REI for Smartwool base layer for drysuit?

[Manatee Diver]

I think what you buy will be determined by how sensitive your skin is to itchy wool. A friend has some cheapo stuff from Amazon. He let me tough it. Scratchy as hell. The Smart Wool is soft enough to not irritate my skin. It’s the first wool ever I’ve been able to wear. So the Smart Wool is worth every penny in my book.

If you ever make it down there, I can do a blind comparison for you. Smartwool 250gr vs the Meriwool 250gr. I can't tell the difference, but my fingers are fairly calloused.

But that opinion might change when I finally dive it in a couple of months.

 

[Wants2divemore]

There has been a LOT more R&D done for skiing undergarments than there has for drysuits

Thanks. I'll just use my skiing base layers (I have a lot - mostly Marino wool).

 

[tbone1004]

Thanks. I'll just use my skiing base layers (I have a lot - mostly Marino wool).

may as well, multi taskers for the win!

 

[Thunder Struck]

#textile engineer, your LDS is full of ****, probably spewing some nonsense that they are told to from the guys making said undergarments. This stuff is all knit yarns, there is no puffing out or whatever other nonsense they're spewing. There has been a LOT more R&D done for skiing undergarments than there has for drysuits, and even more into the military applications. Pay attention to the fiber blends, the more wool the better, and buy high quality undergarments and you're good to go. What's funny is them saying that drysuit won't trap air and won't puff out, that's exactly what you want them to do because trapped air=warmth, literally insulation 101

to @Thunder Struck the one thing to keep in mind is that if your suit is fairly tight and/or you don't have layers on top of them you may want to make some slight modifications to keep them from bunching. Most of the good drysuit layers will have stirrups, crotch strap, and thumb loops to prevent them from riding up when you're putting the suit on or during use *crotch strap in particular*.

My actual under garment is the DUI Duotherm II 300. It has the stirrup straps on the feet as well as a couple for the thumbs to hook into when pushing your arms through. Seems pretty well made all-in-all. Will probably get a button hole cut on the inside of the thigh for the p valve tube.

 

[Boarderguy]

Will probably get a button hole cut on the inside of the thigh for the p valve tube.

Why not just loop it up through your lower zip and then close the zip down on it? I guess it depends on how you orient your cath, but I find the hole in my undersuits to be in an inconvenient spot and not sized for having a dry-break valve on them. I just run the house up through the zip and loop back down to the cath. Zip goes down to about 1 inch from the bottom. Easy in, easy out.

 

[Thunder Struck]

Why not just loop it up through your lower zip and then close the zip down on it? I guess it depends on how you orient your cath, but I find the hole in my undersuits to be in an inconvenient spot and not sized for having a dry-break valve on them. I just run the house up through the zip and loop back down to the cath. Zip goes down to about 1 inch from the bottom. Easy in, easy out.

I was experimenting with the setup. I’m concerned it may get a kink in the line at the top of the cath line where it meets the hose resulting in some less than desirable leakage from the obstruction. That glue seems strong but not that strong to prevent an obstruction from flowing back up the sides of it. Even going down a size of condom cath doesn’t seem to prevent this. I can see that paying attention to the hose routing is important to avoid this. hence why I was thinking a straight shot up from the bottom instead of looping around right at it. P valve is the DUI branded Light Monkey Tinkle Valve. The hose for it was a bit more stout than I was expecting. I was thinking it’d be more pliable, like a regular catheter tube.

 

[Boarderguy]

I was experimenting with the setup. I’m concerned it may get a kink in the line at the top of the cath line where it meets the hose resulting in some less than desirable leakage from the obstruction. That glue seems strong but not that strong to prevent an obstruction from flowing back up the sides of it. Even going down a size of condom cath doesn’t seem to prevent this. I can see that paying attention to the hose routing is important to avoid this. hence why I was thinking a straight shot up from the bottom instead of looping around right at it. P valve is the DUI branded Light Monkey Tinkle Valve. The hose for it was a bit more stout than I was expecting. I was thinking it’d be more pliable, like a regular catheter tube.

Mine is the Sitech Trigon. The tube is fairly robust and doesn't kink at all. I have my member going up so the tube runs straight into it after the loop down. Keep the length of the cath tip to a minimum and that helps reduce kinks there a lot.