SoftWear fleece undergarment for drysuit

[sdkim]

My thanks to this board for pointing me in the direction of SoftWear. I’m a California drysuit diver and have been experimenting for some time to find the right undergarments. I get cold easily, so was looking for something warm & fuzzy that could double as a cozy pair of sweats for chilly nights on the dive boat. I didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars. And I was having a really hard time finding anything in a stock size that would fit. (I’m a small female—most products I found were sized for men, and a men’s small was just too big.)

After reading other enthusiastic recommendations on this board, I contacted Janice Graves at SoftWear. Janice sells 100-, 200- and 300-weight fleece jumpsuits and two-pieces on her Web site at http://home.att.net/~gchev91/index.htm. Suits are made to your measurements, and she will accommodate special requests like key pockets, collar/no-collar, p-valve for the guys, etc.

Janice was very helpful and responded quickly to all my questions via e-mail. Within a week I had my own custom-made two-piece 300 weight fleece undergarment (total cost, including shipping and fleece socks: $172). It’s warm and comfortable, just what I was looking for. And the two-piece option is great for women divers (unless you really enjoy the challenge of completely undressing in a tiny dive boat head when it’s 50 degrees outside and the boat is pitching back and forth in heavy seas).

It was so nice to finally find something that works. Both the product quality and the personalized service were first-rate—I recommend highly.

 

[kelpmermaid]

are you down here or up north? Do you find the 300 bulky?

 

[sdkim]

Somewhere in the middle--I live in Santa Barbara and dive the Channel Islands (underwater temp's about 62 degrees right now). I don't find the 300-weight bulky and am glad I didn't go for anything less. In fact, I still layer it with another fleece sweatshirt for multiple dives. But I tend to get cold really easily--even in the tropics I'm the one in the full 3mm suit with hood while everyone else is splashing around in their bathing suits!

 

[kelpmermaid]

Actually, that sounds pretty familiar. I, too, go for full coverage in the tropics, even the hood.

BTW, the water was 53-57 last weekend at Catalina. I think I will go for the 300, then. I also like the 2 piece idea for just that reason.

 

[Ziggys_Friend]

kelpmermaid once bubbled...
Actually, that sounds pretty familiar. I, too, go for full coverage in the tropics, even the hood.

BTW, the water was 53-57 last weekend at Catalina. I think I will go for the 300, then. I also like the 2 piece idea for just that reason.

Hey kelpmermaid you were at Catalina too? We were doing our DIR-F class there this weekend - did you see that great big nazi instructor having his class do the quick-draw weight release drill? ~lol~ (Then again, who am I to laugh, we were the goofy guys swimming on top of the tarps by the lockers) …

Just wanted to suggest one other Drysuit undersuit for your consideration. Note, I still dive wet so I don't have this, but MHK showed it to us and it looked quite interesting and is definitely on my shortlist http://www.divingconcepts.com/tpspage2.htm . It's a "Thinsulate" suit from Diving Concepts in Santa Barbara. The two nicest things I noticed were how thin the material was (the 400 was thinner than a DUI 300) and the material stretches which gives great range of motion.

~<//><

 

[kelpmermaid]

Actually, my sweetie has one of their suits and the undergarment. You failed to mention how cool it looks! Unfortunately, I think it is out of my price range for now, and I really want to go the 2-piece route for anatomical reasons (hey, no p-valves for me, LOL!)

No, I did not see you all -- I was over near the Isthmus. I heard it was really nasty at Casino Point on Friday, though -- surf rolling up the stairs - and I wondered if your class would happen.

 

[Ziggys_Friend]

kelpmermaid once bubbled...
Actually, my sweetie has one of their suits and the undergarment. You failed to mention how cool it looks!

Well, actually I just didn't figure I knew you that well ...

kelpmermaid once bubbled...
No, I did not see you all -- I was over near the Isthmus. I heard it was really nasty at Casino Point on Friday, though -- surf rolling up the stairs - and I wondered if your class would happen.

It was kicking up a bit so we called off the unofficial night dive, but by Saturday morning it was just loverly.

~<//><

P.S. Your sweetie egh ... alas (sigh)

 

[GP]

I just placed an order today for the 300 weight undies from Softwear. Can't wait to try em' out with my new drysuit!

 

[Uncle Pug]

Are you getting the one or two piece? If you are getting the one piece and plan on using a p-valve you will want her to put in the Uncle Pug button hole.

 

[GP]

Hi UP, yes I am going with a custom sized one piece suit and Janice is putting in the Uncle Pug mod for the pee valve hookup. I don't have a pee valve installed on my suit yet but I will probably get one. I may even build my own instead of spending $70 or $80 or however much they cost. I heard you can make your own unbalanced for like $10 in parts. Any thoughts on that? I suppose I should just look it up in the archives.