I still got cold... any suggestions?

[PerroneFord]

Which is very personal matter after all. I'm the worst www around. Last saturday had some student in a pool sessession and I was completely comfortable with my 5mm neoprene dry suit in +26C water.

You live in the WRONG place to be a WWW!!!

LOL!

 

[hazmatmess]

Last year I had the advantage of "natural" insulation... LOL I was using a long sleeved cotton t-shirt, sweat pants and DUI Polartech socks (booties, foot covering.... whatever you want to call them) w/my DUI TLS 350 (was the drysuit I can only afford) . My feet were warm so was the rest of my body. I felt good. And I tried a DUI Thinsulate Insulation Ultra 400 undersuit and felt cold in it. So I never gave buying an undergarment a thought. Until this year... Lost about 30 lbs and now I'm cold..... So what to do???? Research the "internets" and use "the google" (Opie and Anthony/George Bush refrence) and I found the Fourth Element Subxero. Made for trilam drysuits and rated better then the 400g fleece. Well I took my chance and ordered it. Its a 2 piece suit with a farmer john type bottom piece and jacket top. Nice looking. Got it yesterday and wow is it nice and warm. Cannot wait to dive in it this weekend. But from what I heard, its supposed to be really warm... I'll keep you guys updated.

 

[AlaskaDiver]

I know you are seeking a brand name that will be the one that people use the most or highly recommend, but I found when I was first starting out diving that I wanted to put my money into the gear itself rather than the undergarments. Although every dive manufacturer will 'highly recommend' their own expensive brand of undergarments, you can easily get undergarments that will be easy to layer without the old-school polar fleece bulk. Look around at dive shops and feel the thickness of their recommended garments, check around at other sports stores as well. I'm sure all the LDS owners will vigorously defend their recommendations, extolling the virtues of their particular brand and buying from them, but realistically, there are quite inexpensive brands- especially if you are into the multiple layers. It is kind of like the Underarmor craze. There are many brands that make excellent undergarments which are less expensive than Underarmor and are comparable. You have to shop around and feel the fabric and of course try it on.

I have purchased some extraordinarily expensive gear (once because I forgot my gear on a trip) . Compared to some of my less expensive undergarments, I cannot notice a difference underwater.

 

[poirotsj]

This is really helpful information! Thanks!

 

[Jim Ernst]

That garment is used in ice diving. However, Thinsulate loses some (much) of its insulating capacity when washed. And even without washing, it loses effectiveness with age.

I'd be willing to bet if you did the same dive with a NEW 400g, you'd have different results.

I am agreeing with Mr Ford.

I use the same dry-suit and a 300 undergarment and do not get cold here in Monterey with the same temps at 1 to 1 1/2 hour dives.!

 

[uncleavi]

In my Closet I have all sorts of different long johns and Fleece and this allows me to switch according to conditions.

 

[AlaskaDiver]

I also pitched my booties and wear 2 pairs of wool socks and the dry gloves keep my hands warm.

Hey don't pitch those booties. Those are great for walking around the house on the hardwood and tile floors. They've got an insulated sole that helps to break the chill of socks. We both ended up wearing the booties around the motorhome when we were traveling.

 

[micboucher]

I dive here in Iowa, we get an hour of bottom time in 36-40 degree water and I really have not gotten cold since I went to the Whites undergarments.The DUI's our dive team uses I was chilled on the second dive but, since buying my own I have not had a problem,bought them off Ebay from White's they were demos good price I thought. I also pitched my booties and wear 2 pairs of wool socks and the dry gloves keep my hands warm.

Welcome to the cold, I will say I much prefered diving last month in Florida. Went from diving in Iowa on Tuesday 40 degree water in a drysuit to diving in Florida on Saturday in a T shirt and shorts...........

What type of White's undergarment do you have? I'm ordering a Fusion and they recommend I get the White's Pro because I can get it custom made. I've heard people say good things about the MK series but have never heard from anyone about the Pro. Anyone have experience with those in water temps below 50?

I like the idea of layering too though.

 

[hazmatmess]

Finally got to use my Subxero.... Wow was I warm. Felt great and I just had to add a little bit more weight. But it kept me warm in 47 degree water for about 1/2 hour. Hands and head were cold but my body was nice and warm. I even let water get into my drysuit just to test it out and I didn't get cold at all. It did its job!!! Its pretty cool with the jacket cause when the water gets a little warmer, no more jacket. Bottom line is it felt great, kept me warm, did its job. Glad I got it!

 

[PvtStash]

Really?

Good to know, I SURE as 'ell Wont be plunking down $1500-$3000 any time soon if That is the case...

I did my checkouts last week in a rented XS scuba onepiece 5-7mm wetsuit an hoodie... the dive was 30 minutes and was 49 degrees @ 40' .

I was not cold... towards the end maybe cool... but never the thought "damn, its cold down here, Wish I had a drysuit!"

I can Buy an XS suit for about $150... there's No Way I'll be ponying up DUI style cash if I can expect to be cold in the upper 40's..., I had Totally thought that with a High Dollar DUI suit I'd be "good to go" down into the 20's...

well... like I said... Good to Know.