Lobos Report: Cheating the Odds 4-11-10

[Peter_C]

Kristina, we will just talk in person this weekend and you can see what the rest of our crew is using. See you Saturday! I "might" even have a DUI CF200 available, as it is in Canada being used right now.

Dan, you don't count, you dive with weird people in strange places :grinjester:

 

[kathydee]

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.

Kristina, As danobee mentioned I've seen plenty of people wear wetsuit boots over their drysuits, however, you must buy a few sizes larger to accommodate the drysuit material/socks. The fact that your feet were hurting has nothing to do with the drysuit (unless the foot pocket was indeed too small), it has to do with the size of the wetsuit boots and that is an easy fix . And as Peter suggested often we wear more ridgid shoes with drysuits and some drysuits come with built in turbo soles that don't require boots at all.

Different drysuits vary in warmth. Compressed neoprene is warmer than trilam, however, warmth is basically a function of the thickness of undergarment you are using, hood, gloves, socks, etc. A trilam suit can be quite toasty if you understand this principle.

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.

Well I wouldn't say I picked up my drysuits for peanuts. Sure the first flx 50/50 bought on Craigs list for $600 with less than 20 dives including rockboots, undergarments, hood and 28 lbs of weights looked like a steal. But... add pockets $150?, shorten sleeves $150?, replace seals $250?, replace zipper $400?, replace dump valve $80, replace the hood $60 and still the drysuit was not a good fit . You do have to be careful when purchasing a used suit to know that it will function as you wish. I learned the hard way that often it is cost effective to purchase new from the start.

Turns out I do fit a stock DUI size which is lucky. So I did better on Ebay the second time around, but certainly did not pay peanuts ;-).

Kristina will probably have to purchase custom which makes second hand drysuit shopping challenging.

 

[mikeguerrero]

Kristina,

In an attempt to better understand the suit that a lot of divers talk about, Fusion, I decided to rent it for this Friday.

I will be diving the Fusion by Whites including undergarments by whites, even the 3mm neoprene socks they sell.

My DUI left to San Diego for some repairs and that left me with no suit to dive this weekend.

But, with all this talk about the Fusion my curiousity got the better of me, I went down to my dive shop and picked up the suit for a trial run.

I will give a full report after I dive it. I made sure I got a perfect fitting as to keep this comparison to my DUI a fair review.

Everything is Whites, except for my diving gear that is the same. I am so excited can hardly wait.

 

[pacificgal]

Thanks, Mike. I suppose I should give White's another try, with adequate undergarments and properly fitting boots. I'll check in with my dive club and see when the next drysuit class is scheduled so I can rent one.
So, this is what I want you to compare:
fit, comfort of seals, stiffness, flexibility, ease of donning/doffing. Can you add stuff to it? Pockets, dry gloves, etc?
I already know a little about it, e.g., I know you can buy a new skin if the outer shell gets worn out.

 

[Peter_C]

So, this is what I want you to compare:
fit, comfort of seals, stiffness, flexibility, ease of donning/doffing. Can you add stuff to it? Pockets, dry gloves, etc?
I already know a little about it, e.g., I know you can buy a new skin if the outer shell gets worn out.

I can add in a little since I have plenty of experience with a few different suits, and my current suit is a Fusion with a Tech skin.

They fit most bodies very well since they are bags with stretchy fabric over them. Allows them to adapt to more people.

Stiffness and flexibility I would consider one in the same and it is far superior to both a trilam and even my CF200 that was stretchy.

Watching the video of donning the suit definitely helps with a couple of tricks to get the Fusion on quicker. To get it off I came up with my own trick to get the feet out easier. I found that pulling my ultra thick undergarment out of my leg first allows the feet to just slip out. I can don and doff pretty quickly now.

There isn't much to add to the suit since you can buy the Bullet skin with Pockets already installed. They are supposed to be much improved over the Tech skin I have.

For me dry gloves are a must have and I use Viking rings, but if I had to do it over again, I would go with the SI Tech system only because they have a new cuff system that allows glueless wrist seal changes.

One of the more important pieces of gear that goes with drysuit diving local is an Otter Bay hood. Just make sure to tell Cricket you have TMJ, and need the jaw a little looser. Eventually, when over half her customers start telling her, she might get the idea to loosen the jaw up a little from the get go.

 

[kathydee]

Just make sure to tell Cricket you have TMJ, and need the jaw a little looser. Eventually, when over half her customers start telling her, she might get the idea to loosen the jaw up a little from the get go.

Well I thought the TMJ thing was brilliant when I made it up. But during my dive often a bubble forms between my otterbay hood and my head and a pocket of cold water seeps in. I have to push the hood down to reform the seal on my head a few times during the dive to restore warmth.

Wondering if the extra cut to accommodate my "tmj" and avoid the "lock jaw" issue is causing this gap in warmth?

Do other Otterbay owners experience this?

 

[Peter_C]

When my hood was new it hurt my jaw bad. It has loosened up substantially now, but soon I may be due for a replacement hood. I do get a very small bubble at the top of my head, but if I get cold I push it down and warm air flows over my ears and feels great! No need to vent the hood at all, in fact I consider the air bubble a plus

 

[mikeguerrero]

Kathy,

Thanks for sharing that info, I'm getting ready to get my first OB helmet and will make sure not to get the TMJ...

I want a perfect seal on my head and don't want any of that super cold water entering my noggin unless I do it myself...

You always seem to take one for the team, always exploring new suits and equipment much appreciated, your candid reviews are well recieved...

 

[kathydee]

When my hood was new it hurt my jaw bad. It has loosened up substantially now, but soon I may be due for a replacement hood. I do get a very small bubble at the top of my head, but if I get cold I push it down and warm air flows over my ears and feels great! No need to vent the hood at all, in fact I consider the air bubble a plus

Hey Peter, I'm curious, how small is small. My new and improved custom "tmj" hood has about 1/4+ inches of play/air bubble/water. No big thing - just push it down 3-4 times during the dive and the air/cold water rushes out - warm again for a while. Good news is that there never was any lock jaw .

 

[Peter_C]

Hey Peter, I'm curious, how small is small. My new and improved custom "tmj" hood has about 1/4+ inches of play/air bubble/water. No big thing - just push it down 3-4 times during the dive and the air/cold water rushes out - warm again for a while. Good news is that there never was any lock jaw .

Remember I have less than 1/20 the amount of hair that you do (Razor passed over it a week ago), but I get probably around a 1/8" gap at the top of my head, maybe a little bit more. My hood fits me darn well :cool2:

I would assume the jaw area has less to do with warmth over the entire head as much as head shape and quantity of hair do. For instance a pony tail exiting out the back leaves a large gap for water to flow through. I get next to no water exchange and my jaw has loosened up substantially. The tightness to my head is still very snuggly warm.