Dry Suits for women?

[scrubbo]

Okay, my fiance and I went scuba diving in the sea of cortez by San Carlos over New Years. (Ocean Sports in San Carlos ran the dive trip, they were awesome, I HIGHLY recommend them if you take a trip down there!)

She was chilly in her heavy wetsuit, and the dive operator let her borrow his wife's dry suit for the last day of diving. (The water wasn't that cold, only 61 degrees or so, but she gets chilly easily!) She LOVED how warm she was in it.

None of our LDS carry them in stock. Between the 3 dive shops, we have access to Mobby's (which doesn't appear to be selling suits right now), Andy's, Pinnacle (from diving concepts), OS systems, and DUI.

The suit she tried was a shell, and she liked it because of the warm fuzzy undies that she got to tromp around in AFTER the diving as well as during the diving. The thing she DIDN'T like was the inflatable feet. (She popped a fin off!) She saw a guy on the trip who had the nifty rock boots and thought that was the coolest thing evah.

So. I'm looking to get her a drysuit. And the stores don't have any drysuits for her to try on, but the one she had on down there was a ML Bares from many, many years ago. Fortunately she'll be pretty easy to fit, 5'8" 140 pounds, normal curves for a girl in the normal girl places. She SHOULD be able to work in a mens suit if worst comes to worst.

So... if I'm looking for a shell suit (trilam) with the little lace up boots for around 1200 bucks. The only DUI suit that fits the bill is their cheapy TLS^SE drysuit. None of the other ones have the lace up boots. If I get it from the LDS, they should be able to order in the ML and check it for sizing. But I suspect that the DUI cheapy suit costs about the same as a really good Whites or Bare suit. Has anybody tried out these suits? Would I be paying for the name on the DUI suit? Should I go to the work of trying to get a bares or whites/etc from a mail order place?

 

[Penopolypants]

That was nice of the dive operator to let her borrow a suit. Divers are such nice people!

She really should try on a dry suit prior to purchasing it. That being said, there are several internet sites that you can buy one from that are willing to go back and forth with her in order to get the right size. Many suit makers also offer custom suits, which would assure the best fit, obviously, but they are a bit more expensive.

DUI makes a great suit, with a pretty high price tag, as you've noticed . There are several other suits that you can buy that are several hundred dollars less, but still excellent quality. Bare suits come to mind, and it looks like you've researched that option. www.divetank.com sells Bare suits (and DUI suits) for an excellent price, and are very happy to ship back and forth if the suit doesn't work and she needs to try a different size.

The lace up boots are easy - get her a suit with latex socks, and get either a pair of rock boots to put over the socks, or get a pair of Chucks (high-top converse allstars). Most trilam suits offer this option.

I had the boots replaced on my suit with socks and I am much happier. I have a USIA and love it, but I believe it is a bi-lam.

 

[alibee]

Hey! How the heck do you know how much I weight, Scrubbo? I thought I kept that a well-guarded secret.

Peno, yes, the owner was SUPER awesome. I have a circulatory disorder and I spent my fourth dive (second dive on the second day) unable to stop shaking. The dry suit made a HUGE difference, and is exactly what I'll need when we move back to California and are diving off the coast there (and in the bays). He was really awesomely helpful.

 

[Web Monkey]

I beleive Mobby's is out of business, although it's still a really nice suit, and you should be able to get a great deal on it because they're OOB.

Make sure you try the suit before you buy it to check it for fit.

If it fits correctly, there won't be nearly enough extra length to let her foot slip out of the boot. You shouldn't need the rock boots if you can find a suit that fits, although it's always an option (unless you're going to be walking over a lot of jagged rocks, in which case, it's probably a good idea ).

The

Okay, my fiance and I went scuba diving in the sea of cortez by San Carlos over New Years. (Ocean Sports in San Carlos ran the dive trip, they were awesome, I HIGHLY recommend them if you take a trip down there!)

She was chilly in her heavy wetsuit, and the dive operator let her borrow his wife's dry suit for the last day of diving. (The water wasn't that cold, only 61 degrees or so, but she gets chilly easily!) She LOVED how warm she was in it.

None of our LDS carry them in stock. Between the 3 dive shops, we have access to Mobby's (which doesn't appear to be selling suits right now), Andy's, Pinnacle (from diving concepts), OS systems, and DUI.

