Whats the perfect drysuit, without drying out my wallet

[ShizzA]

I want of some dry suit action in my life and need some assistance. I'm a poor college student and about to be a much much much poorer graduate student. I want to buy a pretty reasonable dry suit that will last me a long time and not die on me. I'm trying to buy all my equipment under the assumption that it will be used for "tech diving" in the not too distant future. I'm looking for three pieces of information.

1) What Brands should I be looking at and why. What are the best brands, What are the affordable alternatives. What manufacturers will give me awesome customer service and what brands will I be sitting at home waiting for months and months while they monkey around with my suit if it ever needs a repair? I’d also like to hear the DIR perspective on dry suits too!!!

2) I've read/heard/know there is an enormous markup on scuba equipment. In particular, I've herd that DUI restricts the discounts their distributors can offer to 20%. I was curious if other manufacturers did the same (Whites, Bare, etc.) and if so, what their restrictions were.

3) Where can I get the best deals on dry suits? Preferably, I'd like to know where I can get the best price for each manufacturer/suit.

Thanks ahead of time for any/all the help and advice!!!
Cheers,
DSV

 

[LUBOLD8431]

Well, I think it might help if we know your price range. Bare makes an entry level drysuit, that is very cheap, and you can get it from leisure pro, or from any Bare dealer. If you want a good top quality suit, you are going to have to pay a little more money for it (i.e--Andy's, DUI). Ebay has drysuits up all the time, you can save alot of money getting a used suit.

Also, can I suggest that you do a search. Drysuits pros and cons have been covered extensively here in the last few months...

 

[ShizzA]

Sorry about that, I didn't even think about giving a price range. I don't want to spend too much more than say $1200 or $1300. Buying over the internet is actually something else I wanted to know about. I've been told that fit on a drysuit is extrememly important with drysuits and when I look on the internet, they typically don't have a very broad range of sizes. So how important is a perfect fit for tech diving? Is it ok to fudge a little bit? If so, what is the most important part of the drysuit to have fitted the best?
Thanks...

 

[LUBOLD8431]

Yes, fit is HUGELY important. If you get a big baggy suit, you will have issues with air trapping, and not being able to vent the suit as well as if you had a nice fitting suit. Dont buy anything online that has to be fitted to you, unless you are pretty certain that its going to fit. Some people can fit into stock sizes easily, others there is no way. I suggest going to your LDS, see what suits they sell, and if they have some rental suits, try them and see what size works. This way, you will also be able to decide for yourself what suits you like.

Basically, if you want to save money, neoprene suits are pretty cheap. If you want a suit for tech diving, I would recommend a trilam suit. That will increase the price a bit, but with your price range, that shouldnt be a problem. You can get a DUI TLS shoulder entry for less than that. You might even be able to get a DUI dealer to sell you a TLS-350 in that price range. I own a DUI, and an Andys, and I prefer the DUI. I would go with the DUI tls...

GOod Luck...

 

[Cave Diver]

Sorry about that, I didn't even think about giving a price range. I don't want to spend too much more than say $1200 or $1300. Buying over the internet is actually something else I wanted to know about. I've been told that fit on a drysuit is extrememly important with drysuits and when I look on the internet, they typically don't have a very broad range of sizes. So how important is a perfect fit for tech diving? Is it ok to fudge a little bit? If so, what is the most important part of the drysuit to have fitted the best?
Thanks...

DUI (and I assume most of the other makers) has a size chart posted on their website. The suit is normally a little larger to accomdate the undergarments. If you dont anticipate diving in cold water and needing thick undergarments you may be able to size down a little. They are also availale in custom cuts, but the price goes up accordingly.

I see you're in Houston. You might try checking with Discover Scuba. Last time I was in that area, they had just gotten some drysuits at what seemed to be a very reasonable price. I believe they were Whites but this was sometime late last summer and my memory may be inaccurate.

 

[divinglife]

I've been looking to purchase a "inexpensive" drysuit myself and have been drawn to the Whites and Bare options. Neoprene drysuits are FAR cheaper than shells and O'Neil's suit isn't bad either. We have an O'Neil in the shop for $650 but my retardo-skinny wrists just float inside the otherwise PERFECT fitting suit. By getting neoprene you also save money on the underwear (not needing as much). Anyways, that's the direction I've been looking at for cost saving (and I like things fitting a bit snugger). For shells, the Bare nex-gens are very basic, inexpensive suits (they DO last as we have some as rentals). Unless you have those standard I-fit-into-anything bodies (man, I hate you people), then I wouldn't buy over the internet. But, most manufacturers have sizing charts so you tell if you are a standard.
In the end, I am quite taken by the Bare 4mm compressed neo (and its soo pretty... hehe).
Good luck on this quest of ours... hehe.

 

[glbirch]

Big question. Lubold8432 is right, there are a lot of threads on the pros and cons of different drysuits. You might want to do some research looking at a more basic level than brand name. Consider what kind of diving you plan to do most of that you will need a drysuit for. You mentioned "tech diving". That covers a lot of ground. Are you thinking of wreck, cave, deep, cold water, or a combination of these, or something else?

There are a few basic types of drysuit. Neoprene, Compressed Neoprene, Laminate (Bilam, Trilam), Vulcanized Rubber. Each has it's own strong and weak points. Weight, durability, warmth, flexibility, resistance to puncture, etc. Do some reading and comparing of the different types, keeping the kind of diving you want to do in mind.

In the end there is no "perfect drysuit". What you want is the drysuit that suits you best for the type of diving you want to do. With a little research you should be able to narrow the field, and from there you will have a better idea of what brands make the better drysuits in the type you are looking for.

Not the easy answer, but I hope it helps.

 

[glbirch]

I've been looking to purchase a "inexpensive" drysuit myself and have been drawn to the Whites and Bare options. Neoprene drysuits are FAR cheaper than shells and O'Neil's suit isn't bad either. We have an O'Neil in the shop for $650 but my retardo-skinny wrists just float inside the otherwise PERFECT fitting suit. By getting neoprene you also save money on the underwear (not needing as much). Anyways, that's the direction I've been looking at for cost saving (and I like things fitting a bit snugger). For shells, the Bare nex-gens are very basic, inexpensive suits (they DO last as we have some as rentals). Unless you have those standard I-fit-into-anything bodies (man, I hate you people), then I wouldn't buy over the internet. But, most manufacturers have sizing charts so you tell if you are a standard.
In the end, I am quite taken by the Bare 4mm compressed neo (and its soo pretty... hehe).
Good luck on this quest of ours... hehe.

I've got the Bare XCD2 2mm compressed neoprene suit. (Any colour you want as long as it's black.) Don't know if I'd call it 'pretty', but it's a solid drysuit, well made and reasonably priced.

 

[CALI68]

I bought the Bare XCD2 Tech Dry...great suit especially for the money!

I disagree with the previous post...I think It's actually a VERY cool looking suit with outstanding features...look:

http://www.bare-wetsuits.com/bareshop/diveproduct.asp?dept_id=21010&pf_id=61416

 

[CALI68]

It's also not a huge difference to get one "made to measure" ...Custom Made! I paid around $200 more for a perfect custom fit.