Scubapro Everdry 4 Drysuit - Review & Input

[bjseibert]

i have had a chance to dive the new everdry 4. it is a great drysuit for what you are looking to do. i currently have this suit order. however if the shop you are looking at getting it through make sure they have it in stock for you to try it on. currently they are backordered until may.

 

[Freezerbrn]

Waking up an old post. I just bought the everdry4. The fit is nice, and the "batwing" thing is not really that bad if the suit fits right. It's only baggy under the arms and at the forearms. The rest fits like a wetsuit. a tad baggy at the ankles. I am diving it Friday at Catalina Island. Temps there are in the mid 50's. This will be my first drysuit dive but I will let you guys know how it worked. The LDS I got it from sold it as a packed (under garments, hood, hose, carry bag and boots) $899.99 I couldn't pass that up. So I hope it works and keeps me warm.

 

[Ren127]

I dove in it last weekend in the pool at the LDS- first drysuit experience but I was impressed. The batwings really don't exist on the new one- the man in the picture is in the old version- as mentioned previously they are backordered for quite awhile- be sure to find a shop with them in stock.

 

[Freezerbrn]

Well I didn't make my dive today. So Bummed out. My kid's baby sitter has the flu. Oh well. My buddies are there and said viz is great and sun is shining. It's cold and cloudy at home

 

[Freezerbrn]

Well I finally got to dive my Scubapro everydry drysuit. The water temps at Catalina Island were in the mid to low 50's. I used the scubapro climatic under garments and 5mm gloves. First off, I stayed dry on both dives. I was cool but not cold. This was due to sweating and condensation mostly. My hands did get cold using wetsuit gloves. I don't think you can used drysuit gloves with it unless you do some major modifications to the neoprene wrist seals. There is no "Bat wing" thing with the suit. It looks and feels just like a wetsuit. Other then being dry while diving it's just about the same. Managing the bubble was easy cuz the suit fits snug around the legs and lower torso. A little tricky getting the air to the vent on the arm. A couple of times the bubble of air went out of my neck seal while i was trying to get it to the arm vent. You will feel a squeeze at depth still. No leaks though. Yes it is heavy when wet, drys slow, a struggle to don and doff. No getting around having someone help with the zipper.

Bottom line for anyone thinking about it. For a first time drysuit diver. I dove it twice down to 80fsw and 50fsw and found it not too difficult to manage. For around $900.00 for the complete package it's a great entry level start or those for of us on a budget and want a drysuit that's durable.

FYI
For my first time in a drysuit (without a class) I did buy th PADI drysuit manual and studied it a lot. I also dove with a drysuit diver that had over 700 dives who kept an eye on me and helped out when needed. I advise to take the class. I will.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

@Freezerbrn: That's an attractive pricepoint for drysuit + undergarments + hood + boots.

How long does the suit take to dry?

 

[b2brown]

I got an Everdry 4 Drysuit also, probably at the same LDS as Freezerbrn. I recently dove in 55 degree water with some Harbor Patrol commercial divers wearing 7mm wetsuits on a night check out dive. They bailed out early because they were cold; I was nice and toasty.

As a matter of fact, I was so warm I am going to try it without the undergarmet that came with the suit. I strongly recommend taking the course because it is tricky to manage buoyancy control, especially when the air collects in your feet.

I did get some water in my suit on one dive, probably from air escaping out the neck seal. The LDS salesman told me to fold the neck seal over and tuck it next to my skin (like cuffing pants, but reversed). I don't think this is right, does anyone know? (Scubapro manual is moot on this point.)

 

[CPH]

Do not fold a latex seal inside out. You do need to make sure they are straight before a dive though.
I have got the Scubapro EverTec drysuit but with the soft socks and rock boots. The rock boots help keep air away from the feet but to be honest, they are quick to get use to.
You only need enough air in the suit to stop it "squeezing".

 

[Freezerbrn]

@ Bubbletrouble The suit takes several hours to dry. I also noticed that after a day of diving and rinsing off the outside of the suit the same night, the inside felt damp the next morning. I turned it inside out after the outer part of the suit was dry to air dry the inside.

I didn't have any leaks. The neck seal should be turned inward. Meaning reverse fold the seal inside so it's against your neck. Make sure the hood seal is flush against the outer neck seal and pulled all the way down. While in a horizontal position under water, I was able to look down and look up with no leaks. I also went into a vertical position and didn't get any leaks, so I think folding the neck seal fold in, is the way it should be. I too had air "burp" out of the neck seal when in a vertical position.

I took the advice of another DS diver and added more weight then I thought I needed and was very overweight on my first dive. This suit, to me is less buoyant the my 8mm semi dry. I used (30lbs) with a HP 133 tank on my first dive (way too much lead). I dropped to 24 lbs on my next dive. It felt better but I think I can drop it down to 20 lbs. and be fine. I dove 14 lbs of lead in my semi dry and was spot on.

Specs: Negative weight underwater
Steel Back plate 5 lbs.
Steel HP 133 9 lbs
ditch-able weight 22lbs

 

[Bubbletrubble]

@ Bubbletrouble The suit takes several hours to dry. I also noticed that after a day of diving and rinsing off the outside of the suit the same night, the inside felt damp the next morning. I turned it inside out after the outer part of the suit was dry to air dry the inside.

@Freezerbrn: Thanks for that info. Neoprene drysuits generally take longer to dry than trilam or bilam suits. Some trilam/bilam suits dry within minutes or can be wiped dry. Nice for travel diving.

I too had air "burp" out of the neck seal when in a vertical position.

Neck burps can occur with both latex neck seals and neoprene neck seals (correctly folded in, as you described). That's what happens when the diver gets vertical with a fair amount of air inside the suit -- the air in the legs gets squeezed up into the torso of the suit and then escapes through the highest point of exit (and path of least resistance).

I took the advice of another DS diver and added more weight then I thought I needed and was very overweight on my first dive.

Sometimes well-intentioned advice can be misleading. Better advice would have been: Do a proper a weight check. It's the kind of thing that any diver should do after making significant gear configuration changes.

This suit, to me is less buoyant the my 8mm semi dry. I used (30lbs) with a HP 133 tank on my first dive (way too much lead). I dropped to 24 lbs on my next dive. It felt better but I think I can drop it down to 20 lbs. and be fine. I dove 14 lbs of lead in my semi dry and was spot on.

Specs: Negative weight underwater
Steel Back plate 5 lbs.
Steel HP 133 9 lbs
ditch-able weight 22lbs

Just remember that it doesn't matter how negatively buoyant a tank is when it is full. Empty tank buoyancy is what's important for proper weighting.

I could be wrong about this, but when most people refer to ditchable weight, that weight is usually positioned on a weight belt/harness or pockets on the waist strap. Essentially, that places the ditchable weight on the hips, which can lead to suboptimal weighting facilitating good static horizontal trim. You may want to experiment with putting some of that weight trim weight pockets or pockets on your tank cambands. FWIW, I prefer having just enough ditchable weight to offset the weight of my gas (that's 6-10 lbs. for a single-tank setup). But that's just me.

Enjoy the new drysuit.