Should I Start with a DRY suit ?

[scubahorse]

IMO, go get both, if you are going to get a drysuit soon or later. A 7mm wetsuit won't cost you that much anyway. Dry suit is great but wet suit still has its big addvantage, such as, you move fast with a wetsuit, free diving, pee w/o a valve, you also can save some money when you buy weight (when I dive dry, I bring 8 pounds more). You can dive wet when it's warmmer and dive dry whn it's colder and deeper. When you dive with a wetsuit you can control your buoyancy by your breath. I cannot do that when I dive with my trilam suit.

 

[Boogie711]

You can't control your bouyancy with breath control? Why not? Are you perhaps overweighted?

I dive dry all the time - and even in steel doubles, bouyancy with breath control is essential and not that difficult if you're properly weighted.

 

[scubahorse]

You must be right. I got my first drysuit last month, 5 dives so far. It is much harder to control my bouyancy (maybe I should say "very different") by breathing. There is always some kinda of delay...I will practice more and try weighted less. Thanks!

 

[RIOceanographer]

I own a drysuit, and I love it. I also think drysuits are very easy to dive with so don't let that deter you. A lot of people who are having control problems are probably overweighted and have too much air in the suit. I find buoyancy control in a drysuit almost effortless.

Still, it is very easy for all of these people to tell you to go dry when they aren't paying for it. You can get about 7-8 months of comfortable diving out of a good wetsuit in RI and CT waters (it is warmer than 50 degrees F in this period and warmer than 60F for 5-6 months of this same period). Considering the price difference between a wetsuit and a dry suit this is worth thinking about.

Dry suits are a great luxury but you can have a lot of fun without one if you don't want to break the bank.

 

[Deskjockey]

When I found out that my OW checkout dives were going to be in cold (40 degree) water, I signed up for drysuit training during my OW class. I did my OW and my drysuit confined dives before my OW checkouts and dove my OW checkout dives dry. The next weekend I got my Drysuit cert and have 16 drysuit dives since May. I may still have had the same number of dives in a wetsuit, but in a drysuit, comfort was never an issue. I've had one feet first ascent and that was my first "drysuit OW" dive while practicing drysuit skills. It did not happen during my OW checkout dives. To make a short story long, I would go dry as soon as possible.