Beaver Tail Wet Suits

[Lone Frogman]

- There are also two complete sets of "beaver tail" style wetsuits (no brand name on them), size extra large. Also two hoods, two sets of medium wetsuit gloves (in the packaging), two sets of boots...in the packaging (one pair size 10 and one pair size 11), and two black divers gear bags...with mold on them. No mold on the suits though and all, never used.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cl...l-diver-wet-suits-never-used.html#post5667722

May be of interest to someone, to big for me.

 

[aquaregia]

I think it'll be too big for me too, I'm usually right on the L-XL cusp. I asked the OP for pictures, so here's hoping. Sure don't want to drive to San Diego though, and I'm sort of uncomfortable buying neoprene sight unseen.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I think it'll be too big for me too, I'm usually right on the L-XL cusp. I asked the OP for pictures, so here's hoping. Sure don't want to drive to San Diego though, and I'm sort of uncomfortable buying neoprene sight unseen.

Andrew,
If you want a classic beaver tail wetsuit I think your best bet is to save up and get one from M&B.
That way it's brand new and it's cut to fit you exactly.

One thing about the ones the guy is selling: There might be a slim chance that they are Rubatex G231. If that's the case they would be worth it. You could have them recut to fit you. They don't make G231 anymore in Lycra/skin so they would be like gold...if they are G231, that is.
Unfortunately I doubt the person selling them would know.

 

[aquaregia]

Yeah, I just can't decide what to do about exposure protection. I just got a job so I can probably afford something, but I'm not sure whether I should be looking at a wetsuit, a drysuit or some combination of the two. It doesn't take much to beat a $30 craigslist special.

I'd like to get into some very non-vintage diving that would really necessitate a drysuit, but I'm also not sure how much I'd enjoy it. I'm certain I wouldn't want to always dive dry, and going back to being freezing when I have the ability to be warm doesn't sound appealing. I love my BP/W, but sometimes it's nice to just have the harness, you know?

 

[duckbill]

I'd like to get into some very non-vintage diving that would really necessitate a drysuit, but I'm also not sure how much I'd enjoy it. I'm certain I wouldn't want to always dive dry, and going back to being freezing when I have the ability to be warm doesn't sound appealing.

LOL! Don't spoil yourself or you'll be sorry! Stay WET!

On a similar note, I always feel sorry for people who learned diving in the tropics and cannot then enjoy a day of diving the beautiful kelp forests of Monterey because they aren't used to the cold water or the bulk and buoyancy of wet suits.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Duckbill is right, people can build a tolerance to the cold. I look at urchin divers that all dive wet and many said when they started they couldn't last an hour without taking a break and having to go warm up. After they got acclimated and their bodies learned to fire up the furnace to keep warm they were doing 4 to 6 hours in 46 degree water no problem.

 

[elmer fudd]

LOL! Don't spoil yourself or you'll be sorry! Stay WET!

On a similar note, I always feel sorry for people who learned diving in the tropics and cannot then enjoy a day of diving the beautiful kelp forests of Monterey because they aren't used to the cold water or the bulk and buoyancy of wet suits.

I've never felt that way, but my two regular dive buddies definitely do. It would take some serious incentives to get them out of their drysuits. Me, as soon as I can comfortably ditch the drysuit, I do it. I generally just hate the darn things. I hate the extra weight, I hate having to add and vent air, I hate having to keep track of and fix leaks and I hate the restricted movement.

Wetsuits by comparison are so flexible and simple. Just put 'em on, ditch the extra 20 lbs. of lead and go.

Come November though at depths greater than 50', the wetsuits just don't cut it anymore. I did a couple of dives last week with air temperatures below freezing and ice on the ground and getting in the water actually made me consider one of those Russian full face masks.

 

[elmer fudd]

Yeah, I just can't decide what to do about exposure protection. I just got a job so I can probably afford something, but I'm not sure whether I should be looking at a wetsuit, a drysuit or some combination of the two. It doesn't take much to beat a $30 craigslist special.

I'd like to get into some very non-vintage diving that would really necessitate a drysuit, but I'm also not sure how much I'd enjoy it. I'm certain I wouldn't want to always dive dry, and going back to being freezing when I have the ability to be warm doesn't sound appealing. I love my BP/W, but sometimes it's nice to just have the harness, you know?

One thing you might consider is a Hydroglove suit. As far as drysuits go, they're extremely cheap, at $180 new. They're also very flexible and comfortable.

Now for that price you don't get a whole lot. They have no valves whatsoever or zippers. After having done a dozen or more dives in one now though, I've come to think a dry zipper might be overrated. Once I got a belly band and figured out the roll method I stopped getting wet around the waist.

If you're going to dive them in a vintage manner, you don't use valves. Instead, you run the face seal around the skirt of your mask and add air by exhaling into the mask. If you orient yourself a little bit head downward and use your hands to hold the face seal at the same time it works just fine. Normally, you would also vent by going into a heads up vertical position and letting the air bubble out around your face. This I found was problematic. When you're in a heads up position, you can't really fight your ascent, so I found that venting often consists of going heads up, losing a little air, swimming back down again and then repeating the procedure.

Fortunately, divers of that era frequently modified their suits by attaching duckbills to make venting easier.

I've read of other divers who modify their HG suits by adding modern valves.


I'm personally thinking of buying another HG suit to use as my modern dry suit. I'm thinking a suit with the extra thick option, valves on the chest and wrist and a dive skin to wear over the top and provide some extra protection.