StefinSB
Contributor
Wait for a sale
Understanding DS Undergarments
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OP
I'm thinking that's what I'll do. They should be selling off winter stuff within the next month or so. There's an REI about 20 min from me, I'll check them out.
I'll just have to wear more layers until I can get the right stuff....
What would anybody recommend weight wise for undergarments? I was thinking 100-150g with merino wool underneath.
I chill a little easy, but I figure I can always add something else if needed. With fleece pants and jacket, no base I was ok but chilled after an hr.
I use different undergarments for different water temp.
If it’s cold like 3/4 degrees Celsius you’ll probably want different undergarments than when it’s 15 degrees Celsius.
I use a Weezle extreme in local quarries (currently 6-7 degrees Celsius here) and I can do two dives of 45minutes to a hour with interval but my hands get really cold: still using wetsuit gloves
I don’t know the equivalent GSM for a comparable wool undergarment, but thick thinsulate undergarments can be 400GSM the Santi BZ400 is 420GSM for example.
OP
I use different undergarments for different water temp.
If it’s cold like 3/4 degrees Celsius you’ll probably want different undergarments than when it’s 15 degrees Celsius.
I use a Weezle extreme in local quarries (currently 6-7 degrees Celsius here) and I can do two dives of 45minutes to a hour with interval but my hands get really cold: still using wetsuit gloves
I don’t know the equivalent GSM for a comparable wool undergarment, but thick thinsulate undergarments can be 400GSM the Santi BZ400 is 420GSM for example.
I'm still in wet gloves too. Temps her are about the same. What type of suit do you use?
I think 400-450gsm would be too hot in a crushed neoprene ds? What do you think?
I use a membrane made of cordura: it provides no protection to cold other than keeping it dry.
The undergarment and the air in the suit is the thing that keeps me warm
I do not know: I know people who use neoprene drysuit (not compressed) but I do not have friends who use a compressed neoprene suit.
I am curious about compressed neoprene: do you feel a big change of buoyancy as you descend ?
OP
I use a membrane made of cordura: it provides no protection to cold other than keeping it dry.
The undergarment and the air in the suit is the thing that keeps me warm
I do not know: I know people who use neoprene drysuit (not compressed) but I do not have friends who use a compressed neoprene suit.
I am curious about compressed neoprene: do you feel a big change of buoyancy as you descend ?
No it doesn't, at least not anywhere near what a wetsuit does. In my limited experience it dives like a wetsuit, but without the buoyancy change, and at the end I'm dry. This is from their website;
"Hyper-compressed is not just a name to increase product appeal. This is a full commercial process, requiring the use of a 500 ton heated press."
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Helpful thread. I'll be a new drysuit diver in the Midwest quarries this summer. So, here's the question, in a membrane suit, when it is 80F on a summer day at the quarry, but 47F at depth, what do I wear under the drysuit?
broncobowsher
Contributor
Wish it was that simple around here. 100+ surface and 50 at the bottom, thank you Arizona.
Anyway what we generally do around here is under dress for the bottom to avoid overheating at the surface. I don't know your dive profile, you didn't state that. But around here the cold is deep and you don't stay long. Or if you do it is a deco dive and even then you still have the same issue. Hanging out in warm water over dressed for it. So take the chill during the dive, warm up toward the surface. And try really hard to not overheat on top. If you are warm and toasty at the bottom, you are going to have issues. It only gets warmer as you go up. I have been known to dive with a hood and while hanging out in warmer water peel it off to stay cooler. You can often slide your arm through the hood to store it.
Another option that I've used before is to dress for the surface, and use a heated vest. You want to be "cold" on the bottom, and warm during deco, so what I'll do is dress so I won't overheat on the surface and in the shallows, and kick on the heated vest on low for the bottom portion, and raise it during deco, and when it gets uncomfortably warm, kick it off.
However, in the event of a suit flood, you will have essentially no exposure protection at all, so there is certainly a real risk. I wouldn't do this in a cave where I don't have a direct ascent available, but in a lake or the ocean where you can get shallow into warmer water with less of an issue, it's more viable for me.
In Mexico, where it's hot as balls during the day, but 8 hours in a cave gets surprisingly cold even at 72 degrees, you get everything as ready as you can, then throw on your undergarments and suit and hop in the water as fast as you can manage. You sweat a bit, but try to minimize your effort while fully dressed. It is the way....
However, in the event of a suit flood, you will have essentially no exposure protection at all, so there is certainly a real risk. I wouldn't do this in a cave where I don't have a direct ascent available, but in a lake or the ocean where you can get shallow into warmer water with less of an issue, it's more viable for me.
In Mexico, where it's hot as balls during the day, but 8 hours in a cave gets surprisingly cold even at 72 degrees, you get everything as ready as you can, then throw on your undergarments and suit and hop in the water as fast as you can manage. You sweat a bit, but try to minimize your effort while fully dressed. It is the way....
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