wet suit vs. dry suit

[drdaddy]

I prefer a wetsuit. However, I also have a backup wetsuit for those cold wet days that I want to do multiple dives and there's no place to dry/warm my used wetsuit.

Why I prefer a wetsuit:

1. No hassles & no missed dive because some valve is broken or the thing (suit or seal) is torn. I dive tides, so timing is essential.

2. I don't worry so much about abrasions and tears on the barnacles and jetty rocks.

3. Much less expensive. I can buy four good quality wetsuits for the price of one cheap drysuit (and I'd rather not get cheap).

4. I can put it on myself. Even with a front zip drysuit, it is not recommended that you don it yourself. Better to have someone else zip you in. Most of the best drysuits are backzip and therefore someone must help you dress. Not very good for a solo dive (I mostly buddy dive) and it just takes one mistake for a $350 zipper job!!!

5. I just don't want another gadget.

Wetsuit or Drysuit. It's up to you. With a local dive shop (South Beach) owners the man wears a drysuit and his wife a 7mm wetsuit. At another shop (Eugene Skin Divers), all the older guys like me (40 to 65) use drysuits. Of course they get a discount and are advertising these expensive things.

What do I dive in the 50 degree murky Pacific NW waters? A 7mm farmer john (2 piece) O'Neil wetsuit (SeaQuest is my backup, but xs-scuba or Bare are great as well). My dive buddy does the same as well. A few times I was cold was when the water was closer to 40 and less degrees makes me wish I had a drysuit!!! Glacier fed fresh water lakes (Clear Lake/Santiam Pass) and when the ice is melting off the banks of a river/bay only happen a couple of times a year. If I was rich, I'd buy one for these couple of times, but the rest of the time I prefer wet!

 

[Sas]

I prefer a wetsuit. However, I also have a backup wetsuit for those cold wet days that I want to do multiple dives and there's no place to dry/warm my used wetsuit.

Why I prefer a drysuit:

1. No hassles & no missed dive because some valve is broken or the thing (suit or seal) is torn. I dive tides, so timing is essential.

2. I don't worry so much about abrasions and tears on the barnacles and jetty rocks.

3. Much less expensive. I can buy four good quality wetsuits for the price of one cheap drysuit (and I'd rather not get cheap).

4. I can put it on myself. Even with a front zip drysuit, it is not recommended that you don it yourself. Better to have someone else zip you in. Most of the best drysuits are backzip and therefore someone must help you dress. Not very good for a solo dive (I mostly buddy dive) and it just takes one mistake for a $350 zipper job!!!

5. I just don't want another gadget.

Wetsuit or Drysuit. It's up to you. With a local dive shop (South Beach) owners the man wears a drysuit and his wife a 7mm wetsuit. At another shop (Eugene Skin Divers), all the older guys like me (40 to 65) use drysuits. Of course they get a discount and are advertising these expensive things.

What do I dive in the 50 degree murky Pacific NW waters? A 7mm farmer john (2 piece) O'Neil wetsuit (SeaQuest is my backup, but xs-scuba or Bare are great as well). My dive buddy does the same as well. A few times I was cold was when the water was closer to 40 and less degrees makes me wish I had a drysuit!!! Glacier fed fresh water lakes (Clear Lake/Santiam Pass) and when the ice is melting off the banks of a river/bay only happen a couple of times a year. If I was rich, I'd buy one for these couple of times, but the rest of the time I prefer wet!

How long are your dives drdaddy? And how many do you do per day. Just curious It is not a real comparison without comparing dive times and dive numbers between wetsuit and drysuit divers.

In regards to the OP's questions:

1. I much prefer wetsuit diving, but in winter drysuits are immensely more comfortable locally. If it is below 16C I will wear a drysuit but I can do wetsuit dives if necessary, but it isn't as fun.

2. Drysuit diving is easy to master. You might have more trouble with buoyancy early on but in winter here some shops here teach OW with students in drysuits so it can't be that hard

3. If you are only going to be diving in cold water, go a drysuit before a wetsuit. But if you plan to travel to warmer destinations, you can get a wetsuit. I have a 7mm, a 3mm, an 0.5mm and a drysuit personally.

 

[fstbttms]

4. I can put it on myself. Even with a front zip drysuit, it is not recommended that you don it yourself. Better to have someone else zip you in. Most of the best drysuits are backzip and therefore someone must help you dress. Not very good for a solo dive (I mostly buddy dive) and it just takes one mistake for a $350 zipper job!!![/B]

Since I work alone, I don and doff my rear-entry drysuit by myself, everyday. In addition, I unzip as much as 8 or 10 times a day, again, by myself. All it takes is a leash with clips on each end and someplace approximately shoulder height to attach it. A little care when "walking" the zipper around is mandatory, of course. In 15 years I have never damaged a zipper doing this. In fact, I'd rather do it myself. I know I'm not gonna eff it up. Someone else might.

