For Drysuits - Is there something bad about normal thermal u-wear?

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dlwalke

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Location
Atlanta
# of dives
100 - 199
I'm just wondering if there is some reason why I should dole out $200+ on some Bare or DUI etc drysuit underwear rather than wearing some top and bottom set that I use for winter camping and so on.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts
 
Thinsulate is warmer for a given thickness which translates into more warmth per pound of lead on your belt. It also behaves better in terms of both warmth and buoyancy on a suit flood.
 
Just make sure they are not Cotton for starters.
 
Bass Pro Shops sells Polypropelene underwear sets. I just got some but haven't tried them out yet. At $25 top and $25 bottoms they are much cheaper than the suits the drysuit manufacturers sell. FWIW, I am diving 65-75 degree waters, so my demands on undergarments are minimal.
 
I use a motley collection of fleece beneath my drysuit. The coldest water I dive is around 55. If I were diving really cold water then I would probably buy the professional underwear. If you are warm enough with what you have use that.
 
chrisp:
Bass Pro Shops sells Polypropelene underwear sets. I just got some but haven't tried them out yet. At $25 top and $25 bottoms they are much cheaper than the suits the drysuit manufacturers sell. FWIW, I am diving 65-75 degree waters, so my demands on undergarments are minimal.

It's very important to have polypropelene as your first layer as it is a wicking agent. Otherwise you will freeze. As mentioned above Basspro shops would be a place to look. In general camping supply houses will have them at a reasonable cost. I was refered to a place called Sherpa's here in Wisconsin and was able to get a real nice set cheap. They were factory 2nds which bothers me not. From there, add a fleece or go technical. If you dive neoprene, you won't need to much. In my old Poseidon Unisuit I wore a jogging suit in 35 degree water and was fine. In my Dive Concepts Zflex I wear the poly and a survival undergarment followed by a lycra body suit that makes getting in and out a breeze. I have had that in 32 degree water and been just fine. Good luck.

Jim
 
Keeping your diving in perspective can save you a lot of money. As mentioned a lot of the high end stuff is geared towards the coldest waters.

For underwear any high perpformance underwear/wicking layer should serve you well. It does not need to be dedicated scuba merchandise.

The actual garments are a bit more optmized with low friction outer layers, thinsulate and venting grommets. I know some divers using hiking/camping/skiing items that do just fine.

Pete
 
There is an advantage to the one-piece undergarments in that they don't bunch up or gap under my shell suit. Other than that, I haven't found much difference in the undergarments that I use for skiing and the ones that are sold for dry suits.
 
I tried regular long johns and man did I pay on the lead. I forget what I had on but it was way too much. I spent $$ on a cheap set of microfleece and have no problems. The high $$ undies do have advantages but maybe not that much.

Like mentioned before, stay away from the cotton.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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