wet or dry for warm shallow wrecks?

[IDS_Bill]

Is the compression of the air in a dry suit similar to the compression of a wetsuit? I would think the effect for buoyancy control would be less with a wetsuit.

Totally different effects. That's why they call the drysuit effect a "squeeze"

 

[FishDiver]

I finally got cold in my 3mm in 72 deg water, was a cold rainy day and I was cold before I went in, after about 45 minutes I was not happy.

I am looking to buy the next evolution in thermal protection for the purpose of diving wrecks south of North Carolina and north of Panama. Assuming a max depth of 150 would a nice 5 or 7MM wetsuit be better than a Dry suit?

If you are heading down the tech route definitely get a drysuit. Otherwise...

Do you wear a hood? Don't even consider upgrading your suit until you learn to love hoods. Try a thick hooded vest over your 3mm. Even if you are still too cold you can wear the same vest over a thicker wetsuit.

Drysuits are really more trouble than they are worth for 72 deg water, especially for travel.

 

[electric_diver]

Oh, yeah, did I mention that a dry suit is WARM and DRY?

Don't you mean WARM and DAMP? Dry suits are many things but they are almost never actually dry.

 

[mathauck0814]

Try a thick hooded vest over your 3mm. Even if you are still too cold you can wear the same vest over a thicker wetsuit.

Look into a product called "Shark Skin" made by Neptune. They make a hooded vest that has the warmth characteristics of a 2-3mm neoprene suit only it is neutrally buoyant when wet. I layer my 3mm with this in ~68-74'F water and it works great.

 

[TSandM]

I just got home from a week diving wrecks in the Red Sea, with water temperatures between about 77 and 80. I did one dive wet, and the rest dry. I don't know if I will ever dive wet again -- it was SO nice to be really TOASTY warm, and to get back on the boat and take off my suit and STILL be warm!

I dive a White's Fusion, and it rolls up in a ball, so it's easy to pack and weighs no more than a 3 mil suit. It's hard to put a hole in it (I've had mine for a year and a half and put a couple hundred dives on it in a wide variety of conditions, including wrecks, and have had one small one.) And in warm water, with a light undergarment, you really feel as unfettered as in a thin wetsuit.

Yes, I may never dive wet again.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Nah . . .1mil wetsuit in the tropics for me.

I don't like that icky feeling of being in a drysuit and "basting in my own sweat". . .