Which DrySuit?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Lock Down

Guest
Messages
66
Reaction score
0
Location
Cleveland
# of dives
100 - 199
I am about to purchase my first drysuit and I was wondering if anyone had any advice on who's drysuit I should look at. I was thinking about tri-lam, for several reasons.
1. I won't need to add as much weight
2. I like the thought of not having to let the suit dry for days before I can re pack it.
3. less expensive
4. more room for undergarments and growing :popcorn:


Does anyone have any ideas or personal experiences that can lead me in the right direction? Thanks for the help in advance!
 
I have a White's Catalyst. Not a cheap suit, but VERY rugged. But then the saying goes, you get what you pay for. I have been quite happy with it (just wish it would grow sideways with me:D ), don't get me wrong, it fit really good when I first got it, but I've been "growing" faster than it. I find it convenient in that it has the expansion panels, so you don't have to mess with folding over &/or crotch straps (got to maintain my lady like appearance:D ) & such. The seals on the neck & wrists are heavy duty & seem to hold up well (I've only had the suit for about a year, so I'm not sure if that's an adequate test or not). It's also quite stylish. White's now has out it's Catalyst 360, which even though I've never tried it i supposed to be even better. You might want to contact Dive Jedi (White's dealer on the site here), if you're interested for more details on the 360. Any way that's my 2 cents.
 
Lock Down:
I am about to purchase my first drysuit and I was wondering if anyone had any advice on who's drysuit I should look at. I was thinking about tri-lam, for several reasons.
1. I won't need to add as much weight
2. I like the thought of not having to let the suit dry for days before I can re pack it.
3. less expensive
4. more room for undergarments and growing :popcorn:

It doesn't always workout like you have it thought out.

1. You may need more weight than with a compressed neoprene suit if you need thicker undergarments.
2. Shell suits do dry very quickly, but in a proper rack and with fans you can get neoprene suits dry under a day.
3. Maybe, though tri-lams aren't exactly cheap either. Regular neoprene suits are cheapest.
4. If you have more room it's because you need it as the tri-lams don't stretch so you need more room for mobility and since they don't have any intrinsic insulation properties so you need more room for thicker undergarments.

Now I was just playing the devil's advocate above. I don't know what kind of drysuit is objectively the best - the dive community seems about evenly divided on that issue. I myself have a both a bi-lam shell suit and a 3mm compressed neoprene suit and of the two I prefer the latter at the moment, but I'm still relatively new to dry diving so I may change my mind with more experience and if I ever get to try a perfectly fitting high-end tri-lam (though my stock size bi-lam fits pretty nicely too).

I personally prefer the neoprene suit because it's warmer so I've needed less undergarments = less lead, it's tighter so it traps less gas = less lead + easier to dive (not that the shell suit is hard to dive either), plus it's more flexible and it swims better. In short I love it. The downside is that it's heavier (especially when wet) and takes longer to dry.
 
Whatever suit you get make sure it fits, that is the most important aspect of a dry suit. If it doesn't fit right it will be uncomfortable, hard to vent, etc. I have a Pinnacle Evolution (tirlam) and like if very much. It fits great and with the Pinnacle Merino undergarments it is very warm even in the low - mid 40s. I like the trilams for most of the reasons you already listed. Good luck and have fun shopping (just remember fit.....)
 
you got to make sure it fits. then you can allways think about what kind of diving you are going to be doing. but a suit to fit the enviroment.
 
Thanks for the help. I never realized hat the fit was so important but I will make sure to consider that first. Has anyone had any experience with the Viking extreme sport diving suit? I was wondering what your opinions were of this suit? http://www.vikingdiving.com/?id=1697&subid=1697
 
Both my wife and I have USIA Technoflex suits and very much enjoy them. They are our first suits, so not much to compare them against, at the personal level.

Well made. Well designed.
 
In our household, we have trilam, compressed neoprene, and regular neoprene dry suits. This is my take on the matter:

Trilam is lighter and easier to pack up. It dries faster, which is important if you are travelling with the suit, but otherwise doesn't make a lot of difference. It is easier to move around in a trilam suit if the suit fits correctly. You can vary the undergarments according to the water temperature, so the suit is useful if you dive an area where water temperatures vary a great deal with the seasons. Trilam is not difficult to puncture, but is pretty easy to patch. There does come a point, however, where it is impractical to layer more undergarments under a trilam suit, both from a mobility standpoint and from the weight penalty involved.

That's why I own a compressed neoprene suit as well. The compressed neo is heavy and dries more slowly (hanging overnight in a hotel room won't do it). It doesn't pack up as well. It is more rugged -- We haven't had to patch either of the compressed neo suits yet, so I don't now how it is to repair. It is SUBSTANTIALLY warmer. There is a weight penalty for changing to the compressed neo -- It cost me four pounds. Mobility underwater can be more difficult. Although the suit material does stretch, you can't count on that to give you access to your valves. And, unlike with trilam, extra material built into the suit fit doesn't collapse as well around you, and carries a weight penalty. There does not seem to be any signficant buoyancy change with depth with the compressed neo, unlike the full neoprene suit.

The full neo suit is by far and away the warmest, but also the heaviest and least flexible. There is again a weight penalty for using it, and it has significant buoyancy changes with depth. My husband has found managing the expansion of the neoprene AND the venting of his suit to be a persistent challenge, and he doesn't dive that suit unless the other one is in the shop.

One family's experience, but there are our data.
 
Everybody has their reasons for going with the suits they like. And the good part is I've really not come across one that I'd not dive with. They all seem to be well made. That thought in mind, I put about 1000 dives on my Apollo drysuit before finally wearing it out. I taught classes in it, perormed one full-blown rescue where a diver had gotten washed upon the rocks and mussels at the end of the reef in Laguna Beach, and did a great many regular ol' fun dives in it. I've had it in Puget Sound in the winter, used in Monterey, Ca. and in S. Cal both summer and winter.

My current suit is the Bare Nex Gen, purchased basically because I needed a suit and we had it in stock at the time. Took a bit of getting used to not having ankle valves any more but after that I couldn't be more pleased! I think it is going to hold up well for many years to come, and is comfortable to wear.

Have fun!
 

Back
Top Bottom