I started my drysuit diving career with a Diamond frint entry tri-lam. It was an excellent suit with heavier construction and zipper than a DUI TLS-350 and a cut that was a bit more streamlined.
I have over the years used Scubapro trilams and DUI trilams before finally having to borrow a neoprene suit. It was a very enlightening experience and it was hard to eat over a decade's worth of crow with regard to trilams versus neoprene suits, but I found the neoprene suit to be superior in warmth, streamlining and bouyancy control.
I now own both an Atlan and a pair of O'neil neoprene drysuits. Both are excellent suits and offer significant advantages over a trilam:
1. Much better streamlining - The natural stretch of the fabric means a neoprene suitt can have a much trimmer cut with no wrinkles or sags to have to push through the water.
2. Less air movement - the snug fit allows you to swim and maneuver into positions that would result in all the air rushing to your feet in a tri-lam, but it is a non issue in a neoprene suit. It swims very much like a wet suit and the trnasition from wet suit to drysuit is consequently much easier.
3. More warmth - the neoprene has inherent insulation equal to a 7mm wet suit in addition to any under garments. It feels much warmer than a trilam in my experience, even at depths to 150 feet, despite rumors to the contrary that compression of the neoprene makes them colder than a trilam. I should add that I do frequent ice dives and cold water dives with bottom temps in the 35-39 dregree range at 100-150 feet.
4. Less squeeze - with a neoprene suit you do not get the same sharp and apinful squeeze that you get with a trilam. Consequently you can comfortably dive with much less air in the suit.
5. Bouyancy traits - given the snugger fit and the need for less air to reduce squeeze combined with the inherent insulation of the suit and the ability to uise thinner undergarments, you end up with much less air in the suit, so th weight required is not significantly greater than with a trilam.
6. Cost - I paid $150 for a well used Atlan neoprene suit but have since put well over 100 dives on it on working dives that are potentially harder on the suit than the average rec dive. I paid $450 for a new O'Neil and then picked up another essentially new O'Neil for $250. Even at full retail they are about 1/3rd the cost of a good trilam suit. I have over 3200 dives on one O'neil and it is still going strong, so even if it does not last as long as a trilam it has lasted more than long enough to have a much lower per dive cost.
7. Durability - I did tear an improperly taped neoprene neck seal once, but the repair was easily made in under an hour and has held up ever since and in general neoprene seals are very durable. Latex wrist seals are fairly easy to seal, but a latex neck seal can be difficult to change and is in any event comparatively expensive. As an added bonus, neoprense seals insulate your wrists and neck so they do not feel cold as can occur with latex seals.
My neoprene dry suits are rear entry, but with the snug fit and short across the back of the shoulder zipper, it is still fairly easy to get into one and zip it without assistance - you just need a d-ring tied or taped to a suitable shoulder high upright suchas a ladder on deck or a mirror or door frame on the side of your vehicle. Just hook the zipper pull to the d-ring and then carefully turn yourself around to zip the suit. It takes a couple of attmepts to get the right feel for the required tension, but once mastered it is a snap. Getting out of the suit is very easy and only requires a three foot gear line to enable you pull the zipper across your back.
The pay off of the back entry zipper is the snugger fit through the elimination of a long or telescoping torso required with a front zip suit. After years of using self entry front zip suits, I am no longer a fan of them as they compromise streamlining in the water.
I have over the years used Scubapro trilams and DUI trilams before finally having to borrow a neoprene suit. It was a very enlightening experience and it was hard to eat over a decade's worth of crow with regard to trilams versus neoprene suits, but I found the neoprene suit to be superior in warmth, streamlining and bouyancy control.
I now own both an Atlan and a pair of O'neil neoprene drysuits. Both are excellent suits and offer significant advantages over a trilam:
1. Much better streamlining - The natural stretch of the fabric means a neoprene suitt can have a much trimmer cut with no wrinkles or sags to have to push through the water.
2. Less air movement - the snug fit allows you to swim and maneuver into positions that would result in all the air rushing to your feet in a tri-lam, but it is a non issue in a neoprene suit. It swims very much like a wet suit and the trnasition from wet suit to drysuit is consequently much easier.
3. More warmth - the neoprene has inherent insulation equal to a 7mm wet suit in addition to any under garments. It feels much warmer than a trilam in my experience, even at depths to 150 feet, despite rumors to the contrary that compression of the neoprene makes them colder than a trilam. I should add that I do frequent ice dives and cold water dives with bottom temps in the 35-39 dregree range at 100-150 feet.
4. Less squeeze - with a neoprene suit you do not get the same sharp and apinful squeeze that you get with a trilam. Consequently you can comfortably dive with much less air in the suit.
5. Bouyancy traits - given the snugger fit and the need for less air to reduce squeeze combined with the inherent insulation of the suit and the ability to uise thinner undergarments, you end up with much less air in the suit, so th weight required is not significantly greater than with a trilam.
6. Cost - I paid $150 for a well used Atlan neoprene suit but have since put well over 100 dives on it on working dives that are potentially harder on the suit than the average rec dive. I paid $450 for a new O'Neil and then picked up another essentially new O'Neil for $250. Even at full retail they are about 1/3rd the cost of a good trilam suit. I have over 3200 dives on one O'neil and it is still going strong, so even if it does not last as long as a trilam it has lasted more than long enough to have a much lower per dive cost.
7. Durability - I did tear an improperly taped neoprene neck seal once, but the repair was easily made in under an hour and has held up ever since and in general neoprene seals are very durable. Latex wrist seals are fairly easy to seal, but a latex neck seal can be difficult to change and is in any event comparatively expensive. As an added bonus, neoprense seals insulate your wrists and neck so they do not feel cold as can occur with latex seals.
My neoprene dry suits are rear entry, but with the snug fit and short across the back of the shoulder zipper, it is still fairly easy to get into one and zip it without assistance - you just need a d-ring tied or taped to a suitable shoulder high upright suchas a ladder on deck or a mirror or door frame on the side of your vehicle. Just hook the zipper pull to the d-ring and then carefully turn yourself around to zip the suit. It takes a couple of attmepts to get the right feel for the required tension, but once mastered it is a snap. Getting out of the suit is very easy and only requires a three foot gear line to enable you pull the zipper across your back.
The pay off of the back entry zipper is the snugger fit through the elimination of a long or telescoping torso required with a front zip suit. After years of using self entry front zip suits, I am no longer a fan of them as they compromise streamlining in the water.
