Once you go dry, any reason to go back to wet even in warm water?

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dlwalke

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Location
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Just curious. I've got a dry suit, still need a lesson, but am wondering if there is any reason to use a wetsuit anymore. I don't dive anywhere as often as I'd like, and I would prefer to do the same thing everytime.

Thanks
 
Contrary to popular to what many will say there are many who prefer wet diving when it is comfortable to do so. Of the divers I dive with regularly who have gone dry I'll estimate that 2 out of 3 will dive wet when able. I'll qualify "able" as meaning that a temperature below 50F is unlikely and topside conditions are favorable for changing. Such is the season here in Maine at this time. There are some that never go back and that's all fine and good.

Shore diving in a wetsuit makes thermal overload a lot easier to manage. Try pouring a liter of water down the collar of your drysuit some time.

While you can build some interesting lifetime cost models of wet vs. dry you can avoid wear and tear on some drysuit "consumables" like seals by going wet.

If you have not added a pee valve to your drysuit diving wet allows you to hydrate to your hearts delight.

A rinse of the wetsuit and it's ready for the next day. Eventually drysuit garments need laundering. The drysuit should be getting rinsed as well between dives and some method of drying the inside may be needed too. This may be a issue if dives are back to back.

The behavior of a wetsuit is 100% predictable. no valves to work, no bubble to manage. Just predictable neoprene compression and rebound.

There are some forms of disappointment a wetsuit will never cause, like dampness, wetness, condensation and seal failure. Depending what you have for a drysuit it may spell the difference between self donning and not.

The right decision for you is the one that keeps you diving the most but yes there are some reasons to go wet.

Pete
 
Define warm water? Here is SE Asia, a drysuit could easily lead to heat stroke. In addition, the increased dehydration would increase the risks of DCS.
 
For me, it is the difference between being an otter and a seagoing tug. Don't ditch the wetsuit, you may learn to love it as much as your drysuit. Having a choice is ideal.
 
If I dove dry in tropical / Caribbean climates I'd melt. That would be no fun at all, I'd probably end up wetter then if I was in a wetsuit!

My 3mm is so easy on / off it's no issue.
 
I'm spose to launder my undergarments??
 
For me, it is the difference between being an otter and a seagoing tug. Don't ditch the wetsuit, you may learn to love it as much as your drysuit. Having a choice is ideal.

Good post:

I much prefer diving in a Wetsuit-custom skin 2, no zips, hood attached-warm and comfortable in local No.California waters. I do have a neoprene drysuit and have dived in the "bag" suits.

If you have the two options; wet or dry, keep them, you should be able to enjoy both.
 
I only dive wet in the pool teaching, on vacation to tropical climes & Occasionally at the quarry during the warmest part of the year (Aug.- Sept). Other than that I dive dry. I have undergarments ranging from Under Armor, to 150gm, 400gm & 650gm, so I have my pick of what I'll wear.
 
Since I got my Fusion, I have been toying with the idea of not diving wet any more. But there are a few advantages to wetsuits: If you tear one, it still pretty much works. There aren't any seals. And being wet in a wetsuit is unbelievably more comfortable than being wet in a drysuit.

But I will be taking my dry suit to the Red Sea in October (because we may be doing some deeper and longer dives) so I'll see what my opinion is when I come home.
 
If I dove dry in tropical / Caribbean climates I'd melt. That would be no fun at all, I'd probably end up wetter then if I was in a wetsuit!

My 3mm is so easy on / off it's no issue.

Nonsense!

Get a "tropical" drysuit...

RJP.jpg


WarmDry.jpg



A dry suit for WARM water? You gotta be kidding me!!!

Nope - I kid you not. The DUI 30/30 is the greatest, most under-rated, under-talked about piece of dive gear in the entire scuba industry. I've worn mine in Truk Lagoon, Cayman Islands, Bonaire, Curacao, Hawaii, Florida, everywhere.

You may be the only person diving dry in those locations (I know I was) but you will also be the only person doing a 90min night dive at the Town Pier in Bonaire when everyone else gets out after 1/2hr. You will also be the only person who does 5 dives a day, every day, on the Truk Odyssey without even blinking about it. You will probably be the only person who climbs aboard the Cayman Aggressor after a 60min night dive and grabs a class of cold beer instead of a mug of hot cocoa. On the surface, even in the noon sun at the Hilma Hooker (pictured above) it's actually more comfortable and cooler than a wetsuit. And it's not wet and clammy when you put it back on!

Once you dive one of these you'll never dive wet again.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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