Which drysuit for a tall, thin person ?

[Stargazer]

Looking for a drysuit (first one), but I am about 6'2" and 158 lbs. Usually I fall between M and L in standard suits (had to have a custom wetsuit made). Any suggestions on drysuit manufacturers who might have something that fits, or where to go custom ?

 

[jlyle]

DUI's front entry suits "telescope" and height to weight ratio should not be a problem in achieving a good fit.

Go to their website: dui-online.com and look at their scheudule for "dog days" to see if they will be in your area. Alternatively, attend Scuba 2004 in Long Beach or one of the other dive trade shows where DUI is exhibiting...they'll have lots of suits to try on and can answer any questions.

"Being cold is highly over-rated!"

 

[hex92]

Check out BARE
They have a wide range of standard sizes.

 

[Lightning Fish]

Looking for a drysuit (first one), but I am about 6'2" and 158 lbs. Usually I fall between M and L in standard suits (had to have a custom wetsuit made). Any suggestions on drysuit manufacturers who might have something that fits, or where to go custom ?

I'm 6'2" and thin as well, but a fair bit more than 158 lbs. I just bought a Bare Nex-Gen, they have many different stock sizes. I ended up getting a large tall and it fits great. They are worth checking out.

Bill

 

[bigDave]

Looking for a drysuit (first one), but I am about 6'2" and 158 lbs. Usually I fall between M and L in standard suits (had to have a custom wetsuit made). Any suggestions on drysuit manufacturers who might have something that fits, or where to go custom ?

O'Neill makes tall sizes. DUI does the "big boy" type cut on their stock drysuit, so they would be huge on you unless you do a special production suit. But you can go to the scuba show or a dui demo demo event and try it out. Check the schedule .

Take care,
BD

 

[MarkH]

Looking for a drysuit (first one), but I am about 6'2" and 158 lbs. Usually I fall between M and L in standard suits (had to have a custom wetsuit made). Any suggestions on drysuit manufacturers who might have something that fits, or where to go custom ?

I'm 6' and 145 lbs. Back when I dove wet, I just bought an off the rack Whites and strangely enough, it fit my "Cousteau physique" just fine. Now I have a non-custom shell suit and, yes, it's a bit baggy on the surface, but underwater the water pressure "hugs" it to my body so it doesn't seem to make a difference. There used to be pockets of air around my shoulders that was hard to dump so I moved the upper bicep valve to my wrist and now there's no problem.

 

[merc97]

I have the same problem, am 6ft 4 inches and weighted 175 lbs when I got my drysuit. I had to get a custom dui cf 200 se and it fit great. Now with age doesn't fit and I now can get into a stock xl. If you are interested pm me about me about the custom suit.

 

[Stargazer]

Thanks for the advice....it looks like Bare, O'Neill, and DUI are worth checking out for standard sizes...if I can find dealers in my area (Boston) who would actually have them in stock (and I wasn't successful at this when getting a wetsuit, so had to go custom). Try asking a dealer if they happen to have a Medium Tall suit in stock...it would be easier for me to gain 25 or 30 pounds (not likely). For a custom suit, if it comes to that, any leads on where to go ? (I like my Henderson custom wetsuit - do they make good dry suits also ?)

 

[ns2ny]

I have the big bird problem as well 6'1+ @ 160, size 12 shoe and have tried a number of suits on and here is what I've found in my quest to buy a new suit

Back entry, I had a old scuba pro M/L vulancized style suit and had no problem with the lengrh issue. Since we don't stretch it horizontally, we have a bit more play vertically.
Back entries have a bit more flexibilty in this area I believe. The only problem I had was since I am so thin, the excess material created a fair amount of drag.

I also tried the Bare HD M/L and it was just a wee to short in the upper torso. However when I had the boots changed to neo-socks, you can get the length extended just enough to deal with this. I wanted to avoid the Large/Tall as it would leave too much slack material and cause more drag in the water.

The Bare line has a Medium Tall, Medium Large Tall and Large Tall. IMHO the measurements are close but I think they are a bit on the conservative side and cater more for people with larger builds. You seem like a good canditate for the medium tall in the Bare line either trilam or neo. If you are expecting a spare tire anytime soon, you could get the MLT and since you will likely have the boots changed, they can give an inch or so to address the length (unless your are all torso and no legs

THere are some other things to consider as well, is this purely rec or are you thinking tech as well? If tech, you may want the neoprene since is it more puncture resistant and will be more of a tight fit. This will give you more freedom of movement and less material to get caught on objects.

David

 

[Stargazer]

Thanks ns2ny. I am strictly rec, very lazy and just want to find a suit which lets me stay warm and comfortable in New England waters (sort of an oxymoron, I know).
Will look at Bare if I can find a dealer. I should be about the same size as you, also #12 shoe. Is there an advantage to changing boots to neo socks ? Does Bare do that up front before they sell you the suit ?