Lobos Report: Cheating the Odds 4-11-10

[kathydee]

and went to Shale Island. I saw my first spanish shawl, and my first octopus too. I was trying out a new wetsuit on the boat, I was freezing in the wind and rain and almost didn't make that second dive. I am so glad I did! It was a great day to be out in a drysuit

I'm happy you got out! Octopus & spanish shawl in one day!? Cool!

Shale Island is beautiful & almost worth freezing for ! How's your new wetsuit working out?

 

[Peter_C]

thats 120cf tank @ 3800psi full

Sucks to get a short fill :depressed: I prefer my 130's with a full fill for single tank diving.

Yes, Peter, I finally went to Shale Island! I saw my first spanish shawl, and my first octopus too. I was trying out a new wetsuit on the boat, I was freezing in the wind and rain and almost didn't make that second dive. I am so glad I did! It was a great day to be out in a drysuit

Sounds like an awesome day of diving Now what is this about a wetsuit? No hard core divers use a wetsuit they all use drysuits! Extreme nut cases are known to use custom wetsuits. I have a friend that insists on wetsuits LOL

 

[mikeguerrero]

I went diving on 4/11 too, with Stephen Pacetti and Dannobee. Went to a new site that Stephen found on the Baue website and went to Shale Island. Yes, Peter, I finally went to Shale Island! I saw my first spanish shawl, and my first octopus too. I was trying out a new wetsuit on the boat, I was freezing in the wind and rain and almost didn't make that second dive. I am so glad I did! It was a great day to be out in a drysuit

Kristina,

You are one brave, tough, little, diver... Toughing it out in a wetsuit, I will give you my props... However, I didn't know you bought a new wetsuit? Are you not drysuit certified, I was sure last I remember that you are?

 

[pacificgal]

I am almost drysuit certified, I missed my last checkout dive and my old instructor wanted to charge me another $175 to complete it. My dive club is also offering the class, I think I could do it for $100 or $125 thru them.
I haven't bought the new wetsuit yet, I rented the one I was thinking of buying from AWS for last Sunday's dive, and I was cold. Granted it was on a boat, on a bad, windy, cold, rainy day, but I was freezing. The other one they brought in I tried on yesterday was way too big in the hips.
I talked to Ginnie at AWS about a drysuit, was hoping she could talk me into one (financially) and she indicated I would probably need a custom suit because I would be hard to fit. So, I'm looking at $1995 for the trilam suit, plus another $300 for customization, and she said sometimes they have deals where they throw in free undergarments. I'm a single mom, I don't want to incur credit debt so I have to save my money for awhile. I don't want to stop diving while I save my money, I have to get a new wetsuit.

 

[Peter_C]

Kristina, many of us are very happy with the Whites Fusion which now comes with the Bullet skin. This is a revolutionary drysuit in that it fits many different body shapes since it has a stretchy skin. They fit like a wetsuit. I HIGHLY recommend you try one on before spending any money period. Bamboo Reef is a retailer for Whites.

There are a bunch of us using the Fusion, including some well respected Scubaboard folks like Lynne aka TSandM, along with my dive team member Erik, Rick Inman, James F from Tahoe, Michelle B, and of course myself. I have owned trilam, DUI CF200, and wouldn't even think twice about buying another Fusion. The price is much lower than a conventional drysuit. I bought mine very lightly used for $1125.

Dive Rite in Scuba will gladly take it back and exchange the Fusion for a different size, and I believe will even send you a rental to try before you buy.
Whites Fusion Bullet Drysuit - Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL

FWIW many places will include a drysuit cert with the price of a new drysuit.

For undergarments you could just use fleece for a little while, probably something you already have in your closet, but eventually something like the Whites MK3 would be in order. Plenty of people buy the fleece jumpsuit from ebay though that costs around $120 or something and are happy with them.

 

[pacificgal]

I did try the fusion when they had their demo days. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great either. The feet pockets were killing me with my wetsuit boots. Poor thermal protection too, I was still cold so it wasn't that great an experience. AWS told me that it takes about 10 dives in a drysuit before you don't wish you never bought it.
I'm also trying to support my LDS, AWS has been pretty good to me.

 

[mikeguerrero]

I did try the fusion when they had their demo days. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great either. The feet pockets were killing me with my wetsuit boots. Poor thermal protection too, I was still cold so it wasn't that great an experience. AWS told me that it takes about 10 dives in a drysuit before you don't wish you never bought it.
I'm also trying to support my LDS, AWS has been pretty good to me.

Too bad the Fusion didn't work for you, I thought with it's design it would've been a great choice for you overall.

Save up for the drysuit of your choice even if it takes a while, it will be worth the wait.

In the meantime, can you do a simple patch on your wetsuit, it's summer time so the surface intervals will keep you going for some time while you continue saving.

You can even get a great price on a used drysuit, take a look at how Kathy did it. She owns two gorgeous DUI suits and paid peanuts for them.

I hope she chimes in with some advice on how she did it.

No rush Kristina, continue to save and maybe rent for a little more, it's very cheap to rent a wetsuit, I know because I work at a dive shop, much more cheaper than buying a new one.

MG

 

[Peter_C]

Doesn't matter what drysuit you are in if you are not wearing enough underneath it you will be cold. Point being it was not having enough on, not the Fusion that was the problem, the suit itself does not supply any thermal insulation. A trilam would have left you just as cold. The better question is how did it fit? They really do fit more body types than any other suit, and they are cheaper than most everything else on the market. Better bang for the buck, yet still getting good quality.

No one I know uses wet suit booties with their drysuits. There are people who do it though. I personally use Chuck Taylors that can be had for under $30.00 from most any shoe store or even Ross Dress For Less.

AWS is a nice store. They are very far from me so I have only been there once before. I am not loyal to any store since my local ones do not stock anything I need...not even nitrox! So most all of my gear comes from the internet, often times previously owned.

 

[dannobee]

... No one I know uses wet suit booties with their drysuits. There are people who do it though. I personally use Chuck Taylors that can be had for under $30.00 from most any shoe store or even Ross Dress For Less.

I know quite a few people who use wetsuit booties over their drysuit socks. Even different ones for shore diving and boat diving.

 

[pacificgal]

I really shouldn't complain about the fusion, Peter, I really don't have enough experience with anything other than a wetsuit to compare it to. My current wetsuit will work for now, I'm going to take it to the north coast this weekend. It's not perfect, now missing the left kneepad so it's ugly too, but with enough sun I should be able to tolerate the cold.
I wasn't wearing any sort of socks with the drysuit I tried on, or if I was wearing socks it was my thin wetsuit ones that help me slide my wetsuit on easier.
The drysuit experience wasn't great for me, it's true I didn't quite do it right, with the right undergarments or boots (it was so tight I could hardly zip up my boots, had to leave them somewhat open) and my weight belt kept slipping down, making movement that much more difficult.