A Drysuit is a Drysuit is a Drysuit

[Polari]

Newbie here but had the same questions myself.Like you iam under water alot 3 to 5 hours.First 2 suits i used it was neoprene 4mm with neoprene neck and dry gloves.Fit wise was a step larger than my body.With only a 200gr fleece never felt colt.
My issue was the heavy weight (lead) i had to use for buoyancy.So bought a Fusion one and fit was great but to stay warm i had to use more insulation which on buoyancy translates exactly the same weight as the 4mm neoprene.

So order another neoprene drysuit this time 2mm.I will be diving for testing,hopefully this saturday or sunday and see if a 200gr fleece with less weight can keep me warm.

 

[Keith.M]

I have been watching this thread evolve as I am very interested in what suits people like and why.

I have noticed a few responses that mentioned how they love their suit over previous choices, or two suits made by the same factory, while at the same time, never mentioning what that actual suit and manufacturer is.

What's up with that?

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I have noticed a few responses that mentioned how they love their suit over previous choices, or two suits made by the same factory, while at the same time, never mentioning what that actual suit and manufacturer is.

What's up with that?

There are many examples of suits being made in the same place being re-branded. One was mentioned by the OP

4th Element = Urisuit
USIA Aquasport = Sea Elite Scout / same suit was also sold as Edge if I remember correctly
Deluxe Neo = Dragonhide (The former is sold as a stocksize for an equivalent of 1800 USD whereas the latter sells as a fully custom suit for 1000 - 1300 USD depending on what options you install.)

 

[3D diver]

When I was shopping for my first drysuit, Viking was hands down the best available...in 1989.

When I finally had to replace it a couple of years ago I was overwhelmed by all the changes in drysuits---new materials I don't know, new features I'm not sure I want, etc.

I punted and got another Viking. It cost the same as the other medium to high end suits out there and was exactly what I was used to.

With luck & care it will outlive me.

 

[kelemvor]

Chalk me up as a fourth who had recently been considering dry for the first time. I'm glad someone else posted the question so I didn't have to!

I hadn't even heard of viking yet, all the others mentioned I'd at least glanced at.

 

[KD8NPB]

Welded polyurethane or vulcanized rubber suits offer the longest serviceable lifespans, but at the expense of higher initial cost.

I've seen pure neoprene suits last a very long time too (one of my divers has a 30 year old Poseidon unisuit), but this entirely depends on the quality of neoprene used. High stretch neoprene doesn't last very long.

Glued suits WILL eventually fall apart, depending on the adhesive used, construction practices, and substrate.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I would enforce the consensus that neoprene suits offer better diving experience than shell suits. Yet shell suits are generally the more aggressively marketed because of the parallel industry they create of "under-garments." Keep in mind that the undergarments cause them to become as buoyant and in need of extra lead as a neoprene suit in similar temperatures. In ice-conditions, I was needing more lead to dive in my USIA shell suit than in my neoprene suit simply because the undergarment needed way way too bulky.

My experience is that a closely fitted neoprene drysuit will / should need a little less lead to sink than a shell suit. For most people, It would have to be a custom fitted size rather than a "stock size" though.

 

[KD8NPB]

I would enforce the consensus that neoprene suits offer better diving experience than shell suits. Yet shell suits are generally the more aggressively marketed because of the parallel industry they create of "under-garments." Keep in mind that the undergarments cause them to become as buoyant and in need of extra lead as a neoprene suit in similar temperatures. In ice-conditions, I was needing more lead to dive in my USIA shell suit than in my neoprene suit simply because the undergarment needed way way too bulky.

My experience is that a closely fitted neoprene drysuit will / should need a little less lead to sink than a shell suit. For most people, It would have to be a custom fitted size rather than a "stock size" though.

The downside with neoprene drysuits : Being too hot in a drysuit sucks. With a neoprene drysuit, you're forced to be hot.

With my Viking Extreme polyurethane shell suit, I can wear underarmor, 4th element xerotherm, 4th element arctic, or 4th element halo 3d or any combination of insulation depending on the water temperature. I'm fine in all temps from near freezing all the way up to tropical.

Not only that, but a shell suit with very little undergarment will require less lead than a neoprene or crushed neoprene type drysuit.

Then again, I prefer to rely on undergarments for insulation rather than the suit itself.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

The downside with neoprene drysuits : Being too hot in a drysuit sucks. With a neoprene drysuit, you're forced to be hot.

With my Viking Extreme polyurethane shell suit, I can wear underarmor, 4th element xerotherm, 4th element arctic, or 4th element halo 3d or any combination of insulation depending on the water temperature. I'm fine in all temps from near freezing all the way up to tropical.

Not only that, but a shell suit with very little undergarment will require less lead than a neoprene or crushed neoprene type drysuit.

Then again, I prefer to rely on undergarments for insulation rather than the suit itself.

My 3mm neoprene drysuit is not any hotter than my 3mm neoprene wetsuit when I wear it with zero undergarments. Both are 3mm neoprene. Unless you are diving in extremely hot weather, like skin burning desert conditions (where a drysuit would not be needed anyway,) I do not see overheating in a neoprene suit as a problem. It could be if it is a 7mm neoprene though.

I would have to go back into my test logs to confirm this but from what I recall, my USIA bi-lam shell suit needed the exact same weight to dive with minimal undergarments as my 3mm neoprene because it would cause suit-squeeze especially in my crotch area. This was a problem with a lot of shell suits. In order to be comfortable, I needed to pump air and that would kill any theoretical buoyancy advantage a shell suit is advertised to have over a neoprene suit.

Now when it came to loading up on undergarments for colder waters that is when neoprene actually needed LESS lead than my USIA bi-lam. In my USIA, I was needing to layer with way too much undergarment and I was still cold and shivering. With 3mm neoprene, I was wearing a Walmart 300gram polartec and I could stay indefinitely in 38-39 degree waters. But then all neoprene suits are also not the same. In order for a neoprene suit to sink with less lead, it has to be a custom made suit that clings to your body like a wetsuit. This eliminates the air pockets inside making it possible to sink with little lead. A lot of "Stock sizes" in neoprene suits are still cut loose like a shell suit and then they create the same air pockets that make shell suits a miserable experience to dive in.

 

[Vegan Shark]

I guess I'm still not clear on the differences between neoprene and trilam suits. I thought that neoprene suits were more inherently warm, but that they didn't allow for as wide a range of undergarments since they were more tight fitting? I'm mainly looking for a suit good from the 50s down to 30s.

Extra features like great pockets, place for keys, boots that are easy to get on, are nice, but it seems weird that such minor features would warrant a price difference of $1000+. For that price the pockets better make me breakfast in bed too

For when a drysuit does flood, a little or a lot, how miserable is it? About the same as a wetsuit, or can it require the dive to be aborted?