O'three PBB+ vs O'three PBB Extreme undersuit

[reabo]

Hi Guys.
I have an O'Three r-i 2-100 dry suit and am wearing a PBB Extreme thermal suit underneath. I like the undersuit but I have found I need to carry 14kg of lead!!!
I am wondering how much difference weight wise and insulation wise there is between the PBB + and the PBB Extreme and was hoping somebody has experience of this. I really don't want to spend £200 on a suit to find there isn't that much difference. Thanks

 

[Alex Ouroboros]

I have both the extreme and the standard, (and I do have an identical drysuit) looking at both on the hanger I can hardly tell them apart thickness and weight wise, extreme I always thought felt warmer but could be a placebo, bear in mind you have a nice warm combo so your dives will be nice and comfortable which is a slight trade off on the lead side of things.
I’m guessing14kg is with a single 10-12ltr? And your on a bcd not a stainless backplate wing and your also talking in salt water? In which case I don’t think your as outrageous (lead wise) as you think, (you have a neoprene suit so always more floaty than a trilam) no idea how many dives youve got in but I will say that you will be able to loose a kg or two With time, but please don’t see it as an objective, do it as you need to, don’t sacrifice an easy safety stop just because someone you know dives with less so you should too. You should take it off when you know your a little heavy in the water not because you can do it just.

 

[reabo]

Thanks for reply.
I am using a 15 l steel cylinder on a BCD and in fresh water.
I am still new to this with only 30 dives.
I have been diving with a semidry for most of the dives and need to carry carry 7 kg.
I decided to try a dry suit coz it was getting a bit cold in December lakes in the UK.
My only concern with the weight is carrying it, it is damn heavy. The dry suit is not much warmer than my Scubapro Nova Scotia semi dry and I am thinking for the difference in weight whether the dry suit is worth it.

 

[Alex Ouroboros]

Ah ok,
Don’t fret, stick with it, the feeling that the semi dry was just as warm is a bit of an illusion, once your doing 2-3 dives a day at a quarry by the end of the day you would really feel the difference body temp wise, if you’ve not got much drysuit experience yet then I can assure you it won’t be long until your peeling off some lead, the first 20 (ish) dives in a drysuit bring big changes,
How many dives have you got in with the bag on?
When your diving with it is it a game to get trimmed out flat or not?
In order to hold position in the water column are you having to almost always fin?

Ps I’m going stoney tomorrow if it may help.

 

[Vitesse2l]

There's several factors involved here and it's difficult to point to one and say that's it.

As a new diver in the UK I recall taking about 20 dives before having that eureka moment and finding the combination of adjustments that gave me good trim with correct weighting.

I'd suggest to the OP that a session in a swimming pool or a quarry dive devoted solely to buoyancy and trim is what's needed. Make sure every bit of air is expelled from the suit beforehand. As an almost completely useless reference, I dive an O'Three MF5 drysuit, PBB Plus base with 2kg backplate and wing on a 12L steel. I carry 10kg on my waist. Any more and it goes south. I'm 5'10 and 13.5 stone. At the end of the dive I can't quite hold 1m depth.

 

[reabo]

Thanks for your replies.
I have the grand total of 4 dives with the dry suit. I think I need to persevere, the last dive was the best so far but it is frustrating to get it sorted with the semi and then go all the way back to the beginning. Come to think of it though it took me about 16 dives to get the semi sorted and comfortable.
Trim is good in the dry suit, I think I just need to get the balance between air in the dry suit and BCD right and hopefully I can loose some lead, it is sooo heavy. Lol.