Underwear Ripoff...?

OK, what do you all think about this...

I have done a few dry suit dives (DUI demo days for the past two years)... finally decided to go with a custom Diving Concepts Ultraflex (which I just ordered!). Now comes the question of the undergarment.

I understand that in general, you get what you pay for. And I also understand that when it comes to the dry suit itself, it makes sense to get something of good quality- a rip in a dry suit can be very uncomfortable at best, and life threatening at worse. But the dry suit and lots of other SCUBA equipment are sort of binary when it comes to failure or performance- they either work fine or they fail.

My question is- how does anyone justify paying $500 for underwear? I'm sure that the $500 underwear is nice and stretchy and very warm, but how come I can keep warm with $20 worth of material when I'm skiing in Colorado? I mean, assuming that the suit itself is doing its job (not leaking), then the underwear is just to trap air and keep that warm air layer between me and the ocean.

Of course I understand that the more I pay, the warmer I'll be, etc... but there must be some sort of break point in this product. I can't believe that I couldn't be pretty comfortable with less expensive dive underwear or even with some sort of non-SCUBA underlayer...?

Or am I totally wrong, and unless I spend a few hundred dollars on this, I might as well be diving wet..?

Thanks!

Mike

$500 is a little steep. I paid about $330 for my Diving Concepts TPS Thinsulate Extreme. At the time a custom TPS Thinsulate Stretch Extreme, which isn't as warm, would have been about $430.

It was worth every penny and then some.

Now Mike, I understand you think $20 of material can keep you warm when skiing, but that's simply not the case. A decent set of skiing insulation will run you $30 each for a top and bottom wicking layer, then $50-$100 a piece for a top and bottom quality 200 or 300 weight fleece layer.. and fleece is a crappy insulation for diving.

Now trust me when I say this.... the underwear is worth it. I ski and mountaineer and cave and kayak and everything else, so I thought this drysuit underwear thing was a racket.

It's not. Period.

i'm with jonnythan, i have the DC TPS thinsultate stretch extreme, and it was worth every penny...my suit leaked on one dive, the undergarment got soaked, but i was still warm in it, i think that's what you're paying for..
i was considering going th e cheap route as well, now i'm so glad i didn't. I know there is a couple more on this board with the same underwear, (Chris'll be along shortly) and everyone swears by it...

Well you could spend 30 or 40 bucks and try out whatever you want to try out...and If it doesnt work youre only down $30 or $40 on a multi-thousand dollar venture. But if it works...you just saved yourself $300+


-Matt

i got an excellent TPS Thinsulate Extreme on Ebay for $150

awesome value and i love the undies

FWIW, I had an instructor once tell us students that he'd much rather we went out and got the highest quality underwear we could afford to go with even a crappy drysuit, rather than buy a high quality drysuit and pair it up with cheap underwear.....

After all, essentially a drysuit is just a Ziploc baggie with a diver in it - hence the importance of the underwear!

And it's not just how warm the underwear keeps you that's important - it's a matter of fit, flexibility and performance as well. I know a lot of divers who have traded in their Weezle Extremes (an acknowledged very warm underwear) for other types - simply because of fit or performance issues.

jonnythan:

Now trust me when I say this.... the underwear is worth it. I ski and mountaineer and cave and kayak and everything else, so I thought this drysuit underwear thing was a racket.

It's not. Period.

Click to expand...

EXCELLENT replies, everyone.. and so fast, too! That's why I love ScubaBoard...

OK, so the early results seem to indicate that it's not just a question of using ski underwear, and that dive underlayers really do matter. NOW, the question is, what is the price breakpoint..? You can get a $5 bottle of wine, you can get a $50 bottle of wine and you can get a $5000 bottle of wine. The $5 bottle might taste OK to 20% of the market, the $50 bottle might satisfy another 75%, and there will always be a few people who won't be happy without the top of the line...

SO, where is the "sweet spot" in dive underwear...? I'm going to look on eBay, but assuming that I'm not doing any ice diving, what would be the basic acceptable comfortable recommendation of the group? I dive in Dutch Springs, and the temperature at depth was 48 degrees last week. I don't mind spending a bit more if it is really worth it... I saved a few hundred dollars by going with Diving Concepts instead of DUI...!

Hiya Mike!

I agree with FreeFloat. I was talking to the LDS owner and he's been diving for about 40 years. He said the same thing. Basically, he said he doesn't care what kind of shell you buy, do not skimp on undergarments. That will make all the difference in the world when you are diving.

I'll see how the rest of this year goes going wet. I'm not sure I can ever fit it in the budget for next year.

Hope you enjoy that new suit. Hope to see ya up at Dutch Springs sometime.

Jack

FreeFloat:

FWIW, I had an instructor once tell us students that he'd much rather we went out and got the highest quality underwear we could afford to go with even a crappy drysuit, rather than buy a high quality drysuit and pair it up with cheap underwear.....

After all, essentially a drysuit is just a Ziploc baggie with a diver in it - hence the importance of the underwear!

And it's not just how warm the underwear keeps you that's important - it's a matter of fit, flexibility and performance as well. I know a lot of divers who have traded in their Weezle Extremes (an acknowledged very warm underwear) for other types - simply because of fit or performance issues.

Click to expand...

I got the TPS Thinsulate Extreme (non-stretch) because it was warm. It seems to me to be most suited for waters in the mid 30s to the high 50s.. the Stretch Extreme is probably more like 40s - 60s.

jonnythan:

I got the TPS Thinsulate Extreme (non-stretch) because it was
warm. It seems to me to be most suited for waters in the mid 30s to the high 50s..

Click to expand...

i dive mine in 68-72 degree water (the Florida Springs), and it feels awesome


i do have to take a "pre-dive" dip to cool off after donning the dry suit.


but once in the water, heaven!