Weezel Undergarment

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Aquanautchuck

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
332
Reaction score
2
Location
Pacific Northwest--Oregon
# of dives
200 - 499
Well after nearly 300 dives my 400 weight undergarment is really showing its age. I looked at the Extreme Weezel this weekend and was impressed by it. But I know zilch about it. Does anyone use it and have any comments on it for me.

Thanks
Charles
 
Weezles are controversial.

I dive an Extreme+ in Puget Sound. IMHO it's a tad much for most of the east coast below Virginia Beach or Nags Head, though, unless you get to depths below 200' off Ocean City, MD or points north occasionally.

Pros:

Real warm. I've not found anything warmer...

Cons:

Weezle's don't stretch. Dive'em tight and you may have issues with valve drills.

Weezle's require loft. Consequently, you will typically use more gas in your suit than when using a thinsulate garment. Ergo, you will require more weight.

Weezles are not DIR if this is something you're tracking. The additional gas inside the suit makes bouyancy and trim less stable, as it moves about inside the suit when the diver's attitude in the water column changes. One claim is that reflective technologies provide equal thermal protection with less gas inside the suit. Less gas in the suit is true. 'Equal thermal protection' is a subjective determination.

Controversies:

#1 Flooded drysuit. Claim: "If you flood a drysuit in extremely cold water with a deco obligation, a thinsulate (e.g. 'reflective' technology) garment will still keep you warm whereas a loft undergarment will lose all thermal protective properties." Hence thinsulate is superior to Weezle.

Doc's opinion: If you flood a drysuit in 30-40 degree (F) water with a hefty deco obligation remaining, you're going to be a miserable unit regardless of which undergarment you're wearing. I have seen zero research - no empirical evidence - suggesting any measurable or quantifiable difference between a thinsulate garment and a weezle under such circumstances. [That doesn't mean there isn't any, it means if there is I'm unaware of it.]

#2 Fabric obstructing drysuit valve. Claim: "Nylon fabric used in Weezles has been sucked into the slots on the inner face of the drysuit purge valve, thereby preventing the discharge of gas and causing or exacerbating an out-of-control ascent."

Doc's opinion: I've seen photos from one diver who claims this occurred to him. The photos would tend to support the claim. The extent to which any other issues contributed to the incident are unknown. The diver is reliable and experienced. I'm also aware of another case where it is alleged that something like this may have occurred. It was a fatality, the reports (that I've read) do not offer sufficient detail to reach any informed conclusion. Possibly true. Bottom line is that many divers use Weezles and do not have this occur to them. Also, putting something like a fabric patch on your undergarment beneath where it contacts the shoulder dump valve would seem to be a fairly low-cost insurance policy against such an occurrence.


So for extremely cold water diving, Weezle's do a superior job of keeping a diver warm.

They bring other things to the table that you may want to think about, but they will undeniably keep you warm. Hope this helps.

Doc
 
Love mine. Just did two dives today at about 44F, they keep me toasty. I've dove down to 39F with mine.
For what it is worth I've had no problem with exhaust valve.
No experience with a flooded suit, but I find the suit weathers leaks great. The outer fabric repels most water and keeps the insulation working.
 
To capitalize on what Doc said, the Weezle's biggest concern is the thin fabric getting stuck in, or not allowing gas to escape from, the exhaust valve (heard of both-the more common one seems to be that Weezle's don't dump as fast as other brands, IME). If you're cheap, you could use a piece of tape on the fabric, strategically located near the exhaust valve. I suppose you could carefully put some folds in the tape to help exhaust the air, too.

They *may* have changed the fabric, as I've seen, what appears to be, two different style of fabrics on the outside. One seems very thin compared to other brands of underwear.
 
Thanks for all of the great feedback. I am going to do some thinking about it. The LDS I talked to has one about my size that they said they would loan me for a dive. I currently use Argon with my USIA Ex-therm III. I am usually fine with one layer of undergarment under that. Yesterday it was 50 degrees at 80' and I was OK. I don't like the idea of the extra air in the suit along with the idea of the valve plugging. But I do have a wrist dump. Thanks again for the feedback.

Charles
 
Aquanautchuck,
If you take the Weezles out for a test dive please post a report back on this thread. I'm also thinking about weezles but I do not have any dealer close by that I can try out a pair before I make a purchase.

Jeremy
 
I use my Weezle Extreme under a DMS Waterware Atlantis 2000 compressed neoprene drysuit and have done about 400 dives in it over the past few years with no problems whatsoever.

I have a cuff dump, not a shoulder-mounted auto-dump, but I have never had any issue venting air on ascent.

Equally, I have never found that I have to have more air in my suit than when I wear my Fourth Element Xerotherm undersuit to get the most out of my Weezle. It has kept me toastie warm in 4°C freshwater in February when testing regs for four solid hours, and even managed to keep me reasonably dry and warm when I suffered a catastrophic neck seal rupture!

Each to their own, but I wouldn't swap my Weezle for anything else.

Mark
 
I love my weezle which I bought last fall when my thinsulate was showing its age. I have also heard about the suit clogging the dump valve but I haven't had any issues with it. As far as loft and weighting...well, I had to add a couple of lbs but it is not an issue for me.
The weezle keeps me warm. I am happy with it.
K
 
Looking for some comparison here on the Weezles.

I dive with a USIA shell suit and USIA Exotherm II undies. After I suit up I break the neck seal and then I squat down and lean forward into a ball, so to speak, to squeeze air out. I usually try to keep this comfort of "squeeze" thruout my dive and only all air in a short burst when needed. For example, this past weekend on a dive to 45' I think I only added about 3 short burst of air. I also turn my autodump completely open then close it back about 4 to 5 "clicks".

Now the question:
For thoes who have or do dive the Weezle do you think I would have to add signifigantly more air than what I am used to diving with? Or is it just a matter of adding a little more air/loft will keep you a little warmer so everyone will have to adjust according to their cold tolerence?

Jeremy
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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