Drysuit questions

Hi all,

I am currently in the market for my first drysuit and have been looking around various boards and shops, but can’t seem to settle on a definitive choice. Some of the issues I can’t seem to get a definitive answer on:
- Weight (+ drying time): due to job requirements I travel around quite a lot and don’t always have the opportunity to stop over at home to get the appropriate exposure protection for the dives I am planning (nor can I take an entire collection of wetsuits with me). Therefore I am looking for the absolutely lightest drysuit I can get my hands on and hope to be able to use it in a wide variety of environments in a rapid succession (ergo neoprene is out due to drying times being too long – I very regularly get on a plane with all my gear 24 hours after my last dive). To give an idea of the variety necessary, my dive plans for April:
A couple of shore dives of the UK Somerset coast, fly out to Houston the next day and hope to get a lake dive or two in during that week, if not a Flower Gardens trip. At the end of that week I’ll have two days off of in Longbeach, so I hope to get to Catalina. Two weeks later (spent in Utah in the mountains – so have to drag gear around)) I find myself on the Yucatan …
- Latex or Neoprene seals: my completely subjective and un-expert-like impression from asking and looking around seems to be that neoprene seals are generally perceived to be easier to don/doff (pheww, how’s that for a disclaimer). However, as with anything else this must come at some kind of cost (or everybody would be using them). Intuitively this would seem to be frequency of leaks – any enlightenment in this area ?

Planned dive profiles: no caves in my future although deeper wrecks and exotic pelagic life are starting to call out to me for longer dives. Experience: currently a little over a hundred dives around the North Sea, Australia, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, salt and fresh water, depths from 1m to 40 m (3 ft to 130 ft), times from three hours to 15 mins, temperatures from 12C to 30+ (low 50’s to high 80s F– all wet: i.e. swimsuit to double 7mil)) and looking to continue down the same road – e.g. my shortlist is Truk, Bikini, Catalina, the Antarctic and if I ever get the time the Great Lakes.

So, now for the million dollar question: is there any way of getting a drysuit that would be suitable for the above conditions, but yet still be light enough (i.e. modular with undersuit/normal clothing) or I am just dreaming? Oh, and anything a bit (or actually a lot) less expensive than a DUI would be great (it is my first suit after all).

Any hard info/experience/wild conjectures/good advice greatly appreciated !

P

DUI's tls350 sounds like exactly what you're looking for. IMO the only drawback to the tls is slightly less ruggedness, but you said nothing about crawling rocky shore exits. As far as looking for less expensive because its your first suit, if you get the right one your first suit can be your last suit, and one is almost always cheaper than two.

You want a light fast drying suit...Trilam. DUI is nice, but look at whites, bare for a comparison.

will also depend on your budget.

Seals are up to you. I like neoprean seal for the neck and laytex for the wrists.

ANy suit that keeps your dry is a good suit. It also has to fit you properly. You have to factor in your undergarments. Standard stuff like a good polypro, a thin polar fleece work great for mildly cold waters. Colder, you will need to bump up the undergarments, thicker polar fleece, etc...

I would avoid the casual sweatshirt style cotton blends...you need warmth, and material that pulls the moisture away from your body.

SO a good undergarment that pulls moisture away and not trap.

Most trilam suits fit in a carry on or neatly in a backpack or in your gear bag...

If it is light weight you want..then look at trilam suits.

yeah, a trilam suit (such as DUI TLS350) would be good for you: lightweight, dries fast, easy to pack. the DUI's can be expensive, though, as you say. unfortunately i've only ever owned a DUI suit, so .. can't help much

as to neoprene v. latex seals ... well... latex seals are easier to put on and off and don't leak as much. neoprene seals are warmer and more comfortable and last longer, but are harder to put on and take off and will leak more.

generally speaking

i dive with latex to minimize leak. under water, i don't even know the seals are there. replacing them once a year is about right.

stevead:

DUI's tls350 sounds like exactly what you're looking for. IMO the only drawback to the tls is slightly less ruggedness, but you said nothing about crawling rocky shore exits. As far as looking for less expensive because its your first suit, if you get the right one your first suit can be your last suit, and one is almost always cheaper than two.

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Good post... Totally agree. I dive the CLX450 which is a wreck-designed suit, but takes longer to dry. The TLS460 is exactly what you are looking for.

Pay a little bit extra, and get the best out there. With proper care it will last you a LONG time. As stevead said "if you get the right one your first suit can be your last suit"

Safe Diving!
faso

BTW...that's a pretty insane schedule / lifestyle! :11:

fasorud:

Pay a little bit extra, and get the best out there. With proper care it will last you a LONG time.

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yup ... i have a TLS350 made in 1994 that was a trainer and a rental suit, and it's still going strong 12 years later.

at this point, it does look like it may need a new zipper and perhaps replacing one of the boots (might as well do both, though) as it leaks just a little

but it still gets me dry dives, and i ain't changing nothing until i have to

Peter,
You don't give any indication of where you are in the UK so if you are diving in Somerset I figure you're in the South of England.

You can get a clone of a DUI at polarbears.co.uk in Launceston, Cornwall or if you are in the North at Protec in Liverpool. Both are good suits and cost considerably less than the DUI but use the same material. I have a Polarbears suit and would recommend you go for a neoprene neck seal. I have latex wrist seals with neoprene over the top of them. I'd also suggest you go for either a Sitech or Apeks High profile shoulder dump.

If you are going abroad a lot, a Xerotherm Arctic might serve you well (in place of a bulky undersuit) but I personally don't think it's warm enough for all year round diving in the UK - of course your cold tolerance might be better than mine.

DUI suits are very good suits but in the UK support from the main dealer is a bit hit and miss and the suit is very expensive. In real terms, I think it costs less in the US than it does over here.

A neoprene neck seal is easier to get into and keeps you warmer. It's also easier to repair and wears better than latex. The downside is that if you don't tuck it in properly you can get some water down the neck but if you have a decent undersuit as suggested by other posters it really isn't an issue.

Drying time for my suit is a couple of hours - if you wash the inside it dries quickly too but it can take longer for the boots to dry.

Hope that helps.

If you're going to add dry gloves and rings, latex wrist seals could prove convenient.

In the case of the Polarbears suit - he can have them fitted as standard if he prefers. But if he's travelling around the world he might not want to With my suit I could add dry gloves quite easily but they would not be the cuff ringed style.

Hmm, dbulmer - any reason why cuff-rings are not preferred while travelling - more vulnerable perhaps ? I am actually quite a weeny for a UK diver, so that was pretty much a given (hadn't thought about the latex seals though, so that seems at least solved). Also, the Xerotherm Arctic is on the wish list, and hopefully combination with some mountaineering base layers would provide sufficient warmth.

By the way, I am based in London, but spend at least 2 weeks every 1,5 to 2 months somewhere in the States. So, maintenance for the DUI is less of an issue for me than other UK divers.

Also, thanks a lot to everybody else for taking the effort of replying !

In spite of H2Andy's response (yup I am being stubborn for no apparent reason ) I am leaning towards a neoprene neck seal (for warmth and comfort of donning) and latex cuff seals (for dry gloves with a ring system).

Still trying to find an alternative for a DUI TLS350, though. I'll be checking out the PolarBear and Protec options !

P