Justifying a dry suit or not

[BRT]

If I could dive wet and be warm for the second dive I'd never dive dry. Since I can't, I dive dry in the PNW. There isn't much that feels as good as pushing the inflate button as I walk out of the ice water and go from OK to toasty on the way to the suiting up area.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Josh,

It all depends on how warm you are and what your cold tolerance is, plus other factors such as the money, whether you like to be wet, if you like the concept of drysuits or wetsuits.
There's a lot to drysuits, waterproof zippers that need servicing and occasional replacement, neck and wrist seals that need eventual replacement, dry gloves if you choose to go that route, booties that may need replacing eventually (on some models). They need to be cared for - rinsed out and hung to dry with a fan blowing air inside or turned inside out. They can be a maintenance pig. Don't forget the undies which is a whole separate thing. And if you have to pee, well then, you have to either end the dive and run to the nearest urinal, use depends, or use a cath that glues to your ding dong.
However, if you are the type that freezes and dry is the only option coupled with plenty of disposable income then they are great.

Wet on the other hand gives you the option to pee freely whenever you want, it allows wonderfull salt water to caress your skin, it requires very little maintenance, it can be used many days in a row on a boat because it only can get so wet, and they're relatively cheap.
But, you may be limited in the number of dives you can do in a day, you will be limited on your depth, and you will feel it when you peel the thing off and the wind is blowing.
There is the option of going to a custom like I have which offers better materials and better fit. That's what I did.

There's also the dive style and dive goals. If you are just doing fun recreational dives hunting or poking around one of our beaches and you are doing 2 maybe 3 dives a day, maybe kayak diving, and you have a good tolerance to cold then a wetsuit is fine. If you are going to get into tech or follow what Peter C. is doing then you will need a drysuit. Drysuits and bug hunting in Socal don't get along, Hunting in general and scallop collecting don't really get along.

You decide.

P.S.
That Freedom Plate you lost can be replaced if you want, but don't tell anyone

 

[poomero]

All very good points guys thank you. I will try some out and see how I like them. this might be a non issue if I hate how they feel.

 

[kr2y5]

How many dives a month do you need to do to justify a dry suit?

I have contemplated a similar question about 10 months ago, and I can hardly imagine diving wet at this point... I recently happened to be on a short trip to Mexico, and I took my Whites Fusion Sport with me for one day of diving. Light, comfortable in the water, and dirt cheap compared to most drysuits. I do not remember how much I spent, but it was on sale, in the ballpark of $1300 for everything, including undergarments and replaceable wrist and neck seals. Meanwhile, my expensive wetsuit had been peeling thread at the seams since after just a couple of vacation trips to Hawaii.

 

[JohnN]

All very good points guys thank you. I will try some out and see how I like them. this might be a non issue if I hate how they feel.

Give it at least 6 dives before you make a final decision. You could be a buoyancy savant, but if you're not lucky enough to dial your weighting in, the first few times, you will likely find yourself corking to the surface, despite your best efforts to dump air. To say it is frustrating is a huge understatement

 

[KeithG]

How many dives a month do you need to do to justify a dry suit? I am really thinking about one but the price tag has me thinking about not doing it. I know the pros of it and they sound great but I can get a lot of wet suits for the price of the dry suit I am looking at. I dive in a wet suit now and I am warm but I like the idea of being dry. Is it worth dropping that money on a dry suit if I only dive once a month or sometimes once every other month? any input from owners that don't dive a lot would really be great.

1. Just 1.

We dive for fun & pleasure. Not profit. That makes it very easy (at least in my small & very tiny mind) to justify any thing that will make me "more happy". I may have to sell a child or 2 off for science experiments, but we can always make more if required. (Life of Brian!)

This is an economic, not a finance decision. Will you be happier? Economics says YES. So we get to ignore the finance implications. Buy it.

Dive warm, dive happy, dive often, dive long.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

I wouldn't recommend the TLS350 just because it's not a good value for the money and you're better off in a crushed neoprene suit, Pinnacle Black Ice etc. for that type of diving, less underwear=less lead.

The big thing for a drysuit is that you can use it in varying water temperatures by changing your undergarments where you would need 3 or more different wetsuits to do the same work. With a drysuit you are more protected from evaporative cooling effects, and you are dry, so that helps.... Well worth the money

Well... I've wondered about this myself. I've had the TLS350 for almost 15 years now. I've had to send it in about every 5th year for service at $500 bucks a pop. If I had it to do over again, I would look more closely at some of the other options that might be more durable and have a lower total cost of ownership like the crushed neoprene.

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I dive both dry and wet and in the water there isn't much difference. It's when you come out of the water and it's cold topside that the dry suit really pays off. However, unless the OP is going to do a lot more diving, I don't think the cost of purchasing and maintaining a drysuit is worth it in his case. The expense of a drysuit really limits itself to year-round divers, rather than occasional or seasonal divers.

 

[Keith.M]

I am not 100% sure on this. I am going to go get measured tomorrow. I am 5 10 and 230 so I think xl or xxl



If I had a dry suit I would do the same dives yes. I might dive more often though because I would be warm. hahaha. I am warm in a wetsuit but getting back in the water after the first dive is hard sometime.


Marin County is in San Francisco area. Water is about 50ish when I dive. I do dive year round.


I am going to try and rent one or two over thanksgiving and give them a try. I am thinking about a whites fusion or a dui tls350

OK, I was asking because I have an XL TLS 350. I bought it as I felt I needed the XL with a 44" chest. But I am 5' 8" and 185 and it really is too big for me.

Although it was made in 2006, it is brand new. Halcyon balanced P valve. It had never been wet when I bought it. Because I could see it was too large, I did not even dive it until I finally decided to go and give it a try. So I did one pool dive and then two dives at Point Lobos. I just decided that yes, it is too big and I would rather sell it to someone and get one that fits me better.

 

[poomero]

I need a custom size I think. I am all over the chart after just measuring and seeing what will fit. I am going to pull the trigger on a custom CLX450 I think.

 

[spoolin01]

I'd add that if your dives are slow - UW photo, poking around holes with a light, looking at the little stuff, waiting for a buddy who's wandered off 5 ft to find you again - or if you just don't like being cold, like me, you'll appreciate the drysuit. It's a quantum leap in comfort. The 12mm Otter Bay custom hood really closes the book on cold displeasure.

However, if you swim fast you won't like it as much as wet, and you may or may not like the 10-15lbs additional weight you'll need to offset the bouyancy. I've been using a 7mm foam neoprene drysuit for a few years and would hate to leave that comfort behind again. It has slowed down my pacing though, and a nearly 40lb weight belt is miserable. But worth it once in the water. It was also cheap - under $500 on close-out.