DUI TLS Signature Series: Moisture issues

[Hot Dog]

I bought the TLS about 4 years ago. It has served reasonable well. However, I have noticed throughout its use that my entire ouerware seemed moist after a dive. Not an issue of a leak.I then switched to a weezle extreme undersuit (I dive in new England so 44 to 55 degrees ). I have recently noticed with the weezle that the outside of the weezle is moist, nay seemingly wet, after a dive. When suiting up it is hot and I am sweating. All the undergarments wick away from me. With the hotter temp on the surface and the cold temp in the water it seems it cllects moisture on the inside of the suit (TLS is like a garbage bag). Just to make sure I had Mark at Superior Dry Suit repair (ibn my humble he does a great job) to check for leaks. He did and returned it certifying leak free. Dove again, moist/wet again. The moisture is head to toe and even so it seems to be that perhaps sweat, hot and cold moisture creation I do not know.

Has anyone experienced this with this suit? Is this what usually happens in these thin TLS suits?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts

HD

[Aqua-Andy]

asuming you are diving in the ocean an easy way to see where the water is coming from is to taste it. Yes sweat may have some salt but not near as much as salt water. Also when you are leaking salt water it will usually leave salt stains on your undergarments.

[jar546]

That is normal. Your body gives off moisture and what is not wicked by your undergarments will build up as condensation. Also, difference in temperature. Take a cold pitcher of liquid out of the fridge and place it on the counter in the summer and see what happens to the outside of the pitcher.

[lcollar]

I recently purchased a used TLS 350 dry suit to compliment a heavier crushed neoprene suit I had been diving previously. After patching several small leaks, I too have noticed the same kind of moisture on the outside of my undergarment which also happens to be a Weezle Extreme. Never noticed this much moisture diving the crushed neoprene suit. The moisture is only on the outer layer of the undergarment and as Aqua-Andy said earlier, it dries without salty residue. I'm thinking it's a combination of condensation and sweat.

The good news is it dries fairly quickly after a dive if you hang the undergarment upright or wear it around for a short while after doffing your dry suit.

[Wolfie]

DUI had a recall from a bad bolt of fabric they had a few years back. I don't recall the details but you can check the website and see if your suit was involved with that.

[TNRonin]

DUI had a recall from a bad bolt of fabric they had a few years back. I don't recall the details but you can check the website and see if your suit was involved with that.

This.

[cbrich]

My TLS350 does the same thing. When I get out the inside is damp.

[gurnie]

Could be a combination of sweat, water from dump valve or the little trickles from the seals as you move your head and neck.

[TSandM]

The better the wicking performance of the undergarment, the more moisture you will notice on the inside of the suit. It's most noticeable on materials that are very smooth, and less obvious on the inside of, for example, compressed neoprene. But it is entirely normal.

[flots am]

Has anyone experienced this with this suit? Is this what usually happens in these thin TLS suits?

It's sweat and any drysuit will do this.

Whether you notice it or not, and how much you notice depends on how much you sweat and the properties of your underwear.

Some underwear wicks it away from your skin to the outside, which makes the outside feel damp, while others hold it inside the insulation, which means you feel it less, although you probably also lose a little insulation.

It's nothing to be concerned about.

flots.

[Aqua-Andy]

I made a post about this awhile ago. Using the same undergarments, my Fusion always has moisture on the inside but I have never had any with my Bare Nex-Gen.

[mark01]

I dive with five guys. We all have dry suits - two of us have TLS-350s. All of us experience exactly what you have described. No worries.

[mahjong]

I dive a TLS. I sweat quickly and rather profusely. Added to the sweat is condensation. Sometimes I think I'm wetter inside my drysuit than is the ocean on the outside. I've gotten used to it. And even on a 2nd dive, when I'm soaked on the inside, I tend not to get too cold. Just zip up and go. To keep the moisture as far from my skin as possible, I most often wear multiple efficiently wicking layers: On top, I wear an UA Coldgear compression mock T-neck, a loose fitting mock T-neck made of the same Polartec material, an REI Polartec Powerdry heavyweight baselayer, a ~200g Thinsulate vest (for skiing--tailored for diving), and finally the Bare SB Midlayer (a very dense Polartec material that resists compression and is also a wicking machine). Sometimes the REI baselayer is soaked (I might change this for a dry one between dives; been meaning to try wearing the Thinsulate vest as the outermost layer, in which case the REI baselayer might wick into the SB Midlayer and stay dryer). Almost always the Bare SB Midlayer is moist on both sides. Almost always the inside of my TLS is moist to wet. The Midlayer and the TLS dry very quickly, though, once exposed, esp if the sun is out.

Mark at Superior has been my go-to drysuit guy for the last 12 years. He's great!

[pmmpete]

I have used drysuits for many years while whitewater kayaking. My first drysuits were made of non-breathable coated nylon, and depending on how much I was exerting myself and how long I remained in the drysuit, I would get a fair amount of condensation on the inside of the drysuit. Then I started buying breathable drysuits made out of materials like Goretex. Big improvement! You stay really dry inside a breathable dry suit while kayaking. This is particularly nice on multi-day unsupported kayak trips in cold weather, when I wear the same clothing for a number of days in a row both on and off the river. However, breathable fabrics don't work when underwater, because they rely on a higher vapor pressure in the warm moist air inside the dry suit driving the water molecules out through the breathable fabric to the lower vapor pressure in the cool air outside.