Drysuit undersuit

[Sebastian746]

Hi all
Looking for some advice on layering under a drysuit. I have been training in a wetsuit since the water is quite warm. I am going away for a holiday to a colder part of the world and wish to do some diving there. I think the water temp might be somewhere between 15-18 deg C, so I will be using a drysuit for the first time.
What kind of base layers would you recommend? I have been reading online and most of the posts say to wear some good moisture wicking base layers. Now I am wondering, are these the same stuff one usually wears for like running/cycling? So am I looking at using my gym clothes? Rather, CAN i use my running tights for this purpose?
If not, can you recommend some brands/items?

 

[Doby45]

Any wicking base layer will work. There are of course "diving" specific base layers but a base layer is a base layer. I have been wearing a running base layer under some regular ole sweats at the temps you are talking about and I am perfectly fine and dry. That simply speaks to the function of the clothing, each persons cold tolerance is different. So what I might be fine with you might be cold, so keep that in mind.

 

[KevinNM]

You want a wicking base layer. Not something like cotton that will get easily soaked with sweat. For the midlayer, the scuba specific stuff often is better at keeping you warm when your suit floods. And it will eventually. This isn't a big deal if you can just say, "wow, this sucks" and get out of the water. It's a big deal if you are many minutes from being able to get out of the water and you get so cold your hands can't grasp a ladder, and your fingers can't even unzip the suit or pull the wrist seals over your hands when you get out.

 

[Subcooled]

I have been using a normal moisture wicking base layer on all of my dives. Thenyou will want another layer that keeps you warm and contains that sweat.

 

[al248005]

I use Under Armor Cold Gear and it works just fine!

 

[Sunn]

This is the rolls-royce : Arctic Extreme Performance Undersuit for Diving | Fourth Element

Anyway, diving in waters at 15 - 18 degrees celsius does not require a very special undersuit. Your gym clothes will do the job, but be aware that you'll have to dry them after each dive (you sweat ! )

 

[Neilwood]

15-18C for me is firmly in wetsuit territory. Mind you I dived wet this year at 8C so read in to that what you will.

 

[sunnyboy]

This is the rolls-royce : Arctic Extreme Performance Undersuit for Diving | Fourth Element

Anyway, diving in waters at 15 - 18 degrees celsius does not require a very special undersuit. Your gym clothes will do the job, but be aware that you'll have to dry them after each dive (you sweat ! )

I dive the relatively cold waters off Vancouver Island. From 2003 I dove Wheezles with my TLS350, but when I bought my new suit (FLX Extreme) I bought the Fourth Element Arctic one piece and socks. The one piece really needs the socks.

I also wear a long sleeve thin polypro shirt as a wicking layer, and in the cold months I have a heated vest to assist in not freezing my hands off.

 

[Sebastian746]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I guess I need to figure out how cold I will be (or not) in that temp. I guess I will use my dryfit running tights from Nike and a long sleeve peter storm baselayer (it does the wicking very well on my hikes). I will carry a light fleece and see if I need it after my first dive.
Do you usually wear some socks under the drysuit? I was talking to the dive agency and they said they have neoprene drysuits which already have socks on them. I will need to wear boots on top of it. So I am wondering if i still need to wear a set of gym socks or liners?

 

[KevinNM]

I use big mountaineering socks to fill the space in my boots. Otherwise my feet get too floaty. Don't need them for warmth at that kind of temp, but the boots are set up to allow quite a bit of extra insulation.

If you are running neoprene socks instead of boots then you can likely just do wool socks with either boots or chuck Taylor's (the old school canvas and rubber ones).