Neoprene drysuit use

[parson63]

A couple of years ago I got drysuit certified to extend my diving through the winter months. I live in south Alabama and plan on using the drysuit in a dive park near Birmingham and the springs in northern Florida. I have used both shell suits and neoprene suits, and frankly I like the neoprene suits better. I have decided to make the leap and buy my own drysuit. Now for the question for you neoprene drysuit pros. If I plan on diving in water in the 40 degree range, do I need to wear undergarments with a neoprene suit? That would be extreme temperatures and only at Alabama Blue Water Adventures. The springs stay a constant 68 degrees year round and I only want the drysuit for when I get out of the water. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Jimmer]

40 degree would absolutely need undergarments.

 

[helimvee]

I have to agree with Jimmer, if you want to stay warm that is. I have a BlackIce and in low to mid 40's with a thin Marks Work Wearhouse fleece I was on the cool side. With no fleece I would have been freezing.

 

[knowone]

Start off with tights and sweats from the childrens or ladies dept
at WalMart.

Layered clothing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I did and haven't looked back, but others have.

Makes me feel mmmnnnneeeeeeuh, like a man.

Oh and you will want these things for more than
when you pull out and consider waste expulsion
too.

Seems to be a bit of it going on at the moment.

 

[fjpatrum]

Did I miss something? You said the water is 68 degrees and you want to know about the undergarments for purposes of air temps?

If the water is that warm, I wouldn't think you'd need undergarments (I could be wrong). For air temps, consider buying a $12 reusable space blanket from any sporting goods store. I use mine all the time when I go to our local quarry and it keeps me nice and toasty. Last time the water temps were in the low 40s and air temps were in the low 30s. I was wearing 13mm of wetsuit on my very wet core and I was completely comfortable with the space blanket. (I get cold very easily when wet.)

 

[iztok]

I dive 3mm compressed neoprene typhoon drysuit (hey got it new for $500 from the dive shop!).

I use sweatshirt and sweatpants and thick socks (not cotton!) and I am fine. Water temp was 43F past Sunday.

 

[Selchie in LB]

Thanks for sharing Knowone :mooner:

I have thought about wool socks vs neoprene. Haven't tried it yet. If you are going to Wiki to look at layering check out wool!

 

[kenns]

I'm using crushed neoprene in the Vancouver area - 45F. I wear some underarmor that I use for skiing/running and fleece on top of that. In my boots I wear thin hiking socks with thick wool socks. I'm toasty warm.

 

[Sea Lioness]

I dive both neoprene and shell drysuits. With the neoprene drysuit, I use regular fleece tops and bottoms that you can get from any sporting good stores. It's an older, 6.5 mm thick neoprene drysuit - I might go with diving undergarments for a compressed neoprene suit, though. With the shell suit, I wear undergarments made specifically for drysuit diving. I wear wool socks with both (I have hard boots on both suits), because I personally find them to be much more comfortable than neoprene socks.

 

[Sas]

A couple of years ago I got drysuit certified to extend my diving through the winter months. I live in south Alabama and plan on using the drysuit in a dive park near Birmingham and the springs in northern Florida. I have used both shell suits and neoprene suits, and frankly I like the neoprene suits better. I have decided to make the leap and buy my own drysuit. Now for the question for you neoprene drysuit pros. If I plan on diving in water in the 40 degree range, do I need to wear undergarments with a neoprene suit? That would be extreme temperatures and only at Alabama Blue Water Adventures. The springs stay a constant 68 degrees year round and I only want the drysuit for when I get out of the water. Thanks in advance for your help.

I would not need undergarments in 68F water with my old crushed 4mm neoprene drysuit. Just tracksuit pants and a t-shirt. I used to only use this down to about 50F but adding two of those stripy thermal tops to it. I could do about 100mins like this. In a trilam I can only do about 60mins in these clothes so I got an undergarment when I switched drysuits...