Pros of dry:
• Multiple dives, same day are much more comfy
• Surface intervals between those dives rock. The wetties are shivering in their dive parkas, you're chillin in fuzzy undies. The SI is the least addressed benefit of diving dry, IMO.
• You'll never think twice about making a dive. Its tough to get motivated for that 5th dive of the day, or the night dive if you gotta fold yourself into that cold, clammy wetsuit.
• Steel Tanks - you can confidently dive the largest steel tanks in your DS. I'd hesitate diving the bigger steels in a wetty. This also brings up the next point:
• Using less lead - I use less lead. I didn't say less weight, I said less lead. By moving to a heavy BP and a Steel tank, I use a lot less lead than I did when diving my 7mm and the jellybean AL tank
• Easier to don and doff. You can dress like a civilized person - no need to fight your suit to pull it on and peel it off. IN a DS, you step in, zip up, go diving.
• You look better in a Drysuit. Nobody this side of Jessica Alba looks good in a wetsuit. They're just not flattering for most normal people. Me, I look like a Jimmy Dean sausage in mine. Hate it. Yes, I am that vain.... I look better in my DS.
• Better dexterity - properly fitted dry gloves, despite what you may read elsewhere, offer you better dexterity than 3mm or 5mm wet gloves. I wear dry gloves year round in SoCal - hardly a cold place to dive compared to many of you nutbars in the hinterlands (and I mean that in the best way... :10: ) I wear dry gloves because latex seals leak over my wrist tendons when I'm working my camera, and when I'm at 90 feet, the gloves cinch down and give me a better fit. Why anybody would dive dry and still dive wet hands is a mystery to me.
• Unlike a wetsuit, they're easy to fix at home. In hundreds of dives on a Drysuit, I've never ripped a seam. Rip a seam on your wetsuit (easy to do, as the seams are under much more stress than the seams of a DS) and its tough to do a proper repair. Get a hole in your DS, you mend it and your back in the game the same day.
• You will use less gas. For me, its all about the BT. Once you get comfortable in your DS, your core temperature will rise, you will be more relaxed, and you will use less gas. I have found this to be true diver after diver. I popsicle my friends until they get a Drysuit, and the funniest thing happens - all of a sudden they're doing longer dives at the same sites with the same tanks... the only thing that changed is they're not cold anymore. I'm a photographer, which means I move very slowly, and for most of the dive, I don't move at all. Diving in water even in the mid-50's for 80 or 90 minutes at a time with little to no movement would be impossible for me in a wettie.
• The secondary Market is your friend. A DS is a people-shaped bag with a seal for your neck, and a couple for your wrists. There isn't much (short of a full zipper replacement) that you need to worry about. Meaning, you can buy one on eBay without stressing. I've bought / owned 6 right off of eBay. No worries. I've sent buddies to eBay... no worries. Treasures await you, and you'll save the big bux.
Dry Suit Cons
• Casheesh - the price of entry is 3 to 7 times the price of entry into a wetsuit. However, as others have said - your cost per dive will be much less, as they last longer. And because there is some tolerance in a DS (read: wiggle room) you can beef up a bit and still make it work. eBay is your friend.
• Streamlining - people insist they have to work harder to move about underwater in a Dry Suit. I dive a DS 99% of the time, so I don't notice. When I dive wet, I notice I'm colder, I can pee if I need to, and I'm kinda springy. But I've never noticed the "I feel like a bus in my DS" feeling because my DS fits and I'm in reasonable shape.
• A DS takes up more room. I figured my Tri Lam would take up less room in my bag / luggage than my 7mm. Nope. DS, Undies, Sox, Boots, Gloves, Glove Liners, Hose... takes up more room than Wetsuit, booties, gloves. Who knew?!?!
• Rigging up takes a little longer. There is just more to do to get ready to dive. I'm speed dresser, so its no biggie. But I know it takes me a bit longer to rig up in a DS.
• Not ALL dives are better in a DS. I lobstered for years in a DS... it was all I had. I finally got a Wetsuit last season... OMG. SO much better for rolling around in 4 - 10 feet of water than a Drysuit.
• Maintenance - a DS is higher maintenance. Lubing the zipper, powdering the seals, drying it out, matching your undies to the right conditions, venting as you dive, blah blah blah... When I look across the line and see warmth, post-dive comfort and longer BT, this is not a barrier to entry.
There it is. Kenny's DS Prose and Cons. If you’re diving in water in the 50’s and 60’s, and your serious about diving (I’m not talking about doing 20 – 50 serious dives a year, I’m talking about seriously doing 100 to 200+ dives a year) you gotta go dry.
It will take you to a different place as a diver.
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Ken
