Semi dry suit or my suit with hooded vest

[Scubadude4]

I get cold fairly easily. I have a 5 mil Henderson Thermoprene wetsuit. I’m trying to decide between a Henderson hooded vest to be worn under my wetsuit or spend a little extra and get a Hollis 8/7/6 neotec semi dry suit. Opinions? Will the semi dry suit really be dryer?? I can see benefits both ways. I’m in the Florida panhandle, but currently don’t dive in the winter.

also, what’s a good boat coat for surface time.

 

[Soloist]

My wife and I ordered 7MM Yamamoto Open Cell Wetsuits from Mako a couple of weeks ago. These suits are extremely warm, flexible and well made, so this may be an option. The parkas are really nice too. Both are still on sale for Black Friday.

https://www.makospearguns.com/Yamamoto-3D-Reef-Camo-2-Piece-Open-Cell-Wetsuit-p/m2y3drc.htm

https://www.makospearguns.com/Dive-Surf-Race-Parka-p/mparka.htm

 

[Raphus]

Semi dry is not dryer. If its dry you will get a squeeze.

Let some water in at the beginning and then seal it. So the water cant come out. The water will warm to body temperature. And you will be a lot warmer, then with a wetsuit. A hood will improve that aswell!
A lot of heat is lost by the most active part of you body. The head.

 

[happy-diver]

Semi dry is dryer. If its dry you will NOT get a squeeze.

Do NOT let some water in at the beginning as your perspiration will probably suffice

 

[Zef]

Semi dry is dryer. If its dry you will NOT get a squeeze.

Do NOT let some water in at the beginning as your perspiration will probably suffice

Uh...I don't think this is correct based physics and my experience. I dive a semi-dry (Waterproof Combat SD) during seasonal transition periods (Spring/Autumn), my suit does such a good job at keeping me dry I have thought about putting an inflator on the chest and dump valve on the upper arm and gluing on some boots to convert it to neoprene drysuit just to avoid the squeeze/pinching I get from the suit.....in fact I have to keep the the ankle cuffs/seals untucked so that air can escape otherwise I can't descend due to residual air in the suit.

As another option to relieve the squeeze, last spring I saw a diver using a semi-dry suit and on the LP inflator hose they would normally attach to a drysuit inflator they had an air-nozzle connected. When I asked what they used it for, they mentioned they use it to shoot air into their suit from their wrist cuff to alleviate squeeze as they descend.

The only area of my semi-dry that gets wet is the area from knees down, as the residual air pushes out around my ankles as I duck dive to descend. I get a squeeze in the crotch/hip and chest areas as the suit vacuums down in these areas as air evacuates but water does not replace it.

The physics are such that if water is not entering the suit as air pushes out, then the suit vaccuum packs around the body, just a like a drysuit.

-Z

 

[Zef]

I get cold fairly easily. I have a 5 mil Henderson Thermoprene wetsuit. I’m trying to decide between a Henderson hooded vest to be worn under my wetsuit or spend a little extra and get a Hollis 8/7/6 neotec semi dry suit. Opinions? Will the semi dry suit really be dryer?? I can see benefits both ways. I’m in the Florida panhandle, but currently don’t dive in the winter.

also, what’s a good boat coat for surface time.

How dry a drysuit is depends on how well it fits and how well the neck, wrist, and ankle seals work to reduce the flow of water through the suit.

Where I live, the season where I can comfortably wear a 5mm wetsuit is very short. There is a window of time in the spring where the air temp is warm but the water temp is cold and to wear my drysuit I would be dying of heat exhaustion while gearing up and getting to the water, and if I wear a thin undergarment to deal with that I will be chilled during the dive. In the fall their is also window where the airtemp is cold but the water temp is still too warm to warrant wearing a drysuit....for these parts of the year I wear a semi-dry (Waterproof Combat SD). I only wear my 5mm wetsuit when the water temp is above 15C and that is not until late July.

I have an Aqualung balance comfort 5.5mm wetsuit with a 5.5mm balance comfort shorty designed to wear over it. I find the combination of the 2 to be uncomfortable from a bulkiness standpoint (michelin man factor) and despite the bulk and discomfort from reduced mobility, it never really keeps me comfortably warm during those transition season dives. My semi-dry solved that problem....in fact my semi-dry works so well that I have to keep the ankle cuffs untucked or I cant get enough residual air out of the suit to be able to descend below the surface, and it fits me well enough that 99% of the time I don't even get wet past the area just above my knees/lower thigh area...the drawback is that my I often get a suit squeeze in my hip area and across my chest/back. I prefer to be dry and warm than wet and cold so I just bear the squeeze, but it could be eliminated by pulling my neck seal away from my skin and letting some water in.

So my recommendation, depending on your comfort factor and the water temps you dive in, would be to skip the hooded vest and get the semi-dry, just be sure it fits well (comfortably snug, a little snugger than a wetsuit).

BTW, I used to live in Pensacola so I am familiar with how brisk the days can be down on the Florida panhandle in the fall and winter.

-Z

 

[Scubadude4]

I’m on a beta blocker for blood pressure and I think it makes me a lot less tolerant of the cold water.

Does your squeeze cause any difficult breathing, is it painful.... I know it’s fixable but just wondered what it feels like.

 

[Scubadude4]

I also imagine some semi dry suits are wetter than others given the same fit. I was looking at the Hollis neotec 8/7/6.

 

[Zef]

I’m on a beta blocker for blood pressure and I think it makes me a lot less tolerant of the cold water.

Does your squeeze cause any difficult breathing, is it painful.... I know it’s fixable but just wondered what it feels like.

The squeeze is not a crushing feeling at least not for me. I can't really explain it other than by saying that in my Fusion drysuit which is a gore-tex like material, it is like getting vaccuum packed...the same thing happens to slightly less degree in my semi-dry, what I can feel are the areas in the crease of my thighs/hips and mostly the zipper area pressed across my back. It never gets to the point of pain but it is initially not the most comfortable either. Like I said, if it bothered me enough I could just yank my neck seal away from my neck and flood the suit...because the water will be trapped, in a few minutes by body will warm it up and I will regain warmth and comfort....I mostly don't do this because I think it is neat that I can exit the water almost as dry as I entered it, and I never expect the dry state to persist throughout an approximately 45 to 60 minute dive...but so far it has.

I also imagine some semi dry suits are wetter than others given the same fit. I was looking at the Hollis neotec 8/7/6.

I have no idea about this. I only purchased the semi-dry because it was a great deal on a used suit that looked relatively new/unused. It was a fluke how I came to purchase it but I am glad I did.

Here is a picture of the suit I have:

-Z

 

[Raphus]

Got the same suit. Its a good one. But it compresses a lot because its that thick.and its really heavy. Way more then a normal 7mm.