just purchased my first dry suite, I am wondering if the urge to pee is the same in a dry suite as it is in a wetsuite when hitting cold water.

In other words, is a P valve a neccesity, or a luxury I can add later.

Spectacular Bladder control

R.

 

[Saskia]

I started off with drysuit diving, and i can never really remember the urge to pee being that bad....now with a wetsuit, i have that urge far more....not sure what it is...maybe just because you're wet? (hearing water makes you wanna pee, maybe being wet too?) but i would say, if can afford the luxury, then go for it!

 

[Colliam7]

Having just purchased my first dry suite, I am wondering if the urge to pee is the same in a dry suite as it is in a wetsuite when hitting cold water. In other words, is a P valve a neccesity, or a luxury I can add later.

Very interesting question! I had my DS for almost four years before adding a pee valve, and I do not believe the same urge overtakes a diver as it does in a wetsuit. Having said that, I also make it a point to empty my bladder before every drysuit dive, and I have recently added a pee valve as I moved to longer tec / deco dives. In 4+ years of DS diving, I have only had to abort a dive once because of a full bladder but that may reflect AMS (aging male syndrome) as much as the essentiality of a pee valve.

 

[Web Monkey]

Having just purchased my first dry suite, I am wondering if the urge to pee is the same in a dry suite as it is in a wetsuite when hitting cold water.

In other words, is a P valve a neccesity, or a luxury I can add later.

Spectacular Bladder control

R.

No matter what you do, it's an add-on, since no suit that I'm aware of comes with one. You can add it at any time.

However, it's a little like getting high-speed internet service: Once you've had it, you don't want to go back.

Also, it's easy to transfer when you get a new suit, so if you buy one, you'll have it pretty much forever.

Terry

 

[Mark Vlahos]

I dove without a pee valve on my dry suit for a while. I used male incontinence pads and they worked fine. You simply need to make sure you put the pad in place before you start a dive and if you use it you will of course need to replace it. I have spoken with others that use baby diapers and they work as well, of course you don't wear the baby diaper, you simply position it properly and... well I don't really need to get into more detail.

I did eventually install one of the new Halcyon balanced pee valves, and I am happy with it. The advantage of the valve over the pad is that it is available for multiple uses during the same and subsequent dives and you don't need to replace it after each use. The disadvantages are cost, and the necessary maintenance / cleaning required to eliminate a possible source of infection. With the valve you simply wear the condom cathater all day and when you put on the suit you connect the catheter to the plumbing of the valve. This does require some practice for the most comfortable routing, but it is really not that big a deal. Of course you need to get the appropriate size condon catheter and it may take several tries to get the correct one.

Mark Vlahos

 

[Paco]

I would think that if your are doing recreational (non-tech) dives using an AL80 and you pee before your dive you should be fine. This is the case with me. I dive dry recrationally and have not felt a need for a pee valve.

 

[texdiveguy]

Buy yourself some adult HD Depends,,they work well. Seriously.

 

[TeddyDiver]

Of course you need to get the appropriate size condon catheter and it may take several tries to get the correct one.

And what sizes they are? konichi wa, guten tag and zamboo:huh:

 

[Rhino_Portland_Oregon]

I been diving a DS for 10 years now, and have never had the uncontrolable urge to pee. Just go before the dive...Now that said while diving in BC, there were a few older guys that were wearing depends....And the funny thing is one said to me "better watch how we do this, because some day you will be doing the same thing" He was dead serious, so maybe a pee valve makes sence.

 

[paulwlee]

As long as you have the proper undergarments you will be warmer in your drysuit, so your need to pee will be less.
Having a pee valve if you need it is very very nice, but if you are only doing single tank dives then you can do without, and depending on the person may be more trouble than it's worth.
My advice is try diving without it for a bit and if you find that you are still sometimes in a hurry to get out of the suit after a dive to pee, only then add the pee valve.