Some people do that but I would avoid that. A trilam drysuit is very expensive, it can get damaged even just by mistake when you are dressing up. Why using a trilam drysuit in the Red Sea? You could almost swim naked there, or use a 3 mm Decathlon crap wetsuit just to protect the skin from fire coral contact or to have a light thermal protection. The same in Italy in the Mediterranean. Some people use trilam drysuit in summer but I would avoid that. 5mm wetsuit for me...I would use a drysuit only when diving in full winter or in the alpine lakes. Very rarely I could plan trips to the UK or Ireland or Sweden, I would be curious to do some dives there. Anyway mostly I wouldn't use a drysuit for travels
The eternal question... Neoprene or Trilam drysuit?
- Thread starter Sbiriguda
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mdax
Contributor
I've had a neoprene, sold that dog and purchased another trilam.
Wifes last trilam lasted 12 years, I'm on year 7 of my dui flx, diving every weekend and it's going strong
Wifes last trilam lasted 12 years, I'm on year 7 of my dui flx, diving every weekend and it's going strong
AJ
Contributor
You will have to do your very best to do that. Don't worry, they don't break easily. They can withstand the abuse of cave and boat diving with ease.
3 to 4 dives a day for 6 consecutive days or, when tech oriented long deep dives of over 2 hours each, will become chilly in the end. A drysuit helps, even in the Red Sea.
I dive a my drysuit all year round. Only exception is vacation diving where it's not convenient to dive dry .e.g. on rec dive boats. I see no reason to dive wet and besides that, I want to build muscle memory so that I really control my suit in stead of the other way round.
I can inderstand teh points you made, but remember: it's your point of view. My point of view differs in where it makes sense for me to dive dry all year round. You have to decide for yourself what's the best solution that works for you.
Trilam is cheap to repair for small punctures and common issues.
Long multi day multi dive trips, you never catch up on the thermal loss so after a while you are dreading a dive even in water that was fine for the first few days.
Also, redundant buoyancy is not a bad idea on some of those Red Sea dives where the hard deck is waaaaay deeper than you want to go. With a trilam once you are in the water it can be as cool as a skinsuit (spandex wicking layer only) but with many other benefits
The outside air temperature on the boat can be a pain but it’s manageable.
Long multi day multi dive trips, you never catch up on the thermal loss so after a while you are dreading a dive even in water that was fine for the first few days.
Also, redundant buoyancy is not a bad idea on some of those Red Sea dives where the hard deck is waaaaay deeper than you want to go. With a trilam once you are in the water it can be as cool as a skinsuit (spandex wicking layer only) but with many other benefits
The outside air temperature on the boat can be a pain but it’s manageable.
The great advantage of a Trilam' is that you can wear a T-shirt and shorts,
or
a base layer, intermediate layer, heated vest, thermal outer layer, etc as required.
What is too hot in a crushed neoprene, can be comfortable in a Trilam' (T shirt and shorts).
Most Trilam's are very hard wearing. My travel suit is 20 years old, granted it doesn't get a lot of use, three or four weeks a year. But that's not bad.
or
a base layer, intermediate layer, heated vest, thermal outer layer, etc as required.
What is too hot in a crushed neoprene, can be comfortable in a Trilam' (T shirt and shorts).
Most Trilam's are very hard wearing. My travel suit is 20 years old, granted it doesn't get a lot of use, three or four weeks a year. But that's not bad.
A Seaskin trilam is only 500 UK pounds. Doesn't seem all that expensive to me, for a good quality drysuit.
Http://Seaskin.co.uk
Http://Seaskin.co.uk
What he said! I’ll add that the neoprene is less. Seaskin will provide a ready to dive drysuit at those base prices, I always add features but they will provide all you really need for the least amount of money.
I don’t find neoprene to dry very much slower but it is a bit slower by hours not days.
How quickly neoprene dries depends a lot on ambient conditions. In a humid environment, I think a neoprene drysuit can take WAY longer than a day to dry. Meaning, if you're going to fly with it, it probably will not be down to its dry weight 24 hours after you're done diving and ready to fly.
But, if you're not going to fly with it, and you're not going to ever want to use it when the air temps are warm, then a crushed or compressed neoprene suit could be a really good choice. In which case, the Seaskin compressed neoprene suit might be a great option for the OP.
But, if you're not going to fly with it, and you're not going to ever want to use it when the air temps are warm, then a crushed or compressed neoprene suit could be a really good choice. In which case, the Seaskin compressed neoprene suit might be a great option for the OP.
The main advantage of a trilam is that the buoyancy does not change with depth, like it does with a wetsuit
A thick wetsuit can leave you very overweighted when diving deep which is an advantage drysuits have. They may be more floaty but it’s a constant floaty.
A compressed neoprene suit will have much less inherent warmth but also less buoyancy change at depth than a standard neoprene DS
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