Wetsuit, Semi dry suit or Dry suit

[PerroneFord]

This is a good comparison. I believe the colder the water, the more weight you'd have to add to the drysuit, over and above at wetsuit.

My water here is about 68-72F. I could probably stand to dive it in just a rash guard if the exposure in the water was less than 40 minutes. I use a 5mm shorty as it is with no weight and an AL80 tank. I dove that config yesterday with a buddy, and she was amazed as she watched me hover in 5ft of water with 200psi in the tank.

So moving to a drysuit, I'd be able to dive just Underarmour with a bit of air in the suit to kill squeeze. I'd expect to move from the AL80 to a steel 108 or 130 and no belt. I don't know what moving to a 200g fleece would do. For the longer exposures, I'll be in steel doubles, so again, I probably won't need weight.

I guess it comes down to body type.

 

[onfloat]

I've seen this in more than one place now, and I only wish my body worked that way.
What are you wearing under the d/suit ?

In a 7MM wetsuit, I used 6 lb plate + 8 pounds on my belt with an HP100 steel tank.
I can probably use 6 on the belt.

Same tank, DUI TlS-350 and 300G fleeced, and I need at least 14 on the belt.

Now that I'm in Hawaii I wear sweats under my drysuit. 6lb plate and 4 lbs on my waist.

When I was in San Diego I would wear 400g thinsulate. I still had a fair amount of weight on then, 6lb plate, and 12 lbs spread out between my waist and cambands, with a LP120. To tell the truth I was probably overweighted with the wet suit.

 

[dbg40]

If your planing to do deep dives, deco goes with it. freezing your rump off while doing hang time is not fun, or safe. Go dry, even temps that feel warm initially, will get the better of you on long dives.

 

[SmileMon]

Is there a possibility that a dry suit will be too warm? what is the actual isolation? the undergarments?

I just don't want to be on those deco stops sweating and getting dehydrated.

 

[dbg40]

Not if you go with a tri lam, and adjust your undergarment accordingly. You can go from 100 wt, to 400 wt, and there should be no reason to be uncomfortable. As far as dehydration, you don't start that process while on the boat on the way to the dive. It should be an ongoing process, and never ignored. I dive wet, and dry, and adjust the thermal protection accordingly. Not every dive will require a drysuit, but when it's needed, there is no substitute. You may,,at some point want to take your new found knowledge to other waters to try out. If you hit some of the deep wrecks in the north east, trust me, you're gonna want to be dry!

 

[CompuDude]

Is there a possibility that a dry suit will be too warm? what is the actual isolation? the undergarments?

I just don't want to be on those deco stops sweating and getting dehydrated.

Sorta depends on how long your down, but you could always bring a camelbak or other hydration device down with you, if you're really worried about getting dehydrated.

That said, if you're sweating like a pig at a deco stop, your undergarments are probably too heavy for the conditions.