Are drysuits an absolute necessity for diving in the UK?

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Hi UK divers,

I'm a diver from South Australia and moving to Kent next month. I'm an experienced cool water diver but as yet don't have many sub 10 degree dives under my belt.

I do have some experience with drysuits (I own a Waterproof D1) but whenever I dive during winter here in SA (11-15 degrees for many months), I am always much more comfortable in my 2 piece 7mm open cell spearfishing suit, than the drysuit. As a videographer, I find water tends to always leak water in the arm seals and my I have to wear what seems to be a ridiculous amount of weight to get down.

My question is, are there many divers out there who regularly dive wetsuit rather than drysuit in the UK?

Since I'm trying to be careful with the amount of luggage I'll be taking over.... Would I be crazy to not bring my drysuit?

Thanks,

Stefan
 
It is cold on the surface as well and most of us prefer dry. You can endure the cold if you want to of course - that's up to you. Drysuits should not leak and no activity such as video should have any effect. Nor should you need a ridiculous amount of lead - certainly not more than a 7mm wetsuit.

Water temperature here in the sea is between 10-16C most of the time. Personally if I had to wear a wetsuit I wouldn't dive. I can think of one or two people over the years that wore a semi dry but they were very much in the minority.

How long are you here? The sea doesn't get warm for another 6 months now. Where do you plan to dive? Kent hasn't much to offer. (Vis is poor - lots of stuff there to dive, but hard to get good vis and weather) Might be cheaper to rent a suit if you are not going to dive much.
 
Personally I am different from Chrisch in that I have only dived in a 7mm wetsuit to date in the UK (sea temperatures 8C-14C) which has done me from around March into October. That is without feeling like I am cold at all - a lot will depend on surface conditions though - getting changed out of a wetsuit is no fun in poor weather whereas with a drysuit you can just drive off in the undersuit to get changed later.
 
Bring the drysuit. It will keep you much warmer at depth in addition to being far more comfortable on the surface between dives.
I get asked this frequently for diving in the Seattle area, which has very similar conditions to the U.K. I always recommend diving dry.
 
I think I'm with the majority.
Yes it is possible to dive in a wetsuit or semi dry, but the !likelihood of you missing the second dive is high due to getting cold and not being able to warm up between dives.
There is a reason that those that dive regularly (and all year) use drysuits. It's about comfort a d keeping warm.

The seas (and fresh water) will start to cool now. Generally starting in November, the water won't start to warm again until late May at the earliest. Whilst surface temperatures will improve In April, the water can be bitterly cold. April and May are high incident months, generally caused by the mix of high(er) surface temperatures, the sun showing its face encouraging those that have had a layoff back into the water. And the bitter cold and challenging conditions a actually in the water. The cold can be a positive bringing good visibility, but the risks of hypothermia, and kit issues with rusty skills.

Gareth
 
dive dry, the wind even on a sunny day will make you freeze inbetween dives. Have seen people diving in two piece wetsuits, they always seem to be shivering look quite unhappy and doing 15 minute dives were we do 45-60 minute dives.
 
Polecam nurkować w suchym skafandrze. Wiem, jak trudno jest mieć bagaż sportowy, pomyśl więc o wynajęciu suchego kombinezonu w centrum nurkowym. Komfort cieplny jest dla mnie najważniejszy. Pamiętaj, że w zimnej wodzie jesteśmy bardziej podatni na stres, a my pozostajemy krócej pod wodą.
 
google translation of the above for the rest of un monolingual english speakers... :)

I recommend diving in a dry suit. I know how hard it is to have a sports luggage, so think about renting a dry suit in the diving center. Thermal comfort is most important to me. Remember that in cold water we are more susceptible to stress, and we stay shorter under water.
 

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