Underment Material? (Capilene,Polartec/Thinsulate)

[finster]

Now that I am about to receive my drysuit, the next step is to purchase undergarments. I've spoken to several people who have recommended water whisking undergarments made of either thinsulate or polartec. However, while speaking to a few mountain biker friends last night, they told me that they wear clothes made of capilene. They say that it is extremely comfortable and I read that this material is water whisking. Does anybody have any opinion on the suitability of this material vs. that of thinsulate/polartec materials?
I am diving in S. California (Temps. 50-65F).

By the way, I read several posts touting the REI long underwear and Chammyz. Anyone else have any experience with these garments? Thanks for your help!

 

[CheeseWhiz]

I'll bet you felt like you were all alone on Scubaboard, eh?

I'm just getting ready to take the plunge into drysuiting and was wondering the same thing...why wouldn't some of the established thermal underwear brands for hunting/camping/etc do double duty as dry suit undies? Assuming you can stay reasonably dry inside your suit, I don't see any reason why they shouldn't work. And probably for a lot less money.

If you've tried this by now, post the results. I, for one, would be interested in your experience.

 

[finster]

Cheese:

I have been experimenting with various undergarments and I believe that my next dive (hopefully tomorrow) will yield the right formula. For my last dive into 62 deg water, I wore capilene undies, and expedition weight capilene thermal pants and shirt. I was still a bit too cold. Tomorrow, I will wear a midweight base layer underneath my expedition weight shirt and pants. I think this will probably work well enough. Unfortunately, these 5 pieces of clothing probably cost about $200 and I am guessing that I could have purchased a Polartec 200 weight jumpsuit for about the same. If my layering experiment doesn't work out, I'll try wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt.

 

[carlislere]

Finster:
I wear DUI's Series G Type B Thinsulate undergarment. I use it in 53-56 degree fresh water in our local lake. It works great.

 

[boydski]

I typically wear Polartec in the Summer and Fall ( DUI 300g) when the water temp runs 47 - 52 degrees. The polartec is very comfortable and warm.

In the winter, I generally switch to Thinsulate ( DUI 400g) as the air and water temps decline. The coldest water I have been is was 37 on the surface and about 41 degrees at depth. When the water is this cold, I will start getting chilled after about 40 minutes underwater in my Polartec, but am good for about an hour in the thinsulate.

I read a report somewhere that the right type of thinsulate provided the highest insulation ( R-factor?)/material thickness of the several types of "divewear" available.

Your milage may vary,

Boydski

 

[CheeseWhiz]

I agree that the choice would pretty much be between Thinsulate and Polartec. But I guess it would also depend on the thickness of each. Yes / no? Boydski - I notice you say the Thinsulate is your choice for colder water, but it also seems to be thicker. How much of a difference do you think this makes?

Carlislere - we need to get you Up North to do some divin'. 53 - 56 degree water is too warm to be diving dry! No wonder you're warm, with all that CAD insulation on! (I am licensed to say that because I was born and raised in Austin.) All my diving so far has been wet, even down to 33F. Alright, I'll admit I'll never do that again! This ole boy ain't that dumb! But down to 45F, I'm OK with my 7.5mil Harvey's + 5 mil jacket w/hood. Not a bad combo.

Finster - sounds like you're on the right track finding the correct combination of undies, but you've also stumbled upon the reverse side of the coin: for $200, you could've had somebody's ready-made drysuit undies. Oh well, who said the world's a perfect place? I would still be interested in your latest findings. Keep us posted.

 

[scubakat]

I wear 200g thinsulate over a layer of REI capilene(?) and an extra expedition weight fleece layer on the top. My temp guage always reads 42F so I don't -really- know what the water temp is right now. Last weekend I was out on a shallow dive for 1:20 and was not cold.

-kate

 

[ericfine50]

I used to wear the DUI c-4, but found it to be to constricting. I now dive with the Weezle Extreme suit. It keeps me warm all year round. A lot of streach and very comfortable. Always keeps me dry.

Eric

 

[JamieZ]

I use the Whites Glacier outer jacket and pants for all tempatures from 75f to 32f. The garment is made out of thinsulate. The jacket has detachable arms so 75f water I detach the arms and wear it as a vest with a pair of sweat pants. When its like 60 I wear the vest, pants and a thin long sleeve shirt, anything colder I wear the entire suit.
Which till this day I have never gotten cold in water down to 39f on 1:30 min deco's. Now my hands are another story, I havent been able to keep my hands as warm on those durations. I dont like the o-ring type dry gloves or 3 finger mitts.
I havent tried the mitts yet because it just seems cumbersome. My buddy just bought a pair of OMS dry gloves with long zip gauntlets and he says he loved them when we dove Lake ontario yesterday and it was 39f at 140ft and 51f at the surface but it was only a total of 45 min in water time.

http://www.whitescoldwater.com/prod...SA&Language=English&Category=Dive&Product=184

 

[Lost Yooper]

Greetings,

I use 200G Bare underwear with nothing undernieth in the summer (water temps 40F bottom to 60F surface). Nowadays, the water is 40F on the surface, and I wear a pair of military weight poly pro under the jump suit. I've seen that Weezle underwear which looks nice for really cold water. I had 400g stuff before, and I thought it was too warm during summer if you did any swimming at all. I want to get something warmer someday for the really cold water dives (less than 38F), but I've gotten by pretty good.

Mike