New suit, new undersuit, new weighting

[Storker]

A few weeks ago I received my new customized suit. And a new undersuit. The other day I finally got to try it out. Turned out I was more than a mite light, and I had to pick up a couple of rocks to avoid corking when I'd breathed down my tank. I'd hoped that I'd get away with the same amount of weight I'd been using with my old undersuit, but that hope was rather futile.

The suit doesn't matter that much as long as you stick with the same suit material, but the undersuit really matters. Because it's the undersuit that traps air and provides the buoyancy you need to counteract with your weight belt.

Next step is testing a lighter undersuit to shave some weight off my belt when the water is warm enough. The only question is, how thin can the undersuit be before I get too cold? If you ask me, as thin as possible, because I'm definitely carrying enough weight when I'm dressed for 4C water...

 

[taimen]

The only question is, how thin can the undersuit be before I get too cold?

YMMV, but the Kwark Navy is surprisingly warm for it's weight. I have been happy with that and a very thin wicking layer on dives with bottom temp of 4C for 35 minutes followed by 20 minutes deco in up to 16C water. The Navy is thin, flexible and a pleasure to dive. I must admit I haven't done a proper weight check with it, but I can tell it needs several kilos less weighting compared to Santi BZ400X.
Which new thick undersuit did you get?

 

[Storker]

The Kwark is somewhat outside my budget for a second undersuit. I'm looking for a cheap option, Scubagear/Subpro level price. After all, when the water is 10-15C, you really don't need top of the line gear. And I've just spent most of my toy allowance for a little while.

Which new thick undersuit did you get?

Sea Lion Series - Undersuits :: No GRAVITY - diving clothing and accessories of the highest quality.
The Plus. A bit narrow here and there, especially around my arms, and a bit slow to vent, but seems otherwise pretty nice when the water is really cold. But damn, it's buoyant!

 

[taimen]

Sea Lion Series - Undersuits :: No GRAVITY - diving clothing and accessories of the highest quality.
The Plus. A bit narrow here and there, especially around my arms, and a bit slow to vent, but seems otherwise pretty nice when the water is really cold. But damn, it's buoyant!

That looks reasonably thin to me (compared to Santi BZ400X and Weezle extreme+). My Santi was very buoyant in the beginning and it actually took 40-50 dives and a wash to stabilize.

 

[Storker]

That looks reasonably thin to me (compared to Santi BZ400X and Weezle extreme+).

My old undersuit - which is a mite short in the torso and tends to rip in the crotch - has kept me decently warm in down to 6-ish degrees with only a thin merino mesh layer underneath. Below that, I prefer to layer with an extra wool shirt. My new undersuit requires a couple kilos more. So it's rather buoyant (which IMO is a feature in cold water, because air = warmth. You'll have a hard time convincing me that there's such a thing as an undersuit which can provide warmth without buoyancy)

 

[taimen]

You'll have a hard time convincing me that there's such a thing as an undersuit which can provide warmth

There is no discussion about that. But materials have different properties when you compress them. The Weezle is very lofty but is also very compressible. You might need a couple of kilos less to stay underwater compared to thinsulate Santi. But to stay warm, you need those kilos.