What do you wear under your drysuit and undergarments

[DevilEyeDog]

Thanks Remy! Not too rigid? The pads in it have me a little concerned. How's the bouyancy? Do you need extra weight?

 

[Remy B.]

No, actually less weight as it is less material, that equals less weight.

This is the new generation stuff, and it is just great.

The swedens live in cold water all year long and they know what works.

Which pads ?

 

[Storker]

I swear to wool. My favorite is Woolnet | Aclima supplemented with Tee 200 and/or Crewneck 200 if the water is cold. Add a couple of kilos to your belt and don't run your suit too tight, and you'll probably be fine up to ~45 minutes in down to ~4C water if you have a good undersuit.

Why you should use wool and avoid cotton like the plague

How to keep warm in a drysuit in cold water

The only thing next to my skin which isn't wool under those conditions is my boxer briefs. Because my cojones itch too much with wool boxers. So I'm using a pair of viscose boxer briefs (because I won't wear cotton, not even cotton boxers if I'm going to be damp and/or cold)

 

[Lorenzoid]

So I guess what I’m getting at is, after a dive and everyone’s peeling off their drysuits and undergarments, what is the layer of clothing you’re walking around in after the dive, maybe grabbing a bite to eat or drinking a beer after the dive? Just hanging out with your buddies for a bit, chatting about the dive? Driving home?

After shore diving, I might walk around in my undergarment for a while as I put gear away, chat, and so forth, but eventually I change out of my undergarment and base layer and put on street clothes before I go anywhere else. I am too self conscious to walk around in just my base layer.

 

[TrimixToo]

Scott: How do you like the Fourth Element Halo3D? I'm looking for the warmest possible undergarment. It looks like it may be rigid because of the pad in it. Thoughts?

My Weezle Extreme is warmer than my Halo 3D. The Halo is not really rigid; the pads just prevent the chest and thigh insulation from being compressed. Both of these trap more air, and need more weight, than undergarments that are less warm. I use the same amount of weight with both undergarments.

 

[Scott]

Scott: How do you like the Fourth Element Halo3D? I'm looking for the warmest possible undergarment. It looks like it may be rigid because of the pad in it. Thoughts?

I haven't really noticed it being too rigid while wearing it and it didn't add any more ballast. But that's diving sidemount or doubles with steels. Between that, dry gloves and a 10mm Waterproof hood I'm pretty comfortable in 38*F water for a couple hours.
I know it's warmer for me than a Santi BZ400. I haven't worn a Wezzle garment, but dive with a buddy that has one. He's chilled at the end of the dives. I don't read much into that because everyone's thermal tolerances are different.

 

[Reku]

YMMV:

<50F or dive > 90mins: Thermal Fusion undergarment.
50F>= and dive < 90mins: wicking layers and pajama pants and sweat shirt.
80F> no drysuit.
<80F wearing drysuit.

I dive my thermal fusion in 32F water in Michigan/Ohio winters and it's fine - gas becomes the limiting factor.
I dive my thermal fusion in Florida caves and even after multiple hours core body temps don't decrease a large amount.

When surface temps are 100F+ but water is cold - I need to get everything ready and stage what I can by the water - jump in the water cool down and then get out and put everything on and get into the water. I have about 20mins in drysuit with thermal fusion on the surface before I start to have over heating issues if I don't cool down in the water during setup.

The system seems to work fine so far with the extremes I've faced at this point.

 

[DevilEyeDog]

Thanks TrimixToo and Scott! Great thoughts on the Halo.

 

[Marie13]

Are some of you guys actually not wearing any type of underwear (boxers/briefs)?

For us gals, I’ve most often seen sports bras and some sort of workout leggings for the bottom bottom layer. Since I prefer to wear some sort of undies on my bottom half, I’ve found the wicking travel undies work very well. I generally get my stuff from REI.

I recently got an REI house brand merino wool top and bottoms to go under MK2 fleece undergarment. I’ll try those once topside temps cool down some.

 

[RainPilot]

Commando diver. It’s a thing.


I’m not nuts about the compression of everything on my nethers. Luckily my base layer is long underwear for all intents and purposes.