What is the value of a drysuit class?

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Wait, what? 5K is more than double of what anyone should be paying. Unless this comes with dive valet service for a year. In that case, sign me up to have my poor valet clean not only my dry suit when I'm done, but my rebreather too!

His is a DUI FLX Extreme, custom like mine, but he went wild with some extras so that’s where the $5K came from. The only extras I got were Kevlar knee pads. Mine was $4100.
 
His is a DUI FLX Extreme, custom like mine, but he went wild with some extras so that’s where the $5K came from. The only extras I got were Kevlar knee pads. Mine was $4100.
That looks quite nice though :)
 
Used Whites Tropical Suit - $100 with light undergarments. I paid to have neck seal replaced, replaced ankle seals with latex boots myself, think I might have a zipper leak or I’m not closing it completely. Dump valve in front of bicep, still working out how to exhaust efficiently.

Used USIA suit - $200. Boots just slightly too large, use fin keepers. Replaced latex wrist seals myself, fooled around with pullover dry gloves, just put in Ultima system. Dump in good spot on arm. Really happy with this suit, may put on Sitech wrist rings with DIY neoprene adapter once wrist seals need replacing.

Used Scubapro evertech - $600 with medium scubapro fleece undergarment, heavy K2 undergarment, Sitech neck and wrist ring system. Crotch leak, unreliable self repair, will send out for seam repair estimate. If salvageable would be better suit than USIA.

Custom seaskin drysuit ordered with neck and wrist Sitech rings, with custom hood, undergarments, rock boots, and separate neoprene hooded vest (for my wetsuit), $1300, delivery in October.
 
I was wondering about getting into drysuit diving, and I was wondering if the drysuit classes offered by most agencies were mandatory for safety or more intended to make the transition to a new piece of gear easier. Your thoughts?
It’s not mandatory, but I would recommend it if:

1.) You have a good instructor who actually dives dry on a regular basis and didn’t just self-certify (see poor unfortunate girl in Montana who got killed by her instructor)

2.) You recognize that you’ll come out of the class having done skills and successfully completed them with “mastery”, but the real mastery will come after experience. I can honestly say it took me another 25 dives to get the hang and probably 50 to feel like I knew 100% what I was doing when my gear configuration changed a bit or I dove in different environments with different tanks, salt/fresh water, thicker or thinner undergarments.

3.) Acknowledge the half-life. I know from about end Oct to about April I dive in Florida and other places where I don’t always dive dry. When I come back up to the Great Lakes or NJ, I need to remember what I am doing again…even though it should be like riding a bike. Complacency is when you have accidents.

Take a class from a good instructor. If you can’t determine who’s good…GUE Primers are excellent and you can’t miss on instruction quality. Lauren Fanning teaches Drysuit Primer. She’s awesome.

Best of Luck!
 
About the only useful thing I learnt in my class was how to recover from a feet first ascent. That being said the only times its ever happened is when I wanted to practice said skill.

I do suggest playing with the suit in your local dive shops pool so anything catastrophic is only at 10 feet or so. Will also help you learn to control your suit.
 
I still can't get over how expensive those suits are...

My custom made xdeep suit was 1700€. But 5000$ is insane. My whole dive setup is less than that...
 
I still can't get over how expensive those suits are...

My custom made xdeep suit was 1700€. But 5000$ is insane. My whole dive setup is less than that...
If you dive a 5k drysuit I suspect he is also a comparable amount in his equipment.

More importantly, @formernuke , is your company hiring? …



Asking for a friend

😂
 
If you dive a 5k drysuit I suspect he is also a comparable amount in his equipment.

More importantly, @formernuke , is your company hiring? …



Asking for a friend

😂

I remember visiting a shop in Monterey once, and the plethora of DUI suits they had. And the prices... Wow. As an Europan diver, Santi is thebtop of the line, and I believe they don't have a suit pricier than 3000€ custom.
 
I remember visiting a shop in Monterey once, and the plethora of DUI suits they had. And the prices... Wow. As an Europan diver, Santi is thebtop of the line, and I believe they don't have a suit pricier than 3000€ custom.
I had endless issues with my santi order and still trying to fix the dry glove rings.

If the suit comes good, it’s good, if you have issues you are in trouble, their customer service isn’t good (in the U.K. at least) …
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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