How "Dry" is a "Drysuit"?

[gxsr_sarge]

Now that I have about a dozen dives in my TLS350 under my belt (and after resolving some trim issues), I'm noticing that my t-shirt and 150g undergarment are somewhat damp after about 2-3 dives. It's only in my upper body as my legs and lower torso are dry. I think that my neck seal is not 100% sealed and a small amount of water is leaking maybe due to my head movements. I have the zip seals for neck and wrist. I don't think it's perspiration because I'm really not exerting myself plus the fact that my legs are dry.

My question is whether I should expect a small amount of water to eventually "leak" into my DS over a long dive or sequential dives or whether I should be 100% bone dry? Should I be working on fixing the neck seal issue (if that indeed is the problem)?

What are your experiences?

Thanks and Happy New Year!

 

[Bismark]

"somewhat damp" is a pretty subjective term. After 2-3 dives, you should expect a certain degree of condensation inside the suit. You may not think you are sweating, but you actually are and the constant warming up and cooling off coupled with the cold water and warm body will cause a certain amount of moisture to build up in your drysuit. Hence it is a good idea to wear something that wicks the moisture away from your skin. (eg: underarmour type stuff) Cotton is absolutely the worst for this. If your suit is actually leaking, you will notice it much more in very specific areas. You could be leaking a bit around your neck seal caused by a lot of neck movement. Typically, I will have a fair amount of condensation in the inside of my TLS 350 from a 60 min dive. I am most likely diving in colder water than you are but you will be sweating a fair bit in a drysuit in Florida weather. If you have any real concerns, contact DUI directly. They are very helpful.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

First off, I love my DUI suits ... I own two, a CLX450 and TLS350 ... the latter is to my concern the best suit I've ever owned.

That said, I jokingly like to tell my friends that DUI stands for Dry Until Immersed. They've both developed leaks over time that I've had to send back to DUI to get repaired.

In your case, since it's a new suit, I'd expect it to be dry for a while ... but leaks do sometimes happen due to the way neck and wrist seals will fit certain individuals. There's also a possibility for minor leakage around the inflator valve, if the moisture is in the chest area.

As I once advised TSandM ... "All drysuits eventually become wetsuits, and then you get 'em fixed".

Talk to DUI ... I've found their customer service folks to be very receptive and excellent to deal with.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[tstormdiver]

I've had leakage here & there from rolled neck seals (I have virtually no neck) & recently from worn spots in the neoprene booties that go inside my rock boots. I hope I finally got the worn spots fixed, I'm getting tired of cold squishy feet when I dive. I guess I'll find out tomorrow night if my repairs worked or not. Yes, Bismark is correct, you do sweat more than you think in those things.

 

[gxsr_sarge]

I greatly appreciate all of your responses. I don't think it's necessarily that the suit is somehow defective but rather either an adjustment of my expectations on how dry a drysuit is supposed to be and/or how I'm using it. It seems as though it may be a bit of both. Bismark's comments are rather interesting. I think I will wear my underarmour under my undergarment under my DS (I went overboard on the "unders" )

Thanks

 

[Fionab]

I would agree which changing your cotton t-shirt for a proper baselayer.

 

[ligersandtions]

I was told that drysuits generally aren't completely dry (and that it's unrealistic to expect them to be bone-dry). That said, most people have come to the consensus that it's a combination of your sweat and some condensation, so if after the dive you notice that you're a bit wet, but the wetness isn't super salty like the ocean, it's probably not a leak or anything.

However, I've gone on a couple dives recently where I got myself pretty darn wet....I'm pretty sure that it's a matter of me not getting the collar of my undergarments pulled down enough, so it was caught in my neck seal enough to let water seep in. My suggestion would be to make sure you aren't catching any of your undergarments in any of your seals enough to let water seep in....and also to figure out if it's really water seeping in or if it's just sweat/condensation.

 

[Sas]

I often get leaks in my drysuit from moving my neck or wrists too quickly and then a little bit of water will get in. It is quite obvious it is a leak though as the wet spots are only around my wrists and neck. So I think if you are damp constantly in a certain spot and not others (like your legs) then you would have a leak. It could very well be your seals (that is where most of my leaks spring though I did have to get my arm dump valve tightened as that started leaking). When I had my arm dump leak I took it back to the shop and they did a pressure test to make sure I had no other leaks, so maybe you could have one of them done too to make sure it isn't an actual hole or anything? They didn't charge me for the test or the repair at all.

If it is your seals, what type do you have? I have neoprene ones, apparently latex ones leak a lot less as they fit better so maybe get latex ones if you do not have them already. I also was recommended to use something called 'bioseal' or something like that which was this sticky jelly type thing you add to the seal to make it seal better (sorry don't know how to describe it other than that ) However, slight dampness doesn't really bother me so I never bothered to give it a shot.

With sweat, I wear a few t-shirts as well as thermal tights under my tracksuit pants. The bottom t-shirts and my tights get damp on long dives, whilst the upper t-shirts and trakkie pants stay dry so again, it is fairly easy to distinguish that as sweat as opposed to a leak. I have done a few dives in a drysuit on 30C+ air temp days and I end up soaking from the sweat, but even then my top layers stay pretty dry. Next year I plan to get a proper undergarment so sweat is less of an issue.

 

[uncleavi]

I would go with Bismark on this. I have a few different sets of synthetic Long Johns as well as a Thinsulate jumpsuit. I mix the combination differently at different times of the year.
Good Seals and Valves and if you don' t have to walk a great deal and that should help a bit.
Have fun out there and have a great New Years!

 

[BobbyT22]

I own a Bare XCD2 Tech drysuit, and it is bone dry. Zero leaks. None. I have attached boots which I highly recommend (eliminates 2 potential failure points) and latex seals. I second the condesation/sweat points, that happens no matter what, but proper undergarments are key. I did some dives in cotton long johns and sweatshirt and was damp as predicted. A cheap alternative are cold weather polypropylene undergarments, used by the military in ECW (Extreme cold weather) applications. I am active duty military and was issued a set when I got my cold weather gear, but they can be purchased fairly cheaply on the open market. They are non-moistrue absorbing and very warm. Try this link if interested.

Polypropylene Thermals - Cold weather underwear - Military PolyPropylene