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I'm from Northern Minnesota diving in the mine pits. Where the water can get to 35 degrees. I've been thinking dry suit, but I came across this Polar wet suit from Pinnacle. Has anyone herd of this suit and if so can give pros and cons? The suit is half cost compaired to wet suit.
35F is a little insane, but if you are cold-resistant, a custom wetsuit of high quality neoprene may work for you. The best source I know of for this is:
I've had a 7mm farmer john/shorty down to 29*, though it wasn't the Polar suit you're talking about, that was the day I decided I'm going dry (eventually...)
I think I may know the answer to this - but I am going to ask anyway.
I'm just curious why people would pass up drysuits, which can be very comfortable in the cold water, for very thick wetsuits, which, I have to believe, at at best, marginal in the cold water. I'm thinking maybe they keep you "warm enough to dive" but probably not all that warm - esp. in relation to a drysuit.
Is it a matter of cost savings? Don't want to take a drysuit class? Think drysuit diving is too much of a pain in the ass? What are the reasons here? I'm just curious.
Around here - its dive drysuit or stay home - if you have any sanity anyway. I don't think I could seriously consider a wetsuit, no matter how thick it is. Am I just completely off base here? Lay it on me.
The pinnicle Kodiak is IMHO the best wetsuit for cold water. With that said, all wetsuits (even the "semi-dry" exchange water. If that water being exchanged is 35degrees your going to get cold. It can be done but you will prob still end up buying a drysuit.
I dive dry, but I can easily see why someone would want to dive wet: if you can be warm enough (and people have posted it's entirely possible with a high quality custom wetsuit) then you avoid the extra expense, hassles with leaks, maintaining the zipper, seals and valves, trying to get the undergarments right, a little restricted mobility in most cases, learning curve and extra setup time (with a lycra skin, getting into and out of a 7mm suit is very fast)
On the flip side, getting out of the water into cold air is going to be a huge pain in a wetsuit no matter how you cut it, you don't get the redundant buoyancy, you don't get lovely dry gloves, and there will be limits no matter how resistant to cold you are.
I dive dry, but I can easily see why someone would want to dive wet: if you can be warm enough (and people have posted it's entirely possible with a high quality custom wetsuit) then you avoid the extra expense, hassles with leaks, maintaining the zipper, seals and valves, trying to get the undergarments right, a little restricted mobility in most cases, learning curve and extra setup time (with a lycra skin, getting into and out of a 7mm suit is very fast)
On the flip side, getting out of the water into cold air is going to be a huge pain in a wetsuit no matter how you cut it, you don't get the redundant buoyancy, you don't get lovely dry gloves, and there will be limits no matter how resistant to cold you are.
I agree with Hudson on how easy it is to dive wet. The drysuit has a lot more parameters that need to be placed into account before the dive. If you can make the dive in wet and be done then it is your best choice over dry.
Wesuit diving off of California Coast has only one problem; multiple dives. This is where a drysuit simply placed out shines a wetsuit.
You will not be comfortable on surface intervals as would a drysuit diver even worse if you are boat diving and cannot seek shelter.
Your second and third dive are felt hard compared to that first dive you took, you must hope for the suns rays on the SI or else you will be cold.
Having said that the wetsuit outshines the drysuit in ease of use, you can be in the water much faster with less precautions than dry. You will also be less prone to serious accidents that can occur while diving dry.
You make a mistake with drysuit diving and you risk serious injury if not death; they are far in between but they are there.
SSI open water states that at 50 degrees a Dry suit is seriously something you should have...
I've taken my wetsuit on a dive to 48 degrees and got uncomfortable after only 20 minutes, I wanted to end the dive because my arms started to shiver...
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