Always feel the cold wearing a drysuit

[tedshark]

Under Armour is 791 % cationic polyester/21% elastane is this good to wear under the Fleese?

 

[crlavoie]

Under Armour is 791 % cationic polyester/21% elastane is this good to wear under the Fleese?

I use Under Armour as part of a system that I can adjust depending on the conditions. FYI... it doesn't HAVE to be the Under Armour brand. Any polyester will do. I happen to like UA because I can get other stuff on / off very easily.

I use UA as a base layer on all dives. For the coldest temps, I add a layer of Polartech Powerstretch followed by my Bare CT200. The Powerstretch is key because it adds alot of warmth with minimal bulk and minimizes the additional weight requirement. This keeps me very comfortable down to the 30's. In the summer, I use just UA and Powerstretch.

Between the 2 extremes (i.e. early summer & fall), I use UA and the CT200 undergarment.

 

[CALI68]

90% of the time I dive with my drysuit I feel cold and it's not only me but the person I am diving with that will also be wearing a drysuit.
I never felt cold wearing my 7mm wetsuit farmer john I guess I need aditional clothing.
What could I wear under my fleese garment to stay warmer?

Switch from fleese to Thinsulate. Even in the event of a suit flood the thinsulate will still reatin some of it's warmth. The DUI 400 Gram, The Diving Concepts Extreme or The New Bare 400 Gram are all good choices. Not to be totally obvious but with a dry suit generally (if it's a shell suit) it's all about the undergarments. Most people make the mistake of spending a ton of money on a suit like A DUI TLS but then go cheap on the undergarments which ultimately leads to them freezing thier butts off.

Trust me a TLS 350 with a 400 gram undersuit is warmer than a 7mm Framer John.

The under armour is going to do very little to make you warmer. It will wick the moisture away from your body but beyond that it doesn't provide much thermal protection.


-Chris

 

[paulwlee]

Thinsulate is great for when the suit floods, but for someone not doing deco dives, fleece could be a better choice. It's more stretchy and dries faster.
If the suit floods, you just end the dive.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

There's stretch thinsulate. DC uses it. My thinsulate isn't stretch and it's fine.

 

[k_Woolfsmith]

I have been diving a neoprene drysuit for 3 years here in some of the coldest waters most people dive in (as low as 33F, most of it is between 33-45F) in the Atlantic ocean. I have a set of Helly Hansen long underwear and the matching shirt, essentially SKI gear, its great, in fact more often than not I have sweated in the shirt a bit. All the response so far have been great suggestions, it would help if we knew the type of suit you were diving and the water temps, Its all a comfort level so try a few different combinations, and find the one that is the best combination of warmth, comfort, cost, and mobility!! Safe Diving

PS I did my certification in a 7mm wetsuit March 1st when the air temp was -10 C and the water (Atlantic Ocean) was 0 c, I don't want to talk about it any more thank you,

Karl in Canada

 

[CALI68]

Yea, mine is the DC "stretch extreme" and the are no mobility issues at all.

Paul, What if the diver experiences a catastrpohic flood 20 minutes in to an 80-100' recreational dive in Monterey? What if they were all the way out on a kick dive at Three Sisters or any other place with a long surface swim? I think saying that they can simply terminate the dive really understates a potentially serious problem. I think thinsulate is more than just a luxury, I think it's a pretty important piece of safety gear for diving in Monterey or any cold water spot.

-Chris

 

[paulwlee]

Chris, I heard that Polartec doesn't completely lose insulation on a flood either, although Thinsulate is way better in that respect. I agree that if you plan pretty long dives, you are better off with Thinsulate. But almost any dive that people do with single tanks should be fine with fleece. Think dives at the Breakwater, or dives off the Monterey Express. I think there are more people diving with fleece than with Thinsulate if you go outside the tech diving community.

Also, I'm not saying that Thinsulate necessarily has mobility issues.
After all, I use a the thick DUI 400G Thinsulate suit myself because almost all of my dives are either deco dives or dives that take me far from the entry/exit point. The 400G doesn't stop me from doing anything and I get complete range of motion, but every now and then when I go back to my all-way stretch Polartec 300S undergarment, I can't believe how much more easy it is to move around in it.

 

[CALI68]

The 400G doesn't stop me from doing anything and I get complete range of motion, but every now and then when I go back to my all-way stretch Polartec 300S undergarment, I can't believe how much more easy it is to move around in it.

Yea, I hear ya. No doubt that Polertec is more comfortable that's for sure! I was poking around ANW the other day and Frank was showing me that new Bare undersuit. 400 grams with all sorts of good ideas like pre bent legs and neo stretch pannels. Pretty cool and much cheaper than the DC and DUI. I haven't really heard anything from anyone who has one but Frank said I can try one so I might just take him up on that.

-Chris

 

[alwaingold]

I recently got the Bare undersuit you are talking about. My range of motion is actually better than with my old DUI fleece (ActionWear, so not the 4-way stretch). This is probably because the Bare suit fits a lot better -- they have a lot more sizes, it seems, and in particular they have chick sizes too. The stretch panels under the arm are great for reaching my valves. And of course I am way warmer.