Got soaked in rental drysuit

[Doby45]

I only left one tooth opened!

One tooth means that the end of the zipper was not "docked" to the rubber end piece that seals the zipper.

This is way more dramatic than it needs to be and does not cost an arm and a leg. You can get very good used suits off of eBay and normally if you are in a off size like XS for a woman or XXL or 2XXL for a man you can get them even cheaper. In two months I bought two Fusion drysuits off eBay for approx $700US each and they dive great and have been dry other than when I had my undergarment under the wrist seal (my bad).

 

[Dogbowl]

Yup! Looking into the Fusion suits, particularly the Fusion One at the moment.

 

[fmerkel]

One unheralded but not unimportant aspect on being an up to date/active cold water diver is when you do show up for a tropical dive it will be easy. When the divemasters hear where you dive and how often they relax, and respect you. You are not the person they need to worry about.

It's much easier to go from cold to warm, than the other way around. There's a lot to be said for having well honed skills rather than rusty ones, that don't ever improve much from long periods off.

 

[Dogbowl]

One unheralded but not unimportant aspect on being an up to date/active cold water diver is when you do show up for a tropical dive it will be easy. When the divemasters hear where you dive and how often they relax, and respect you. You are not the person they need to worry about.

It's much easier to go from cold to warm, than the other way around. There's a lot to be said for having well honed skills rather than rusty ones, that don't ever improve much from long periods off.

I totally agree. That's why I'm not totally quitting cold water diving just yet, although I really do need to think about how I'm going to proceed.

 

[Storker]

Now I'm not sure if I even want to finish the course. I'm afraid to do the open water dives because if we get flooded again, we wouldn't be able to complete them. The water will be pretty cold.

You've got quite a bit of good advice. As someone who dives dry year round, I'd recommend you not to give up quite yet. Even with water temps in the teens (C, that should be some 50-65F) you won't see people around here diving anything else but dry. One thing is the water, quite another is stripping down to dry off after the dive. That's where the really big difference is between dry and wet diving in cool water.

Any drysuit, even the best, can at most only be a reasonably-dry-most-of-the-time suit. There's condensation, there are d'oh moments when donning, and there's failing seals. Even with those issues, you won't see me dive wet unless I'm on vacation in the warm blue water countries down south.

 

[doctormike]

It's a shame, cause this experience has caused me serious doubts about ever signing up for another drysuit course again, or ever using a drysuit at all. Living in Canada, it would be nice to be able to dive here once in a while, instead of having to fly somewhere warm all the time. Spending CAD$2,000 - $4,000 (approx.) for a drysuit just to see if we'll like drysuit diving just makes no sense at all, unless I win the lottery. Just can't justify it.

This seems overly dramatic. You had a flooded dry suit. Anyone who dives dry should expect that to happen on rare occasions, no matter what their level of experience or the cost/quality of their dry suit. Learning proper technique and maintenance can minimize that chance, and it's not a disaster if it happens (assuming that you don't have a big deco obligation or are diving a very unbalanced rig). But don't try something once and then quit after not getting it to work right away.

Unless you live in the tropics, learning to dive dry will massively increase your diving experience! Instead of just a couple of dive trips a year, you can dive all year, whenever you have a free day. In the season here in NYC, I dive almost every weekend. And in Canada, there is AWESOME diving. Not sure where you live closer to Vancouver, Tobermory or Newfoundland, but those are all terrific options that a dry suit will open up for you. And the St. Lawrence river also has fantastic diving (and is even in the 70 degree Fahrenheit range in the summer!).

Finally, if you want to buy a dry suit, with a little online shopping you can easily get a used suit for less than $1000 US. My buddy got her first suit for about $350 at a Scuba flea market. Yes, there are nice features of higher end suits, but they all do basically the same thing, and to start with there is no reason not to start with something cheaper. If you really want a fancy suit, you can even get a good deal on those used - I just sold a Santi E. Motion in great shape for $1200.

 

[Dogbowl]

Storker, doctormike, and everybody else...thanks for all your comments!

 

[Brandon]

Finally, if you want to buy a dry suit, with a little online shopping you can easily get a used suit for less than $1000 US. My buddy got her first suit for about $350 at a Scuba flea market. Yes, there are nice features of higher end suits, but they all do basically the same thing, and to start with there is no reason not to start with something cheaper. If you really want a fancy suit, you can even get a good deal on those used - I just sold a Santi E. Motion in great shape for $1200.

^^ This.

It was mentioned before in this thread or the other one - but there is MASSIVE attrition in coldwater diving (in Alaska, it's well over 90%). Let someone else buy that $3,000 suit... then try to get it for $1500 or less when they decide coldwater isn't for them. You can regularly find used Fusions for around $750 and even less if you're patient.

If the seller doesn't state that the seals are new, assume they need to be replaced. That's about $200 for neck + wrist. Big warning signs are fabric damage or a zipper problem.

Check sizing CAREFULLY if you go the used route. What you think may be the "perfect" suit or perfect deal doesn't matter for crap if it doesn't fit.

-B

 

[Dogbowl]

^^ This.

It was mentioned before in this thread or the other one - but there is MASSIVE attrition in coldwater diving (in Alaska, it's well over 90%). Let someone else buy that $3,000 suit... then try to get it for $1500 or less when they decide coldwater isn't for them. You can regularly find used Fusions for around $750 and even less if you're patient.

If the seller doesn't state that the seals are new, assume they need to be replaced. That's about $200 for neck + wrist. Big warning signs are fabric damage or a zipper problem.

Check sizing CAREFULLY if you go the used route. What you think may be the "perfect" suit or perfect deal doesn't matter for crap if it doesn't fit.

-B

I was just browsing the classifieds on this forum and there were lots of drysuits for sale. I'm keeping an eye on it.

 

[gcarter]

I was just browsing the classifieds on this forum and there were lots of drysuits for sale. I'm keeping an eye on it.

Kijiji. On FB, Ontario Scuba Swap.