The suit she tried was a shell, and she liked it because of the warm fuzzy undies that she got to tromp around in AFTER the diving as well as during the diving. The thing she DIDN'T like was the inflatable feet. (She popped a fin off!) She saw a guy on the trip who had the nifty rock boots and thought that was the coolest thing evah.

So. I'm looking to get her a drysuit. And the stores don't have any drysuits for her to try on, but the one she had on down there was a ML Bares from many, many years ago. Fortunately she'll be pretty easy to fit, 5'8" 140 pounds, normal curves for a girl in the normal girl places. She SHOULD be able to work in a mens suit if worst comes to worst.

So... if I'm looking for a shell suit (trilam) with the little lace up boots for around 1200 bucks. The only DUI suit that fits the bill is their cheapy TLS^SE drysuit. None of the other ones have the lace up boots. If I get it from the LDS, they should be able to order in the ML and check it for sizing. But I suspect that the DUI cheapy suit costs about the same as a really good Whites or Bare suit. Has anybody tried out these suits? Would I be paying for the name on the DUI suit? Should I go to the work of trying to get a bares or whites/etc from a mail order place?

 

[Bob3]

Popping fins off can be very annoying. When jumping out of airplanes we'd duct tape the critters on.
Easier than duct tape are a couple of little velcro straps around the ankles to use as sort of "training wheels" 'till a person gets used to how much air in the suit to use, which will effectively eliminate the fin popping problem.
As mentioned, rock boots work well for their intended purpose, crawling over rocks. Boat divers sometimes find the extra work to be an annoyance.

 

[Penopolypants]

Yay for dry suit diving! With a circulatory disorder like that, it is definitely worth the $$$. And diving in California, you will need it! It's cold!

Web Monkey is correct, a properly fitted dry suit will not let your feet slip out of the boots. However, if you are doing a lot of shore diving, a rock boot system has many advantages. It's hard to carry the extra weight needed for cold water/dry suit diving over lots of rocks without some extra protection and support. I felt every rock through my thin soled boots that came with my suit.

Although....the boots that come with a mobbys suit did seem pretty thick and comfortable. Much like a sturdy sneaker. Were I to buy a mobbys suit, I think I would be happy to have those boots. I don't think they went out of business, they just lost their US distribution.

Ultimately, it's up to you, and what's comfortable. Admittedly, the rock boots are a slight hassle, but the comfort and support are worth it.

Bob, what kind of boots come with a Viking suit?

 

[scrubbo]

Well, I'm a BIG fan of the rock boots for her as we'll be doing most of our diving in Monterey once we move back to San Fran. It's lots of shore entries. And most of our diving in Wisconsin is in quarrys and lakes, all with rocky shore entry. The only boat diving we get to do is vacations. And we'll try to go to warm places for those most of the time.

I've done monterey in the regular drysuit boots, and it's not horrible, but you can definately feel the rocks through mine.

 

[scubadobadoo]

You may want to look to the Bare Nex Gen. You can get undies, lace up boots, hood, and gloves from many places for around $700 as a package. Both my wife and I own DUI TLS 350's and are happy with them but if we had to do it all over again, we would just go cheaper. Many friends own Bare Next Gens and are as happy, warm, and dry as I am and at almost half the cost. I agree with everyone though, fit is all important in a dry suit! Just some thoughts! Have fun, DSAO!

 

[jduncan]

FWIW.

Pinnacle Aquatics makes a great tri-lam DS. The Evolution Dry. Lisa and I both have one and hers is a womens specific model and size, mine a mens. They have one piece vulcanized rubber boots (no need for separate shoes) and are rear entry. They run about 1200 bucks each and are considered a premium suit. www.pinnacleaquatics.com.

If you are interested in seeing what they look like, PM me and I'll send you a photo.

Cheers,

Jeff

 

[SubMariner]

er... Rock!

Besides making a really good suit, I think the DUI Rock boots are great. Having had other suits with the built-in boots, I don't think I'll ever want to go back to them. The other thing I prefer is a front entry.

BTW, here is a link to the DUI site with the MSRP. However, many times you can get a better deal (kind of like the sticker price on a new car; there are dealers out there that will give you a better price) http://www.dui-online.com/pricing.htm. Also, at one time they had a page on their website of "Specials" where you could buy suits that had been returned, sent in for repairs & abandoned (etc.) at good prices.

Bonne chance,