Drysuit Undergarment Questions

[grouchyturtle]

Since most drysuit undergarments are made of fleece, is there any reason not to just buy fleece pants, jackets, etc. from some place like maybe Old Navy?

(after Christmas sales = much cheaper than Softwear)

If there is a valid reason to get the real undergarment, what weight would you recommend. I think the water temps here get down to the low 40s maybe high 30s. Last time I dove was around the middle of November and it was 47 at depth. I was ok in a 2 piece 7/5mm, except for changing back into dry clothes at the end of the day of course!

 

[Bob3]

... is there any reason not to just buy fleece pants, jackets, etc. from some place like maybe Old Navy?

Not all fleece is created equal, there is a WIDE range of material content & insulative abilities.
Have you looked into the military surplus "bear suits"? For under $50 you can get a brand new set of genuine high quality Polartec Fleece undies. Check your local army surplus store.
They come as a "jacket" and bibb style pants.
The HALO undies are better, being 1-piece, but they're near impossible to get your hands on.

 

[scubasean]

Since most drysuit undergarments are made of fleece, is there any reason not to just buy fleece pants, jackets, etc. from some place like maybe Old Navy?

(after Christmas sales = much cheaper than Softwear)

If there is a valid reason to get the real undergarment, what weight would you recommend. I think the water temps here get down to the low 40s maybe high 30s. Last time I dove was around the middle of November and it was 47 at depth. I was ok in a 2 piece 7/5mm, except for changing back into dry clothes at the end of the day of course!

300 weight is what I wear, and our water temps are similar to yours...You can certainly buy them from off the shelf places, but I like my custom suit...bought it from Softwear...and I've heard that not all fleece is alike...

:banana:

 

[Warren_L]

I wear a 200g Bare CT-200 in water temps similar to you, and have been toasty warm. However, keep in mind it would also depend on the type of drysuit you have as well. Trilam would have zero insulating factor while neoprene/compressed neoprene will have some.

 

[grouchyturtle]

Trilam, sorry should have included that in the original post.

 

[mwilding]

As much as the hardcore swear by their custom undergarments, a lot of people dive with sweatpants and sweaters. If you have some long underwear and fleece pants and a wicking layer or two and a fleece top, you will not be getting cold. The only issue that may arise is with air trapping in your undergarment.

Ideally, you want maximum insulation with minimum loft - so that trapped air is minimized.

I highly suggest going to cabelas.com and clicking on "online help". You will chat with you own sales agent who can make recommendations. I did that and came away with a great pair of warm & thin fleece pants with ankle loops and a VERY warm wicking layer.

 

[kingprawn]

I know a few people that wear long johns and fleece garments. The one issue they mention is movement. You can’t just pull down you shirt with a drysuit over it. This does not stop them though. My dive instructor suggested Polartec fleece.

I have a set of Andy’s undies US100 that I wear off NJ. When the water was 40 this spring, I wore a fleece jacket over the undies for additional warmth. Only my head and hands got cold after a while.

I know one goof that wears two pairs of jeans for undies in 45 deg water. He was shivering for the next hour.

 

[vlada]

The warmest ones (with the least weight) use Thinsulate type fibers or which ever fibers Weezle guys use in their suit

I have no temperature tolerance (i use 5mm suit with hooded vest in Carribean) and i need thinsulate in order have meaningful dive time in the great Lakes in the winter

I used to have Weezle Extreme, now use Diving Concepts 400f undies - was toasty warm on an hour long dive in 37F water today. DUI also makes thinsulate undies


Vlada

 

[lamont]

There's a transcript of a George Irvine lecture here:

http://www.baue.org/library/irvine_baue_talk.html

Where he talks about additional benefits of thinsulate for heat and bouyancy when a suit is flooded:

``One of the worst is thermal. The worst thing that happens to us is ripped seals or a ripped drysuit that floods the drysuit. That's why we always use argon for the cave dives because argon in a flooded Thinsulate works better than dry Thinsulate with air. [audience laughs] Think about that one. Of course the Thinsulate has to be of the compressible type. There's several different kinds of Thinsulate — in general the stuff you get for camping gear, outdoor for hunting and fishing and things like that, is not the under-pressure Thinsulate. It's not meant to be walked on or compressed and it won't hold gas the way the stuff that's meant to be compressed will. So you want the good stuff. Generally you can tell because it costs twice as much. It's real simple. If it's too cheap, it's no good. It can't possibly be what you want if it's too cheap. In real life, when you flood a suit and it's got the good stuff in it, the buoyancy won't change. You'll still keep gas in the fibers, along with the water. But it won't change your buoyancy. And a key, obviously, is for us not to lose our buoyancy —not to need to jack the wings.''

Does that sound like good advice and a good reason to shell out for the thinsulate over just going with sweats?

 

[vlada]

IMHO, the choice of underwear would also go hand in hand with what kind of dives people are doing

Someone who is only doing 40 min rec dives and is not as cold intolerant as i am can do very well with the fleece undies. Presumably, that diver would also dive in the NDL range and the ripped drysuit and the prospect of hypothermia could be easily fixed by surfacing and getting back to shore/boat

If, on the other hand, diver is doing some meaningful penetration/deco (and in 37F water even 15 min is meaningful), then the serious leak in the drysuit can make life miserable very fast, so the choice of undergarment should include the termal properties when flooded

Vlada