anyone tried thermalution ?

[darkmoon3d]

Found an article about thermalution heated suits in scuba magazine (:: THERMALUTION.COM :: Thermalution Heated Undersuit Is Your Only Solution TO Keep Warm!). Sounds interesting since I get cold and don't like bulky size and expense of dry suits. Has anyone tried this suit or have any reviews to share on them? Also couldn't seem to find price on website anywhere.

Mark

 

[a22shady]

Never heard of them. But I have seen similiar products. This one looks cool and sounds like it will work. I am drysuit person I would want long sleeve,Pants,Socks avilable all as a Set It's great to keep your chest warm but thats not the only part of the body that gets cold. Actually I don't think my chest area has ever been cold. Usually my feet,legs,arms or hands. I have been into 40's while diving

 

[ambertiger]

Found an article about thermalution heated suits in scuba magazine (:: THERMALUTION.COM :: Thermalution Heated Undersuit Is Your Only Solution TO Keep Warm!). Sounds interesting since I get cold and don't like bulky size and expense of dry suits. Has anyone tried this suit or have any reviews to share on them? Also couldn't seem to find price on website anywhere.

Mark

Hi, Yes I bought one of these last year for scuba diving (they sell one for surfing too good to 10m) and wore it the whole winter. They are really good I would certainly recommend them. They are very thin, slightly thicker than a rash guard, and there are two Li-on batteris that fit in pockets under each arm. The batteries weigh about 8oz each. You plug the batteries in to the vest, the heating coils are in the back. There is a thermostat with 3 heat settings. I have only ever used the lowest setting. The coils are situated over the heart area in the back of the vest and it seems to warm your blood which in turn warms your whole body. I wore this is 20C water without a wet suit and stayed warm throughout the dive. Batteries are good for two 50 min dives. They charge fairly quickly within 2 hours so you could do a full days diving. Price was about US$300 slightly more than a good custom made wetsuit but considering the amount of lead you save by not having to wear a 5mm or 7mm suit or a dry suit I think they are great. I wore a 3mm wetsuit all winter last year with the Thermolution underneath. In fact you actually drop a little lead because of the weight of the batteries.

 

[oldschool]

Would the sleevless version work underneath a 5 mill full suit. How long is the cord running to the control? Could it be routed out the back of the neck opening and fastened to the shoulder strap of a BC? This looks like a great solution to the cold lake diving here in TX.

 

[spectrum]

That behaves a lot like the sodium acetate heat packs I use in a wetsuit at time. Mine is a cummerbund format and it essentially warms the kidney area and the blood flow distributes the thermal energy.

At the DUI Dog Day this spring they were testing an electric system. I think it was a vest and gloves. The couple that tried it for a dive each were very impressed.

It makes sense that unless there is a breakthrough in low displacement insulation the development will shift from heat preservation to replenishment.

Pete

Pete

 

[noreastDIVER84]

That behaves a lot like the sodium acetate heat packs I use in a wetsuit at time. Mine is a cummerbund format and it essentially warms the kidney area and the blood flow distributes the thermal energy.

At the DUI Dog Day this spring they were testing an electric system. I think it was a vest and gloves. The couple that tried it for a dive each were very impressed.

It makes sense that unless there is a breakthrough in low displacement insulation the development will shift from heat preservation to replenishment.

Pete

Pete

The DUI system did work well, but they are still in a prototype stage with it. The owner of my LDS tried it and it did keep him warm, but they were using something like their weight and trim harness with huge battery packs that were a bit cumbersome. They said that they were working on something the size of a canister light.

 

[flots am]

Found an article about thermalution heated suits in scuba magazine (:: THERMALUTION.COM :: Thermalution Heated Undersuit Is Your Only Solution TO Keep Warm!). Sounds interesting since I get cold and don't like bulky size and expense of dry suits. Has anyone tried this suit or have any reviews to share on them? Also couldn't seem to find price on website anywhere.

I wouldn't be in a big hurry move to the head of the line to try it. 16oz of LiIon batteries (according to a post below) contains enough energy to set you and your wetsuit on fire.

flots.

 

[ambertiger]

Would the sleevless version work underneath a 5 mill full suit. How long is the cord running to the control? Could it be routed out the back of the neck opening and fastened to the shoulder strap of a BC? This looks like a great solution to the cold lake diving here in TX.

Hi yes the sleeveless version would work well under any thickness of wet suit. The chord from the batteries is a coiled stretch chord so the thermostat can be routed out of the front or back of the wetsuit and clipped to the BCD no problem. BTW the battery is Polymer Lithium 7.5 Volts (the same type of battery in a cell phone) when charging, it remains cold and it remains cold throughout the dives too. I live in Taiwan and dive with one of the guys who was involved with the design of this vest. The heating technology F.I.R is really good. This is way better than chemical pacs as you can control the heat on 3 settings. I recently checked on-line prices and if you are interested in buying this vest I think I can beat any price you can find on-line. I am willing to post overseas. For more info check out :: THERMALUTION.COM :: Thermalution, Your Only Solution!

 

[ambertiger]

I wouldn't be in a big hurry move to the head of the line to try it. 16oz of LiIon batteries (according to a post below) contains enough energy to set you and your wetsuit on fire.

flots.

Hi, sorry I made a mistake on the battery type it is a polymer lithium 7.5 volts, similar to the type used in cell phones and MP3 players. All I can say is that I test dived this vest all last winter and it worked really well. Mind you I live in Taiwan where the water does not get colder than 18C. But I dived in a 2mm + 3mm wetsuit all winter and never felt cold. Thermalution also make a winter sports version which is good to 15m the scuba one goes to 70m. The 15m version would be great for any winter sports, such as skiing and would also be great for sailing, wind surfing, para gliding, surfing and all kinds of surface water activities in winter.

Safe diving.

 

[SurferRyan]

I love going out early season for Meg Teeth off North Carolina. The Thermalution Heated Undersuits are awesome for those deep water dives with a bad thermoclines in the spring and fall. I am able to crank the suit up to Medium or High down at 120ft, and then turn it to low or off for my safety stop where the water is much warmer. These things really take the bite off of the cold and pump some serious heat! I've dove with my Thermalution around 25 times so far and it still operates perfectly!

I bought mine last year from some guys in Wilmington, NC who run HeatedWetsuits.com. I just tried to order one for my wife, but they are back-ordered on the 70m model and only have the 15m model now. They are expecting a shipment of the 70m suits in the early Spring for the NC dive season. I just placed a pre-order with them for one for my wife who complains about the cold even in August.

-Ryan