Should I buy a drysuit or is a 8/7 a good choice as well?

[SanDiegoSidemount]

Well it's perfectly clear from all the responses on this thread: the OP needs to buy both!

Seriously though, I own both, and can see the merits of each, depending on the season, conditions, and type of dive.

This has been a very good, very thorough discussion about the plusses and minuses of wet vs. dry here in SoCal.

 

[NorthernLights]

I don't own a dry suit, but rent one on the occasions it is really necessary, and for me that is Lake Superior. I find them very hot when used on warm days. I find them difficult to get in and out of, and by the time I actually get into the water, I am very uncomfortable. I much prefer a 7mm wet suit with a good hood and gloves. Doing a cost comparison of how much you really need one, you may find you are actually better off renting one when needed.

 

[1.3]

A properly fitted drysuit that you dive all year round becomes easy to use and very familiar. You learn how to layer to match dive and surface conditions. You can quickly unzip and wear half mast or remove totally during surface intervals. As you extend your range through depth, duration, or location, a drysuit will become one of the most important dive components. Stores like DRIS offer pretty good "insurance" for your suit including zipper replacement but depending on your familiarity and suit configuration, replacing zippers/seals, can be an easy process. I dive with silicon seals. If you migrate to a DPV, a drysuit will become a necessity as minimal movement will mean you will become cold quick in a wet suit.

 

[lcollar]

This thread has gotten a bit long so I must admit that I skipped ahead after reading the first 3 pages of responses. Sorry if I'm repeating what someone one page 4 or 5 said.

My best advice - take a drysuit class from someone that regularly dives a drysuit. There are many instructors that hold a drysuit teaching certification that don't use, don't own, don't like drysuits, etc... The list of reasons is endless. I work with some of these people.

Find an instructor that uses a drysuit every time they go diving. Take the opportunity to attend the annual DUI Demo Days. They have a couple demonstration events each year in California. For $10 you can dive any suit they make with an instructor and be professionally fit to the suit beforehand. They also feed you and give you a pretty cool hat for this price.

I own an 8/7 mm Agualung Solaflex. Great suit, really thick, attached hood, good wrist and leg seals. I was cold on every dive. As a result, I only take it out of the closet when someone needs to borrow a wetsuit. Turns out I have a very low tolerance to cold.

I bought my first drysuit after nearly giving up on scuba diving because I was cold on nearly every dive I went on. I dove this suit for a couple hundred dives before I realized it was too small. According to the DUI size chart, I am a perfect medium. Although a medium suit, with a thick undergarment it felt like a straight jacket. Couldn't move. You've seen the Michelin Man in commercials - like that.

I bought a size large used DUI drysuit on eBay. Think I paid $500. I love this suit. Usually put it on before breakfast on the dive boat. Wear it all day. After four - 50 minute dives around the Channel Islands I'm one of just a few of the divers remaining at days end that would go out for a fifth dive if they would let me. My buddy and I are avid still photographers and occasional hunters. I end up poking holes in the suit all the time. DUI has a great video on their website that shows how to find leaks. Aquaseal costs $7.00 a tube and fixes a year's worth of small holes. Maintaining a drysuit does not need to be expensive. And, a leaky drysuit is far warmer than any wetsuit I have ever worn.

Take a drysuit class from an instructor wearing a well worn drysuit, rent a suit that's easy to move around in and then decide if a drysuit is right for you. Based on this thread alone, there are a bunch of men that don't seem to ever get cold while diving. I'm not one of those guys. Most of the female divers that I know (my wife included) get cold fairly quickly. It's not very much fun diving while your thinking about how cold you are. Diving is supposed to be fun.

 

[beepbird]

It all depends on your cold tolerance. 3 yrs ago, I dove in 49 degree water at San Miguel Island in a semidry 7mm and refused to do the second dive because I could't get warm. The galley girl called me "Shivers". I toughed it out on the third dive but I really couldn't feel all my toes after the first 10 minutes. Flash forward to now and a neoprene drysuit. I can feel my toes on every dive and I dive a whole heck of a lot more. Geez, had I known the huge difference it made, I wouldn't have waited 19 yrs to go dry!