Ok,
So I will get my new CLX450 Sig. Series next Tuesday. I'm realizing my 100g thinsulate isn't gonna cut it in this suit. The cost of drysuit underwear seems very costly.
My mother in law is very good on the sewing machine. Why couldn't you just whip up some good undergarments on your own?
I found a fabrics retailer (
Outdoor fabrics, technical fabrics, ripstop, waterproof fabric, outdoor fabric, zippers) that sells Primaloft, a wickaway fleece, and nylon materials to sandwich together to make something similar to the White's MK3.
Am I missing something? I think I can get MIL to sew these for the cost of materials, which should be less than $125.
There's no reason you can't, although I'm a little baffled that you're spending $2500+ on a drysuit and then being cheap about the part that will keep you actually comfortable (the undies.)
Seattle Fabrics (
Welcome To Seattle Fabrics. We offer marine fabrics and outdoor fabrics such as Neoprene, lycra, sunbrella and more!) is also an outstanding supplier of all kinds of outdoor and technical fabric. I think you'll find the "Green Pepper" series of patterns, in particular, to be useful for your quest.
I did my own pair of 400g thinsulate booties for my suit, but that's because I wanted a tailored fit, and a taller sock than the DUI or Diving Concepts ones provided, and better technical insulation than the flea-Bay cheapies. The end cost, despite being reasonable competent on a sewing machine, was about the same as buying a good set, though, and the time spent was way more. I had fun, though, and I did get a better set of drysuit booties to keep my feet toasty.
A word of warning - you'll need something like a light-industrial grade sewing machine, not a "home grade" sewing machine to do this right, without a lot of frustration. Fleece + a shell of nylon + 400g thinsulate will NOT sew easily on a home machine for piece joins without a walking foot...and I still stalled out the machine a lot and broke plenty of needles...on a very good Bernina. You really MUST have the walking foot on a home machine to take your chances, at a minimum. Preferably, you should not attempt heavyweight undies without a real (separate motor type) light industrial straight-stitch machine. It'll be a nightmare and look terrible, if you even manage to finish the job.
BTW - you're doing this to save money, which is a basically the worst reason to DIY... in the end, if you add up the time, even at minimum wage, you're not going to save anything over buying a reasonable pair of undies. For instance, if you shop around, you can get the very well made Pinnacle Merino Evolution undies for $250 a set...that's basically 650g and the warmest undies you'll find amongst those who actually publish ratings for their suits (clo values...unfortunately, a lot of manufacturers don't share these values).
If you shop around, there are some discount brands (or even good brands) in the under-$200 range, especially if you don't need such a heavy set. Or just find some fleece jumpsuits at REI to get started, if you must.
W/r/t price, the DUI undies are very, very nice - warm and well made. They're also overpriced, though. There are just as good, if not better undies at a much more reasonable cost, and the frustration you'll find DIYing it to try to save a few bucks won't be worth it.
Of course, if you're oddly-shaped physically, or you want a feature that the commercial sets don't have, then yeah, go for it. It's not rocket science, and it's not particularly hard...although quilting all the layers for a set of undies is, from experience, a pain and will take you many times longer than you think.
