Local advice please :)

[divemed06]

All right...so I'm kind of dissapointed with my diving season (only got about 10 dives in this year ). I'm hoping to become more active in the coming years. I'l be doing most of my dives in the St-Lawrence/Lake Ontario area, Would you recommend getting a drysuit :06: If so any recommendations... I don't mind being wet after a dive...my main concern is the constant tightness and loss of range of motion with a 7mm wetsuit.

Thanks

 

[d33ps1x]

A shell bi or trilaminate drysuit would do you well and allow you to vary your amount of undergarments to keep active all year round in this area.

You will want the underwear sized so you can have full freedom of movement to kick (read frog kick) and be able to have the ability to have full mobility and reach your valves and not have the suit or undergarments impede you.

On the other end of the spectrum you don't want the suit to be a bag on you as this will have a severe adverse effect on your hydrodynamics (sleekness in the water).

You will notice a difference in drag just switching from wet to dry never mind switching to a poor fitting baggy suit.

If you are really lucky you may be able to buy off the shelf and get a reasonably good fit in something affordable like a Bare Nexgen. These can be had for around 850 with hood gloves, undergarments and suit and it is a reasonable suit to own to get you started in drysuits PROVIDED you can do the above mentioned things. Otherwise a deal isn't a deal if it is useless or dangerous, not even under the pretense of "starting out" with drysuits.

If you end up having to get a custom suit I would definately stay away from Whites suits as every person I have ever seen in one looks like a flying squirrel and they really just don't have a handle on a well cut custom suit. My apologies to current Whites owners but this is my opinion and no offense is meant.

The big money big player is of course DUI and there are lots of discussions on this board regarding them. Do your research. Don't stress out over "Cave Cuts" and all the rest of it and realise that they are crazy expensive but you can expect years of use out of them provided you keep your figure. I own a CLX-450 as do several of the other people I dive with. I have also dove extensively a CF-200, Bare NexGen and my current second suit which is a Diving Concepts Ultraflex Pro which I also love.

There are other options in custom suits of course but I have no familiarity with them so I can't help much there. Manufacturers are companies like Viking, Mares, etc...

If you decide to go with DUI the major dealer in Ontario or Canada for that matter is Dan's Dive Shop in St Cathrines. They are the biggest DUI player around.

As far as unerwear go? There is only one set to get in my opinion. This comes from someone who has dove mountaineering fleece, polypro, DUI C200, C400, Bare T-100. 200, among other things.

There is no other underwear that can compete in any way to the Diving Concepts TPS Thinsulate Extreme stuff. It is about the equivalent of a DUI C260 if it existed and it is thin, completely stretchy, form fitting and nice and slippery against the inside of your drysuit. It isn't cheap but it is the best money you could spend drysuit diving. I believe the major diving concepts dealer in Ontario is Northern Tech Diver out of Kingston. They go through a lot of these underwear for a very good reason. It seriously rocks. I own both teh TPS stuff and a custom cut DUI C400 undergarment and it is by far my fave.

Anyways. In the middle of a course this weekend and off to bed. Hope this is a help to you.

 

[Mr Adams]

Your going to have the same amount of restraints or more with a dry suit once your undergarments are on and the suit slightly inflated, another choice would be a custom fitted 'ONE PIECE' 7mm wet suit. The farmer john type suits mostly used by shops for rentals can be restrictive and uncomfortable at times do to the double chest area padding and fit. It all depend on your budget and how far you want to go. The opinions will vary from sport scuba to anal Teck divers on this topic I'm sure.


Mr A

 

[Tom R]

Fit is the most important part of any drysuit/wetsuit. Once you get the fit and the right fit with the ability to reach your valves etc with the proper fitting underwear the rest will fall in place. Atlan does custom wetsuit work and most of the major drysuit players do custom work. The first step is to get your underwear first then get measured in it. Deepsix and Mr Adams gave you the rest of the pertainant information already

 

[Groundhog246]

I'd have to think if you're being that restricted by your 7mm suit, it doesn't really fit you. I started with a Mares 49parallel john/jacket. Nice cold water suit, but found it somewhat restrictive. Switched to a Bare Extreme semi-dry, which is one piece 7mm. Better fit, easier movement and less water flow through the suit, so nearly as warm as the 2 piece (which has 14mm of neoprene in the core area). Later picked up a Whites sleeveless jacket. That adds another 6.5mm in the core area and the combo is warmer than my john/jacket ever thought to be. Slightly more restrictive with the jacket, but better than the Mares was. I don't mean to knock Mares, their stock medium, just isn't cut quite right for me. Someone that the Mares fit well, probably wouldn't like my Bare. I have a 3/2 Mares one piece and love it and I love my Quatros. Wet or Dry, fit is everything. You'd be warmer in a well fitting 3mm that almost eliminated water flow, than a poor fitting 7mm with the water flowing through.
I've made the jump to dry this year, but I prefer to dive wet. I have to work harder when dry (a fin stroke doesn't move me as far) and my air consumption goes up about 10% (was even more in the beginning), which cuts my bottom time. OTOH, when the water's 39F, I'm warmer and that increases my bottom time (as being cold uses more air too). So, If i'm expecting temps over 50F, I'll dive some combo of wet, below that I'll go dry. You can never have too many suits.

 

[StatusMaker]

I have owned both wet suits (two peice and one peice) and have also owned shell suit style dry suits as well as Neoprene. My current suit is a custom fit neoprene Abyss drysuit. Its not the best suit I have ever had, the previous Abyss suit holds that title.

After diving both types of dry I would never again go back to a shell suit again. I can wear any type of underwear in the drysuit, or not. Worse case is the suit floods and I am wearing a wetsuit. In a shell suit worse case is the suit floods and your diving in a garbage bag. I have not worn a wet suit in a long long time and probably wont again. I even wear the suit down in the pan handle (looooong dives).


Darryl

 

[Tavi]

You sound like the season is over. There is at least a month of good diving yet!!

Definately get a drysuit. Since I got my DUI Clx 50-50 the only time I dive wet is in Florida or the Bahamas.

 

[Butch103]

.....go dry!! I have a custom Bare neoprene and I enjoy the warmth and dry diving. Got a little warm this summer on land getting ready to hit the water......

 

[artw]

yea the best part of the dive season is just beginning!
(clearer water, not as many people around, no lines at the diveshops!)

 

[divemed06]

Thanks for all the advice....I just wish I could try a drysuit before I buy. Unfortunately, I require a custom sized suit....