What requires more weight: wetsuit or drysuit

[Bubbletrubble]

Quick question: what requires more added weight: using a 7MM wetsuit or a drysuit

I'm thinking of taking a drysuit class and initially thought it might lower the weighting requirements from being less buoyancy than the wetsuit, but now I realize the whole suit is buoyant.

Compared to diving a 7MM wetsuit here in CA, when you use a drysuit, do you reduce/stay the same/increase the weight you have to carry to get neutrally buoyant?

I'll change your question to read: Compared to diving a 7mm wetsuit or drysuit, do you reduce/stay the same/increase the weight you have to carry in order to be properly weighted?

It depends on a lot of factors: material/thickness of drysuit undergarment, inherent buoyancy of drysuit material, inherent buoyancy of 7mm wetsuit (older, well-used suits tend to be more compressed and have less inherent buoyancy than a comparable new suit), etc. This doesn't even consider the gear changes which may be required by transitioning to a drysuit (rockboots fitting fins with bigger foot pockets).

For most of us diving a shell drysuit with temperature-appropriate undergarments, we tend to require slightly more lead weight (vs. wearing a 7mm wetsuit) in order to be properly weighted on a dive.

Bottom line is that you need to do a proper weight check when you make a significant change such as transitioning from a 7mm wetsuit to a drysuit.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

What drysuit vs what wetsuit, esp. the wetsuit. Is it a 7mm one-piece? or 7mm Farmer John, beavertail jacket, and hooded vest. I was diving the latter, and took weight off when I went dry.


Chuck

 

[Shasta_man]

Many thanks guys. Very interesting replies and thanks for adjusting my question appropriately. So when in my wetsuit, it's trying to compress me into a ball and I'm wearing like 26 lbs of lead, so in drysuit, it might be a little more weight trying to crush me but without the "compress into a ball".

Chuck: I'm going from a two piece 7MM Hyperstretch suit (farmer john and then the top with a separate hood). That's a lot of neoprene.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Chuck: I'm going from a two piece 7MM Hyperstretch suit (farmer john and then the top with a separate hood). That's a lot of neoprene.

Wow. That means you have 14mm covering your torso. My previous answer assumed that you were wearing a one-piece 7mm wetsuit.

Depending on lots of different factors, it's certainly possible that you'll require less lead weight when transitioning to a drysuit. As I mentioned before, the only way you're going to know is to do a proper weight check.

On a side note, I've never felt like an exposure suit was trying to "compress me into a ball." Are you certain that your wetsuit fits?

 

[stevensamler]

I found that with my lavacore and indera undergarments which are fairly thin keep me warm even @ 52 degrees with scubapro evertec trilam. That being said i only had to add a few lbs of lead compared to my 7mm ws , I'm also hoping to drop some lbs by switching to a lp 2400+ 10 95 cuft steel tank instead of a lp 2400+ 10 80 cuft steel tank. I hope this info can help.

 

[mathauck0814]

To the OP: Have you already shifted the weight around where you could on your kit? Like a stainless steel backplate & STA & can light? I had more luck replacing non-functional weight with more functional weight in those ways. I believe I carried ~10lbs with a 7mm full length suit and ~14lbs with a drysuit (not counting the weight of the steel tank + bp + sta + light). Warmth requires insulation, insulation needs to be sunk

 

[alibi 2]

You will need more weight with a drysuit than wetsuit...I dive with 26# wet and 30# dry...you might not notice the difference if boat diving but you will notice it when shore diving and you have to walk out of surf and then up the sand and then over to your car!!! no doubt about that!

 

[TSandM]

Well, we have our OW students in a 7 mm wetsuit and 7 mil core warmer. Most of them who are of normal size/girth take in the neighborhood of 24 pounds or so. My husband uses about 26 lbs of ballast for the same dives in his dry suit. I use 31 with the same undergarment.

fdog has it spot-on, as usual. Once you go dry, you keep buying warmer undergarments, which are all more buoyant and take more weight. It's worth it.

 

[zf2nt]

fdog has it spot-on, as usual.QUOTE]

I noticed that. It's refreshing for a change to see a posting on Scubaboard from somebody who actually knows what he's talking about.

Bruce