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I was going to say that title really got me to reading, Julie. but someone beat me to it. I have to agree, I just got a set from Janice, and they really do fit very well. I told my wife I wanted to start wearing them around the house instead of my bathrobe.
Most DS manufacturers sell undies. If you don't like the fleece, you can always go for Thinsulate but it's gonna cost ya...Cheapest solution is to find some Polartech pants and tops at an army surplus.
Currently in the Pacific Northwest, a few hours east of Seattle.
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Julie,
Call Mark at 5th D (425) 427-1282. He sells a 400 gram thinsulate undergarment that stretches along both the warp and woof of the weave; the two-way stretch allows it to be thin, relatively form-fitting, yet warm even if wet. The price is equally impressive, but its a nice bit of gear for diving in the PNW or west coast.
Most DS manufacturers sell undies. If you don't like the fleece, you can always go for Thinsulate but it's gonna cost ya...Cheapest solution is to find some Polartech pants and tops at an army surplus.
I have some of these and they work great! I got mine in black, and unless you look closely they look just like a shiny sweat suit. Tops and bottoms sold seperately at a cost of $20 each.
I've found they actually keep me warmer than the "real" drysuit undies I was using before and they are a lot lighter and more comfy. I've used them for dives approaching two hours in 67-72 degree water and was very comfortable during the dive. After a dive that long, I did start to get a little cool during deco when you are just holding a position and not really moving enough to generate heat.
Koho has some base layer underware fleece. You can get shirts and pants and it hugs your body and your warm. Used for Cross country skiing, or snow shoeing
My wife and I both use Capilene underwear from Patagonia. Their newest material is unbelievably thin and warm. Not all fleeces are created equal. We usually use a thinner inner layer and a thicker outer layer. Their Capilene expedition socks are awesome for keeping toes warm- even when ice diving. Their R3 fleeces are super-stretchy and a great all-around garment both above and below the water. This makes packing for a trip to Alaska even that much simpler. This thin-ness is of great advantage since the dead-air space total volume is reduced and hence the weight you need to wear is reduced. This is of course probably not important if you are wearing doubles. As a bonus these new fleeces are just about the MOST seductively cozy things that you can possibly wear. They don't have that irritating plastic-against-the-skin feel of so many woven synthetic fabrics. Living in colorado we use them all the time and find they are a better value than some single-use diving garment.
If you find yourself chilled depite all the passive insulation you can handle think about using those heat packs which you tear open. We get them from REI by the box. Those work by reacting with atmospheric O2 and release heat gradually over many hours. Since the reaction rate is dictated by the availablity of O2 the heat release is greatly accelerated when your drysuit is filled with much higher PPO2's - like when using Nitrox or simply being at depth. At 90ft those heat packs are AMAZING- DO NOT put them directly on the skin! OTOH if you use Argon as a drysuit pressurant the reaction will stop and they will not work.
Between good insulation and these heat packs you should be able to weather anything- including the time above water in cold weather which is often the coldest part of the dive. The evaporative cooling from the exterior surface of a drysuit can suck heat out of you at a far greater rate than simple conduction underwater since the air temperature is not bounded by the 0degC freezing point and you could be driving along in fast boat. Just food for thought.
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Originally Posted by JulieParkhurst
