Dry Suits for Dummies

[Favagineus]

I've just got back to the UK after a living in Australia for a year and after doing 50+ dives in the last year want to keep the momentum going in colder waters (not TOO much colder than Sydney where i often dived 14C in a 5mm)

Anyway, I want to get a drysuit straight away and besides a bit of research I have no first hand experience of drysuits. What I want to know is - are the lower-end drysuits worth the savings when starting out, or are there big compromises in functionality / longevity / safety when going for the cheaper options.

Here a few options I'm looking at:
Seac Sub Warmdry Drysuit
Mares Pro Fit LX Drysuit
Typhoon Discovery DV Drysuit
Typhoon Evolution DV Drysuit

Note - UK temperatures can range anywhere from 5-20°C throughout the year.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

 

[buddhasummer]

Have you checked out O Three ?, "local" to you with a very good reputation for quality and service.

 

[Favagineus]

Have you checked out O Three ?, "local" to you with a very good reputation for quality and service.

I hadn't head of them but just having a look now, looks good. Cheers for the suggestion

 

[tbone1004]

definitely check out O3, they're really great, and if you can get down to portsmouth, they'll be able to get you custom fit in house

 

[Froggle]

I got an O3 earlier this year and it's excellent. Their postal made to fit service works great if you aren't able to get to them for a fitting.
That said, there are people in my club who have no complaints diving their Typhoon or scubapro (seac sub) suits. My first suit was an old membrane Typhoon suit and I only retired it after somebody caught the undersuit in the zip and a new zip was going to cost twice what I'd paid for the suit...

 

[sunshower]

I'm relatively new to diving in one regularly. I bought one last fall and my view is that they're expensive regardless of what you get; just have to accept that. You can go lower cost for some but then end up spending more to add this feature or that, or you can buy one with more things included and what looks like a higher cost. In the end I suspect they roughly even out. I looked at it as something of an investment and didn't try to cut too many corners. Try them on with someone who knows what they're doing with respect to fitting them. Then be patient as you first dive in it; there's definitely an adjustment period. I definitely like staying warm and having more opportunity to dive.

 

[tbone1004]

I'm relatively new to diving in one regularly. I bought one last fall and my view is that they're expensive regardless of what you get; just have to accept that. You can go lower cost for some but then end up spending more to add this feature or that, or you can buy one with more things included and what looks like a higher cost. In the end I suspect they roughly even out. I looked at it as something of an investment and didn't try to cut too many corners. Try them on with someone who knows what they're doing with respect to fitting them. Then be patient as you first dive in it; there's definitely an adjustment period. I definitely like staying warm and having more opportunity to dive.

we'll have to agree to disagree on that. Suits like that from USIA and O'Three easily meet or exceed the quality and features of suits like DUI, Santi, etc. *usually exceed in my experience* but I don't believe it is possible to get a custom cut suit from USIA or O'Three with pockets, p-valve, whatever boots you want, and even replaceable silicone seals to hit the base price of an equivalent suit from DUI or Santi without a P-valve, silicone seals, or custom cutting.

 

[sunshower]

we'll have to agree to disagree on that. Suits like that from USIA and O'Three easily meet or exceed the quality and features of suits like DUI, Santi, etc. *usually exceed in my experience* but I don't believe it is possible to get a custom cut suit from USIA or O'Three with pockets, p-valve, whatever boots you want, and even replaceable silicone seals to hit the base price of an equivalent suit from DUI or Santi without a P-valve, silicone seals, or custom cutting.

You may well be right, I'm still new to the drysuit scene myself. I like what I have and am getting more comfortable in it but I don't know the full range of options out there.

 

[guruboy]

we'll have to agree to disagree on that. Suits like that from USIA and O'Three easily meet or exceed the quality and features of suits like DUI, Santi, etc. *usually exceed in my experience* but I don't believe it is possible to get a custom cut suit from USIA or O'Three with pockets, p-valve, whatever boots you want, and even replaceable silicone seals to hit the base price of an equivalent suit from DUI or Santi without a P-valve, silicone seals, or custom cutting.

Are you saying it is still cheaper to go with USIA or O'Three even with the customizations?

 

[buddhasummer]

Over Santi, yes. I've little knowledge of USIA.