Best Dry Suits for Warmth

[WarmWaterGal]

I live in Nor Cal, and don't dive anywhere around here because I just get too cold - so going to try my luck at drysuit diving. I need recommendations. My most important criteria is warmth, followed by weight of suit. For background, I'm 5'10" 122 lbs. When I dive Cozumel I dive in a 5mil wetsuit and still get chilled by the end of a 40+ minute dive. I don't anticipate getting into difficult cave diving or tech diving - but want to be able to dive in colder waters. Price is not a major consideration.

Suggestions???? I've been researching D1X Hybrid, Level4 and DUI custom.

 

[guruboy]

Neoprene are supposed to be warmer. I’ve never used one though.

 

[runsongas]

trilam suits all depend on the undergarment, so you would want one of the warmest ones like an ursuit finnfill heavy, weezle extreme, 4th element halo 3d, or santi bz400.

crushed neoprene has some inherent insulation, but you would probably still want a 400g undergarment if you are that cold sensitive.

last resort is heated undergarments, but they are spendy.

 

[KaFre]

Hello
I use the D1 Hybrid (the old version of the D1X) to dive in Scandinavia, it is a fairly popular suit with my local diving group.
My last dive was in 4°C (39F) water.
I was wearing a merino base layer, a Xerotherm set from Fourth Element, and dry gloves. I was not cold at any point during the dive.
I highly recommend getting either the D1X or a D1 on clearance after they launched the new model, since the changes aren't that dramatic.

 

[rsingler]

In NorCal, and I'm just like you, temperature wise. I dive a DUI FLX with a Polartec liner (~4.5mm). I started with DUI's thickest liner (~8mm), and up at Fort Ross I got so hot and sweaty I quit and went home after one dive, lol. I waited until my Polartec came in to try again.
So like @runsongas said, it's all about the undergarments.

This is doable, without a $600 Thermalution electric vest, which is what my wife dives with 7 mm wet.

 

[BoltSnap]

I live in Nor Cal, and don't dive anywhere around here because I just get too cold - so going to try my luck at drysuit diving. I need recommendations. My most important criteria is warmth, followed by weight of suit. For background, I'm 5'10" 122 lbs. When I dive Cozumel I dive in a 5mil wetsuit and still get chilled by the end of a 40+ minute dive. I don't anticipate getting into difficult cave diving or tech diving - but want to be able to dive in colder waters. Price is not a major consideration.

Suggestions???? I've been researching D1X Hybrid, Level4 and DUI custom.

DUI for sure with appropriate thermals. I am sure that you can try different suits and thermals from DUI since you are in the same state as DUI. Contact them and they will most likely hook you up with a dealer that has suits in stock. DUI used to have demo days that you can join to try different undies.

 

[almostDIR]

one of the warmest and most durable options could be an all-rubber drysuit with integrated custom made dry hood and possibly full face mask and all heated undergarments. some of the persons here use that kind of stuff for ice diving though it might be a bit too extreme

If doing "normal cold water diving" then a basic trilam suit with relatively thick undergarments and a thick wet hood should be fine. Get a suit which enables easy change between dry and wet gloves so that you can adjust to warmer water if needed.

Neoprene drysuits are pretty uncommon here, it might be due to the dives being generally relatively deep here for the stuff where extra warmth is needed so it would not be practical to have a suit which changes buoyancy significantly in depth

 

[Joris Vd]

If it's 100 % about warmth the 7mm non crushed neoprene drysuits are by far the warmest ones. I mainly dive trilam with the thich blue bare midlayer + thermal underwear and it's ALOT colder than a classic 7mm non crushed one with just a pair of thermal underwear and wool socks on.
But the thing is trilam is the only suit you could basically wear year round without problems, by just swapping thermal layers. With a 7mm non crushed in summer there is a real danger of overheating depending on where you dive.

 

[WarmWaterGal]

Hello
I use the D1 Hybrid (the old version of the D1X) to dive in Scandinavia, it is a fairly popular suit with my local diving group.
My last dive was in 4°C (39F) water.
I was wearing a merino base layer, a Xerotherm set from Fourth Element, and dry gloves. I was not cold at any point during the dive.
I highly recommend getting either the D1X or a D1 on clearance after they launched the new model, since the changes aren't that dramatic.

Thanks KaFre...good to know not dramatic changes between the two models in case I can find a good deal on D1

 

[WarmWaterGal]

In NorCal, and I'm just like you, temperature wise. I dive a DUI FLX with a Polartec liner (~4.5mm). I started with DUI's thickest liner (~8mm), and up at Fort Ross I got so hot and sweaty I quit and went home after one dive, lol. I waited until my Polartec came in to try again.
So like @runsongas said, it's all about the undergarments.

This is doable, without a $600 Thermalution elective vest, which is what my wife dives with 7 mm wet.

Thanks- I can’t imagine ever being too hot diving Lol. Makes me think there is hope for me doing cold water diving!

Hello
I use the D1 Hybrid (the old version of the D1X) to dive in Scandinavia, it is a fairly popular suit with my local diving group.
My last dive was in 4°C (39F) water.
I was wearing a merino base layer, a Xerotherm set from Fourth Element, and dry gloves. I was not cold at any point during the dive.
I highly recommend getting either the D1X or a D1 on clearance after they launched the new model, since the changes aren't that dramatic.

have you found that you need extra weights with the D1 vs other type of drysuit?