Wet Suit? Dry Suit? Help I'm Allergic to Neoprene

[amg0245]

Wet Suit? Dry Suit? Help I'm Allergic to Neoprene

Hi everyone,
I'm doing research because I'd like to get certified to dive. I just opened my first book & hit a my first snag. I was reading all about the equipment I'd need, when the book mentioned Wet Suits, Dry Suits and the like. All of which are mostly made of Neoprene. I'm highly allergic to the material. I cannot have it anywhere near my skin (I’ve tried having something cotton b/w me and the material too and that didn't work).

So... my question to all of you out there. Does anyone else have this problem? How did you solve it? Any Ideas?

Thanks!
AMG

[Soggy]

Buy a trilaminate drysuit with latex seals. No neoprene involved....

You're in NY, so you wouldn't want a wetsuit anyhow.

[Goose75]

Dry suits come in neoprene, coated fabric (i.e. nylon), crushed neoprene, vulcanized rubber, trilaminate and composite (i.e. multiple materials). I reccomend looking into coated fabric and trilaminate suits to see if they will be a problem. Dry Suits are primarily for water temps below 70F. If you going tropical, you are going to have problems. Email wetsuit and drysuit manufacturers with your problem. They may offer the best solution. A web search should pop up many brands. Let us know what you find!

BTW, dry suits are expensive. Your initial investment is going to be high.

[mart1]

For warm water try a lycra suit, for cold watre a trilaminate.
I have had a few customers with the same problem, one of them uses a lycra suit under her wetsuit, this works for her. Another one uses a trilaminate drysuit.

mart

[Bob3]

The Lycra suit works for some folks, though it sounds like you've got it bad.
Get together with your allergist & have them do more skin tests with latex rubber & etc. I can mail you some material samples for the tests, but have it done under the MD's supervision.
You may be stuck with warm water diving, which may be tax deductible if you get a note from your Dr.

[mike_s]

You'll most likely not buy any of the above dry suits or other fancy suits until after you learn to dive and figure out what most type/temp of water you'll be diving in.



For the class, or before as a test, try a think "dive skin" to wear under you neoprene wetsuit they give you for the class. Dive skins are "cheap" and only cost about $40 to $60 bucks. To cover your feet in the booties, wear a pair of thin polypropelene socks.

See how that works. The low tech, low cost solution.

[Ishie]

For warmer water, would Henderson's Tri-Lam work?

[amg0245]

Wow. Thanks everyone! There are some great ideas!! I'm going to take your advice & probably try for something w/ Lycra.

I probably should have mentioned that I do not plan to dive around where I live. I'm mostly looking to dive down in FL or with my parents on vacation. They recently bought time share as a family gift so we'll be going to places like the Caymans & Hawaii. I thought I would be great to really experience the places I'll be going.

Thanks again!!
AMG

[Kestrell]

Wet Suit? Dry Suit? Help I'm Allergic to Neoprene

Hi everyone,
I'm doing research because I'd like to get certified to dive. I just opened my first book & hit a my first snag. I was reading all about the equipment I'd need, when the book mentioned Wet Suits, Dry Suits and the like. All of which are mostly made of Neoprene. I'm highly allergic to the material. I cannot have it anywhere near my skin (I’ve tried having something cotton b/w me and the material too and that didn't work).

So... my question to all of you out there. Does anyone else have this problem? How did you solve it? Any Ideas?

Thanks!
AMG

Boy, you sure did pick the wrong sport to get into if you are alergic to neoprene. Good luck. You could always carve a wetsuit out of wood or something.

Seriously though, you should be able to figure something out, but it will be a bit tough and probably expensive.

First go to you doctor and see if you are allergic to rubber or latex too. If not then get gear made from these items. If your allergy is as bad as I suspect, wearing a skin between you and any neprene will not work.

Also, be clear on the return policy of you LDS. If you buy something and you get a reaction to it, you will want to be able to return it; for store credit at least.

Also, make sure you wash whatever you buy. Even if it isn't made from neoprene, if it was in a dive shop, I'm sure it was touching something made from neoprene.

Be careful at dive sites too. If part of your allergic reaction is trouble breathing, you could come in contact with some neoprene at the dive site and not realize it until you are at 70' and struggling to get air.

Good luck.

[Damselfish]

Everyone has a different tolerance to cold, people from further north like you sometimes dive in warm water in just a lycra skin - or even just bathing suit and tshirt, although being fully covered with something is much better. So there's a chance lycra alone may do it for you, at least part of the year. (Hawaii is colder than the Carribean, and the temps in Fla will drop in winter.)

Something like Darlex (a 3 layer lycra-membrane-fleece material) is a little warmer than plain lycra and might also be an option. They seem to have mostly disappeared since .5/1 mil neoprene came out, but I guess the Henderson trilam is similar.