 

[drdaddy]

How long are your dives drdaddy? And how many do you do per day. Just curious It is not a real comparison without comparing dive times and dive numbers between wetsuit and drysuit divers.

In regards to the OP's questions:

1. I much prefer wetsuit diving, but in winter drysuits are immensely more comfortable locally. If it is below 16C I will wear a drysuit but I can do wetsuit dives if necessary, but it isn't as fun.

2. Drysuit diving is easy to master. You might have more trouble with buoyancy early on but in winter here some shops here teach OW with students in drysuits so it can't be that hard

3. If you are only going to be diving in cold water, go a drysuit before a wetsuit. But if you plan to travel to warmer destinations, you can get a wetsuit. I have a 7mm, a 3mm, an 0.5mm and a drysuit personally.

Saspotato,

I dive year round. The temperature of our water is between 48 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit (9 to 13 degrees Celsius). Occasionally we get colder, like on December 12th the water was 41 degrees (5 Celsius), and on that dive we were underwater 50 minutes, the deepest part of our dive being 45 feet (15 meters). It was far too cold to be diving in a wetsuit, but we only do a couple of dives a year at this temperature, so it's not worth buying a drysuit, since I like diving in my wetsuit.

As I said, we dive year round, usually weekly, but at least every other week. We go to our Newport/South Beach/Yaquina Bay South Jetty (1 1/2 hours from home and we're in the water). We usually dive 2 dives unless it is really crazy surge or vis is 0 (if it's 4 ft/over 1 meter, we dive the 2nd). Our dives are about 50 minutes, sometimes a hour, depending on the depth - we come up for air! I dive a 100 cf steel hp 3442. On December 5th, our 2 dives were at 50 degrees, and 50 minutes and 1:00, with the maximum depth of 34 feet (11 meters).

If I were consistently diving where the water temperatures were the mid 40s (7 degrees Celsius) with the outside temperatures being the mid 40s, I would definitely need a drysuit. But as it is, I prefer a wetsuit.

I should add, that I'm 58 years old and have been diving and/or swimming in our cold Pacific NW ocean all my life. Maybe I'm "acclimated" to our cold, but maybe as I get older I'll go dry (I "looked" at a drysuit last Saturday at our LDS) - but I'm not there yet! I also love warm water diving - give me the Red Sea any day!!!! Or I'll join you in the South Pacific/Australia.

P.S. I made a correction in my first post "drysuit" to "wetsuit"

 

[fstbttms]

The temperature of our water is between 48 and 55... so it's not worth buying a drysuit, since I like diving in my wetsuit.

I agree, a wetsuit is more comfortable to wear than a drysuit. But 55 degrees is too cold to be comfortable in a wetsuit, IMHO, and that far outweighs the any other comfort factors offered by one (for me, at least.) If I were diving in your area, I wouldn't consider anything but a drysuit.

 

[hbhobby]

I just made my second dive in a drysuit and I don't understand why I waited so long to make the investment! I love it and personally I had no problem with the transition. I have several hundred dives in wet but I will make soon make hundres of dives dry! if the water is cool / cold I highly recommend drysuit if you can afford it

 

[ereediver]

Most of my diving is in Lake Erie of Quarries. Water temps range from 75 degrees to 38 degrees F. I never really had a problem with the water, it was the air apre-dive if you will. In the summer not a problem, but fall and winter. I love my drysuit. I even did a dive the day after Chrismas. Was warm and toasty. Since you are in Michigan, I would seriously think about dry. Your probably a few degrees colder the I am in Ohio. A dry suit will extend you season. Although somewhat warm on the surface in the summer, especially on the Great Lakes, you will appreciate a dry suit once you hit the thermocline. Although I have a dive buddy that dives wet no matter what the temp, but I think there is something wrong with him lol. I think dry suits were made with mid west divers in mind. My opinion, but willing to share..lol

 

[Fishfood00]

Dry suit

 

[doctormike]

I agree, a wetsuit is more comfortable to wear than a drysuit. But 55 degrees is too cold to be comfortable in a wetsuit, IMHO, and that far outweighs the any other comfort factors offered by one (for me, at least.) If I were diving in your area, I wouldn't consider anything but a drysuit.

Well, my shortie 3 mm wetsuit is more comfortable than my drysuit, maybe... but certainly my drysuit is MUCH more comfortable than any wetsuit that I might wear in it's place - and not just from the point of view of warmth. The snug 7 mm wetsuits that I have worn have been pretty unpleasant, IMHO..

 

[jridg]

Water Temps below 72 = drysuit
Water temps 72-80 = 3mm wetsuit
above 80 = 0.5mm wetsuit

I dive a Whites fusion - most of the time it's like diving my 3mm suit. In the past 18 months I have approx 120 dives, 79 of them in my drysuit.

There is no way I would ever put a 7mm suit back on - actually, I don't think I would ever even go back to a 5mm suit. I can adjust my level of thermal protection easily with one suit and I do know people who dive drysuits up to 80 degrees with very little thermal underneath - why not? If your suit can accomodate, it's really kind of worth it.