I know this is a can of worms but..........I want to know about drysuits

[AeroMike]

Okay, I hope you all had a great holiday time and New Years.

I have been doing some research on dry suits and it seems there are tons of different suits for different needs. I figured sine you all do the same type of diving I do (fossil diving) that I would see if any of you use a drysuit and if so, what can you recommend. Is there anything that I should consider? I would be using this suit to do black water river diving and maybe off shore on the dredge piles but the later would be pushing it.


Thanks,

Mike

 

[black_sea]

I do mostly archaeological diving, not fossil diving, but close enough. There is not one holy grail written on drysuits, and the best way for you to figure out what you want is to hire two different models and see what works best for you.

The main material difference in drysuits today is the thin trilaminate suits, like DUI, and the thicker crushed neoprene suits. I prefer neoprene (had scubapro, poseidon, now use bare), many prefer trilaminate. Different buoyancy, insulation and balance between them. There will be avid proponents of both. I personally feel crushed neoprene is sturdier than trilam, but I had students with URSUK trilaminate suits get it cut with a boat propeller and the suit held.
You will have to do your own due diligence.

 

[SPEARIT]

For the river diving you're doing, I'd lean towards a 3mm crushed neoprene suit. I know some professional river divers down there and they prefer the neoprene suits for durability. What size suit do you wear?

 

[AeroMike]

For the river diving you're doing, I'd lean towards a 3mm crushed neoprene suit. I know some professional river divers down there and they prefer the neoprene suits for durability. What size suit do you wear?

Well, I have been losing some weight and the weight tables I have been looking at is saying XL but I am 5'11" and 240 but I have been losing weight steady since this summer when I started out at 300 lbs. My goal is 210. I wear a 36" waist pants.


I sent a request up to a dive shop in Murrels Inlet, SC and will drive up there if I need to to try out suit sizes.

 

[SPEARIT]

When you try on suits, make sure you wear the insulation suit you'd be wearing. 2 important features to include on a suit are internal suspenders, and a P valve.
I'd had good luck with DUI; I had a CF200 before and now a CNSE. Feel free to give me a call if I can help with any info.
Tom
910 455 1116

 

[AeroMike]

thanks Tom, I may call you some time as I gather info. I figure this would be a great time to dive since most divers will not be out there so I would have a better chance. That, and the viz would be a lot better this time of year too.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Mike,

Just in case you have not seen this video clip yet, I will post it here.

If you need to fill a seat, count me in on the offshore dredge piles.

[video=youtube;UDJ7_QsR_Oc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDJ7_QsR_Oc[/video]

 

[iamsharky]

Mike:

I use a Pinnacle Evolution2 tri-laminate dry suit which has suspenders and p-valve. (has been discontinued) I have had it about 4 years and many dives with it and love it. I owned a neoprene suit a few years ago and prefer the tri-laminate suit. The tri-laminate may be more buoyant but it does not feel as restrictive and bulky to me as the neoprene suit. Make sure you know what you are doing before using the dry-suit, some folks have been killed because they did not know about proper operation of the dry-suit. Good luck and happy diving!