djhall
Guest
I have been wanting to try drysuit diving. It sounds great! I can pay $100 to take the drysuit class at my LDS, and rent a drysuit for $40. $140 later, I would have a little experience diving in a drysuit, but no suit.
My local dive shop has been telling me about a sale they are offering for a new O'Neill Neoprene 7000X drysuit for $649. If I buy the suit, they will include the PADI DrySuit class free to teach me how to use it properly. I also see the Bare D-6 Supra drysuits are available online for roughly $600 (with no class).
Should I pay $140 to take the class first, and look at buying a drysuit later? If I should just buy a drysuit, should I support my LDS and buy the O'Neill or buy the Bare online? If I buy the Bare online, can I read the $20 drysuit diver manual and practice/review the skills with the experienced members of my dive club (most of whom dive drysuits, and two are drysuit instructors)?
Oh... and do I need (okay, really want) a drysuit? The first dive is fine in my wetsuit (a little cool, though not cold), but I don't like to stay in my wetsuit during the surface interval and I hate putting a cold, wet, wetsuit on again to make subsequent dives. I currently dive in a Henderson Gold Core 7/5 Jumpsuit with a 3/5 Hooded Vest. The drysuit I tried on today seemed comfortable enough to wear during the surface interval (though I may want to pull my head out of the neck seal). I have also heard any dampness (not wetness) could be fixed by changing into a dry shirt after each dive.
Background: Northern California, year-round diving, currently dive a few times a year, plan to dive two days a month with local dive club, PADI AOW, currently stricly open-water NDL diving, may eventually want to learn overhead environments and decompression diving depending on cost. Current water temp is 50 degrees, not unusual to spend an hour or two in the water at a time.
My local dive shop has been telling me about a sale they are offering for a new O'Neill Neoprene 7000X drysuit for $649. If I buy the suit, they will include the PADI DrySuit class free to teach me how to use it properly. I also see the Bare D-6 Supra drysuits are available online for roughly $600 (with no class).
Should I pay $140 to take the class first, and look at buying a drysuit later? If I should just buy a drysuit, should I support my LDS and buy the O'Neill or buy the Bare online? If I buy the Bare online, can I read the $20 drysuit diver manual and practice/review the skills with the experienced members of my dive club (most of whom dive drysuits, and two are drysuit instructors)?
Oh... and do I need (okay, really want) a drysuit? The first dive is fine in my wetsuit (a little cool, though not cold), but I don't like to stay in my wetsuit during the surface interval and I hate putting a cold, wet, wetsuit on again to make subsequent dives. I currently dive in a Henderson Gold Core 7/5 Jumpsuit with a 3/5 Hooded Vest. The drysuit I tried on today seemed comfortable enough to wear during the surface interval (though I may want to pull my head out of the neck seal). I have also heard any dampness (not wetness) could be fixed by changing into a dry shirt after each dive.
Background: Northern California, year-round diving, currently dive a few times a year, plan to dive two days a month with local dive club, PADI AOW, currently stricly open-water NDL diving, may eventually want to learn overhead environments and decompression diving depending on cost. Current water temp is 50 degrees, not unusual to spend an hour or two in the water at a time.
