How many drysuits do you own, and why would you need more than one?

[MechDiver]

Three... all with P-valves.

Geez. How do you keep track of all the bolts

 

[LUBOLD8431]

Actually, I got it because it was real cheap, and I dont want to use my other suits for teaching. If I could have gotten another trilam for the price of this neo suit, I would have (it was mad cheap). Yeah, I dont like diving neoprene suits, but its not that bad. Also, its mostly shallow stuff anyways. Im not doing much teaching right now anyways, so its kinda a moot point...

 

[IndigoBlue]

Trilam, CF material, etc... Why do you own more than 1?

I have one, a trilam.

Several of my friends have 2, a trilam and a compressed neoprene.

Your drysuit will be damp after use, and one advantage I can think of for having 2 is that your second suit will be completely dry for consecutive day diving. That gives your first suit an extra day to dry out during. In a hot dry climate, a suit will dry out overnight. In winter, it can take several days.

If you were going on a major expedition, then like anything else, 2 is better than 1 in case of a tear early on. Fixing a tear takes about 24 hours for the glue to firmly dry, if you have all the repair materials with you.

Trilam tears more easily than compressed neoprene, so it makes sense that for technical applications like shipwrecks, neoprene would be a more durable choice. Or you could wear cover-alls over your trilam as well.

Maybe someone who has both can tell you whether compressed neoprene is warmer. I have heard that claim made.

One major disadvantage of having 2 is that the seals will all tend to degrade with time, therefore your maintenance costs will be double if you have 2 suits. But while one suit is being repaired, you do have another suit to go diving in.

It can sometimes take up to a month to get new seals ordered and installed, unless you DIY, in which case you can DIY seals in one afternoon, and the glue would be good and dry after a day. 2 weeks is the standard promised repair time of most dive shops. But it does not always work out that way.

 

[IndigoBlue]

For my own personal use, 6.
2 Unisuits (warm), 2 Vikings (tough & secure) (one dedicated for drinking water applications) These have neck yokes for mating direct to helmet.
1 Viking Xtreme for scuba (attached hood)
1 canvass "Bunny Suit" for the vintage diving parties.

Dang, I could probably use a few more....

I could see having 2, as long as one of them was a hard-hat suit.

 

[justin-branam]

I could see having 2, as long as one of them was a hard-hat suit.

if i asked how many wetsuits you have, what would you say? thats why people have more than one drysuit. just my 2 cents.

 

[scubasean]

if i asked how many wetsuits you have, what would you say? thats why people have more than one drysuit. just my 2 cents.

I have one...the same number of drysuits I have...LOL

 

[6Gill]

I have one...the same number of drysuits I have...LOL

I have a DUI CF200 w/p-valve that I purchased and a Harvey's Aqua-Capsule that I won at a local divers fair. Lately, I use the O'Niel 3MM wet suit more often diving in the tropics.

 

[docmartin]

i have got a trilam and a compressed neoprene. the trilam is intended for travel and anything else except wreck penetrations and shore dives where i have to crawl over rocks. that's what the neoprene is for. it's also nice to have a backup e.g. my neoprene has been away for weeks for a new zipper.

 

[IndigoBlue]

if i asked how many wetsuits you have, what would you say? thats why people have more than one drysuit. just my 2 cents.

I have one wetsuit. I do not dive wet, however. I use it for teaching, in the pool.

For tropical diving, I use a 1/2 mm dive skin. However, some really thin folks cannot stay warm in dive skins, and they would need a 3mm wetsuit instead.

Other than for tropical diving, I believe that the wetsuits are less than desirable for scuba diving. They are a hazard at depths of 100 ft or more, if you did not choose your B/C or wing correctly to compensate for your weights and tank and air, when offset by wetsuit squeeze at depth.

The main attraction of wetsuits is that their apparent short term cost is less than a drysuit. In the long term wetsuits and drysuits cost about the same.

Wetsuits are ideal for freediving or for surfing. Not scuba, unless it is shallow scuba for gear rental purposes only, since students tend to abuse gear, and wetsuits take more abuse than drysuits.

A nice trilam drysuit would be perfect for any kind of scuba diving wherein you need anything more than a dive skin or 3mm suit. All you need to do with a trilam is vary the insulation, from thin longjohns for relatively warm water in the 70s to woolies with argon for the colder waters.

End of the wetsuit analogy?

 

[Genesis]

For water temps of 75F or so, I prefer diving wet for NST dives, and above close to 80F, I don't care how long the exposure.

Below that, I want my drysuit. I'll take the additional drag it offers for the significant improvement in comfort and the lack of a buoyancy shift that is associated with depth.