Newbie researching wet suits

[LowDrag]

Jim...all I can say is WOW!!! That is great information, thank you very much for taking the time to answer my question. I was leaning in the direction of ScubaPro's Neoprene dry suit but after the question of replacing a suit due to material compression popped up I thought I better look at other styles of dry suit instead. I am more interested in diving cold water than my wife based on her lack of experience and the thought that she will be cold down under. She is starting to see that staying quite warm is a real possibility but being the penny pincher that she is, she is concerned about having to replace a wet suit every 2-3 years. The suit replacement issue had her walking out of the LDS yesterday with a sinking heart. Just like many others I am sure, we are not rich but we can put the money together to buy quality gear but we are hoping to do it once not every 2-3 years. So again, thanks for the replies everyone my wife and I really appreciate it.

 

[TSandM]

Very few people dive wet in the PNW for very long. There are a hardy few, but most people who want to dive regularly around here go dry. If you are going to dive in the winter at all, it's almost mandatory -- it's not the time in the water that gets you, it's being wet in 40 (or lower) degrees, especially if the wind is blowing at all.

Neoprene is neoprene, and whether it is in a wetsuit or a dry suit, it has issues with progressive lack of rebound over time. This is going to be related to the initial quality of the neoprene, and the depth to which and frequency with which you dive. I've found, for example, that I can detect a gross change in fit and water movement with a hood in about a year, which is in the neighborhood of 180 dives or so. On the other hand, my 5 mil wetsuit fits me like it did when it was new, four years ago -- but I'll bet it doesn't have 50 dives on it, and many of those have been in a pool.

Dry suits can run you, new, anywhere from the $600 or so that DRIS is selling one for as part of their Black Friday sale, to $3000 or more. Material, workmanship, options, customizing, and brand all play a role in price. From my observation, cheap dry suits are usually cheap -- the material is not durable, and the cut is pretty simple (so not very fitted). But they can be a good entry option, while you're seeing if you are going to do enough in the sport to make it worth the investment in something more expensive. I bought a $600 Mobby's suit as my first suit, and it lasted me a couple of years, until I started the upgrading process that ended with my Fusions.

Used dry suits can also be a bargain, if you are at all handy. Often they need seals, which are not hard to replace. If they need a zipper, that's usually a shop item, and can run $300 to $400, depending on where you have the work done. This can still be a bargain, depending on the sale price of the suit. The one thing you want to avoid is the problem suit that has a leak that nobody's been able to find or fix. Leaking dry suits are a bad deal, no matter what they cost.

There are a lot of threads here about dry suit materials and the pros and cons of each, but if you want to buy once and use your suit for a long time, I'd recommend going with at least a medium-price trilaminate or compressed/crushed neoprene suit. You'll cry at the initial outlay, but it will be worth it in the long run.

 

[Wetsuit 4 life]

Funny,
I just picked up my O'nell J-type 7mm for the limbs and 12mm for the core with built in hood (which is freaking amazing) the clerk at my LDS said I should get around 5 to 6 years of use based on my amount of dives and depth of use. My last wet suit was a no name brand and it last for almost 7 years of light to heavy use, where my Brooks dry suit now hides from the world under my bed it's a good suit just can't stand the bulkiness and the extra weight I have to carry to use it, also it's fitted for when I was 30lb bigger.

My biggest problem here is the surface interval, you can get one dive off in the winter easy. But when you have to stand around for an hour in the wind I find I'll normally call the second dive unless it's a sheltered dive site then it's on.

 

[chs8084]

My husband and I just bought our first drysuits-- we were able to get them used Bare rental suits that were pressure tested with new seals on one of the two for 399. One is the drysuit that I dove in my drysuit class last spring. Although I would have liked a more deluxe suit, it will give us the opportunity to see how much we will use it without putting out a small fortune (and I get cold really easily at the quarry that we dive). Another consideration was that I was probably going to need yet another thickness of wet suit for Australia next summer (their winter) and we are going to dive dry and just go with different undergarments.

 

[Thalassamania]

The life of a suit is dependent on the rubber. If you can still find GN-231 (Rubatex) you'll get five years of active diving (call it 500 dives), but most suits, today, will ony last 200 to 300 dives. They often look fine, the nylon cover is OK, but the rubber beneath it shot and will not keep you warm, thus suits "wear out" faster if you want to use them in really cold water, and can be used longer in warmish water, even though the rubber is going by the wayside.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

These guys still use rubatex Wetwear - Wet Suits for Cave Divers and Technical Divers
they are not cheap. 600 for a 3 mil. with zippers, pockets, and double seals

 

[LowDrag]

Thanks for all the info everyone. I really appreciate your information on exposure suits. It sounds like I could get by with four years on a wet suit. I have a hard time at the moment seeing myself dive more than 25 times per year. I am of course estimating at this point. That also does not mean that I am bypassing the idea of diving dry, that is still sounding like a must for us. After doing some math earlier today it just seems smarter to go dry for warmth as well as cost over time.
My wife will be getting her cert when I get mine in January, if she falls for the sport as much as I think she will then we could be diving much more than 25 times in a year plus going on some cool Caribbean cruise with plenty of diving to get into. One cruise we went on we did an excursion where they did Snuba, she had a blast under water. When we were back on shore after the excursion ended she was all smiles. I know she will love it.

 

[Nwcid]

Thanks for the good info Jim. Again we are diving wet now and have been in 42*F water it was pretty chilly. The 50*F dives were not bad until we got out and the air temp was 40*F and that was brutal. That was doff BC's, jump in truck, drive the 5 mins home and strip out of the suits by the fire.

We would like to go dry but the initial cost of them along with all the other gear was just not going to happen. I understand long term costs but you still have to have the money up front to get it. They are on our list of things to get for sure though.

The other thing I am working on getting is a 24' enclosed trailer for all my hobbies. One of the things it could be used for is cold diving. Keep a propane heater on while you are out diving. Come back for your SI stay warm and take your break in comfort. Hoping to have it set up by spring.