anything special about drysuit underwear?

pelagic_by_nature

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• Sep 10, 2009

• #1

I'm buying a drysuit but it isn't coming with any drysuit underwear. Is there anything special about drysuit underwear to justify the cost? I have lots of thermal underwear from many years as a skier. Any reason that stuff wouldn't work? I've seen the drysuit specific stuff - looks like plain old snowmobile suit stuff to me. Am I missing something?

 

*dave*

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• Sep 10, 2009

• #2

Good unders should breathe, keep you warm(even when they are wet), be machine washable and provide good range of motion. I use a variety of UG as the conditions dictate. Some is dive specific, like the Weezle Extreme+ I use for cold dives and others are pretty generic, like the fleece pull over I got from work or the polypro base I bought at an outdoor store.

 

TheScubaBOB

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• Sep 10, 2009

• #3

I bought a set of the Under Armor "Warm" stuff (long sleeve & legged of course) and used socks.

Was 48 degrees and I could tell the water around me was cold but I never felt chilled.

Added benefit, with my LP Steel 120 I was overweighted with 10lbs! The Drysuit isn't nearly as floaty as the wetsuit, guess it's the thermals that require so much weight.

 

3

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• Sep 10, 2009

• #4

Just depends on the drysuit.
Neoprene or shell.

 

Gombessa

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• Sep 10, 2009

• #5

One very important feature of drysuit underwear should be the ability to keep you warm when the undergarment is wet/flooded. Leaks and floods happen, when they do (especially in cold water) you need all the warmth you can get. IIRC, Thinsulate and Primaloft are pretty good at this, Polartec not so much.

 

Buoyant1

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• Sep 10, 2009

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I use Bass Pro's version of "Under Armor" (goes by the Red Head name, same stuff, half the cost) as a base layer, a cut off sweat shirt for my core and then I use a pair of fleece sweatpants and jacket for the rest. I've been wet a few times and it's never bothered me in the least. (gee, the water leaked in and it warmed up...tough to believe!) The base layer cost about $50. and the rest was in my closet (oh, it cost me $1.00 to have elastic stirrups put on the pants) I've seen plenty of people wearing "home grown" stuff and never complaining.

 

soamelt

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• Sep 10, 2009

• #7

You just want something that will absorb the pee.

 

muddiver

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• Sep 10, 2009

• #8

It is a good idea to use materials that do not pile or shed because any loose fibers can gumm up the exhaust valve.

I am really happy with the Viking nylon shell, polartech fleece lined undies I bought at a local shop. I have had a flooded suit in 48 deg. water and I still stayed warm for the duration of the 50 min. dive. Normal sweat material made from cotton or nylon will also absorb your sweat inside the suit and then conduct your body warmth to teh water around you, so sweats do not make very good dry suit undies.

 

BabyDuck

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• Sep 10, 2009

• #9

yep, must wick. other than that, dive-specific is nice to have but also check out the hunting area in walmart - they have great marino wool socks. just bought a pair today in pink.

nice to have - zipper pulls on both ends so you can route your pee valve hose out. or sometimes you can just cut a small slit since fleece doesn't ravel.

 

b1gcountry

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• Sep 10, 2009

• #10

It depends on the underwear. Fleece UW is pretty basic. Likely you can find it anywhere, but the details might be a little off. Most fleece jeckets have collars, which aren't ideal for Drysuit Underwear. Anything with a zipper that goes up past your neck has the ability to do bad things to a neck seal. Drysuit Underwear also needs to fit somewhat closely, but still allow movement. Anything baggy is a bad choice.

Also, what keeps you warm on dry land is different from what keeps you warm underwater. So depending on how cold the water you are diving is, you might need some more serious, purpose made UW. If you're only diving 50-60* water, you can experiment with some less purpose made stuff, but once in the 30-40* range, you'll be investing in some good UW as soon as you can save up the $$$.

Tom