I hate my new drysuit

[Tigerman]

I havent read all the posts, but I have been diving both shell suits and dive a compressed neoprene suit atm.

I do have very distinct tendons in my wrist. This means that to keep dry I have to pull the latex seal a tiny bit up my forearm to avoid leaks. Not waving around with my arms helps a lot too.
Undergarments helps in several ways. It reduses "pinching" as your skin is not in direct contact with the suit as well as helping a bit on air distribution and keeping you warm. I never dive without some form of undergarment.
If you feel moist - as you will if youre sweating and using certain types of undergarment - but cant find any leaks, its just that you get damp and the since the suit dont breathe the moisture have no way to go. Wool undergarments is über for removing that issue. Most undergarments that you buy is fleece, a material I dont EVER use for undergarments, diving or otherwise. Ive tried it for drysuit undergarments and it was hugely disappointing and the only fleece garments i currently own is blankets and a light jacket.

And yes, a few dives will make you more comfortable in a drysuit, just like you usually need a few dives before you get comfortable with your other diving gear.

 

[ryssyr]

dry suits are not supposed to be damp. my suit is bone dry. maybe you should look at another vendor or try a different style that fits you better.

 

[Tigerman]

dry suits are not supposed to be damp. my suit is bone dry. maybe you should look at another vendor or try a different style that fits you better.

They dont breathe (which is why they keep air in and water out) so they WILL be damp if youre hot in a drysuit over time and dont use underwear that combat moist efficiently - which wool is unbeatable for..

 

[TSandM]

No dry suit is totally dry -- at the very least, you have condensation, and for those of us with skinny, tendinous wrists, there will ALWAYS be some seepage through the wrist seals. But if everything is working correctly, one can end the dive just damp a couple of inches up from the wrist seals, and very slightly damp on the outside of good undergarments.

 

[Web Monkey]

Until you're horizontal and wearing drysuit underwear, you're going to think someone has your nuts in a vice. It's just physics and there's no way to beat it and has nothing to do with the brand or style suit you bought. The parts of you that are at a greater depth will feel more squeeze.

Weighting is even more important with a drysuit than a wetsuit. Too little air will result in you being squeezed, to much will make you uncontrollable, so the first thing you need to do is a real buoyancy check.

Get into the water wearing all your normal gear, an almost empty tank and an open drysuit exhaust valve and have someone hand you weights until you just sink. This is how much weight you need.

Next you need to distribute the weight so you're trimmed correctly. This will involve moving your weights and tank around until you can stay horizontal without doing anything active to maintain your position.

Once you get this done, the suit should be quite comfortable. After a couple of dozen dives you'll never go back to a wetsuit for anything much below 80 degrees.

Terry

 

[SteveAD]

No dry suit is totally dry -- at the very least, you have condensation, and for those of us with skinny, tendinous wrists, there will ALWAYS be some seepage through the wrist seals. But if everything is working correctly, one can end the dive just damp a couple of inches up from the wrist seals, and very slightly damp on the outside of good undergarments.

Like Tiger said, if you have skinny wrists with prominant tendons, you need to wear the seals up on the meatier/smoother part of the forearm.

 

[Divedoggie]

Until you're horizontal and wearing drysuit underwear, you're going to think someone has your nuts in a vice. It's just physics and there's no way to beat it and has nothing to do with the brand or style suit you bought. The parts of you that are at a greater depth will feel more squeeze.

Weighting is even more important with a drysuit than a wetsuit. Too little air will result in you being squeezed, to much will make you uncontrollable, so the first thing you need to do is a real buoyancy check.

Get into the water wearing all your normal gear, an almost empty tank and an open drysuit exhaust valve and have someone hand you weights until you just sink. This is how much weight you need.

Next you need to distribute the weight so your trimmed correctly. This will involve moving your weights and tank around until you can stay horizontal without doing anything active to maintain your position.

Once you get this done, the suit should be quite comfortable. After a couple of dozen dives you'll never go back to a wetsuit for anything much below 80 degrees.

Terry

^Terry nailed it in the above quote^ This will make all the difference. Either take a Drysuit specialty course or get an experienced friend to help you. Once you are horizontal, insulated and weighted properly, you will start liking the suit!

 

[AndyDragon]

Perfectly said Web Monkey, weighting properly is more important in a dry suit than ever in a wet suit. The sweet spot is much smaller and takes more patience to find. Once found though, you can get back to the same precision and control...then you'll really enjoy that suit.

 

[imasinker]

Ironically, I just dove a Catalyst last weekend and did the pool dive a couple of days prior. Couple of things to keep in mind.

You are diving a bag suit. When in the pool, you likely didn't have any undergarments on that will help distribute the air. Once you get some undergarments on that feeling of a bubble bouncing around the suit goes away (the more loft the undergarment has, the more distributed the air will be). Also, it is not nearly as bad at diving depth than in a pool with a more uniform pressure on the suit.
Make sure you "burp" the suit before you get in the water. It is definitely a different feeling than a wetsuit. On the surface, you feel like you are vacuum packed in teh suit. This is not a bad thing since it means you don't have any air in the suit. If you are going to just walk around or are between dives, having air in the suit definitely makes it more comfortable, but you will want to burp it before you get in the water again. As you descend and add air, this feeling goes away.

This was my first experience in a dry suit, so I can't speak for all dry suits, but it was definitely the case for the catalyst. The lycra skin on the fusion or use of a neoprene suit, would definitely mitigate some of these feelings due to the uniform tension constantly being exerted on the suit.

As for the space, you may have a suit that is slightly too large. If you are like me, if I get something that will fit me in the chest and hips, then the limbs are WAAAAYYYYY to long which leads to a lot of extra space. But your challenge me be just the opposite. If you get something that will fit your limbs, you may find that it is too big in the torso area. Wearing an undergarment will also help fill in this gap.

Not sure about the seals. Were your forearms the only thing wet or did water leak in and settle in your feet? was it a possibility of sweat? The first time I wore my suit out, I wore too heavy of undergarments and ended up sweating my rear off. This lead to me being wet not because my suit leaked but because I was too warm.

I would say before you get too frustrated, give it a shot at depth. Definitely a much different experience than in the pool

Just my 2 cents worth....

I wont say this your problem but these are great points made. I bought my Bare Trilam HD after trying on a few others. Being tall and thin I was a hard fit. Most suits seemed to feel baggy. When I first started diving it was in June this year and of course I needed thermo undies. Everything went fine untill about the end of July and Aug. I went to a quarry dive and being shallow and warmer out, I wore just shorts and a t shirt. There was alot of room I never felt before. It was like I was wearing a totally different suit not fitted for me. Have someone who uses a drysuit and is familar with them look you over. There is a lot to get used to and easy enough to get frustrated at first, but we all were new. Try and do a few more pool sessions to get used to wearing and using the suit as best as you can and safe where you will feel ok to try it at depth. Don't give up, you'll really enjoy the suit!
Good luck and happy diving...

 

[wetwillie2]

dont sweat it. once you get down to depth it will all balance out when you add some air. i got my nexus 3 last spring and havnt dove wet since. just dont give up yet, ask lots of questions and take your time