95 replies to this topic

[RichardB]

Well I think you've convinced me - dry it will be!

Another question is . . . do most people have 2 suits? dry and wet? depending on where you're diving? Or do most people either just dive 'warm' or 'cold'? I ask this because if you're in tropical waters, do you not get hot and uncomfortable both in the water and out between dives if you're in a drysuit? Or in tropical waters, do most do as Walter does, and dive in a bathing suit?

thx again!
annasea

You may find that you'll build a collection of them. I think I have 4 now (including the dry). I used all but the dry last year for different trips and weather conditions.

[Diverbrian]

I have used my 3mm for one thing in the last year and that is pool sessions. Even in Brockville's 70 degree water, I was diving dry.

I do find on the few times that I have taken a warm water trip (exactly two.. One was the the Turks and Caicos and the other was to Deerfield Beach), that I get chilled after a couple of days of diving even with a full 3mm. That is why I have a light vest with a hood that I wear under my 3mm even down South.

Most of my diving is in the Great Lakes. Yes, there is a reason that the wrecks look like they were preserved in a meat locker, LOL. That is about the ambient temperature down there.

To answer your question, most of the drysuit divers that I know keep a 3mm to 5mm wetsuit for tropics and use their drysuit for everything else.

[steelemagnolia6]

I have 2 wet suits a 3 mil full and a 3 mil shorty and a skin. Along with an assortment of gloves booties and hoods.

I also have access to a vast assortment of wet suits from a 7mil down. Between my brothers and I we could outfit a fair sized expedition.

I have never dove dry but then again I am in the South where our water is a bit warmer. But I do know the feeling of diving in 47 degree water and getting out in 50 degree air and wind and that was enough to make me think about a dry suit. But since I'd have little use for one I can't see the expense. If I lived somewhere where the water was colder you bet that I'd have one and be using it every chance I got!

[fbp]

So SM,
I'm wondering what do you usually feel comfortable with in Warm water... the 3mil full or shorty and do you wear a vest over that??
Just wondering as I find a 3/5mil full just about perfect, but then I don't like the cold either. heheheh... coming from up here and all...

But wondering what the 'norm' is...


thanx..

[ShamuLovesMe]

This is an issue of personal comfort.

All good info that everyone has posted, especially what I quoted above. Personally, I rarely if ever get too cold wearing a good 7mm wetsuit here in SoCal (including 50-degree water last weekend). I think it's a combination of good quality wetsuit (Henderson), good fit, and personal tolerance. I have very little dry suit experience, but didn't enjoy it when I tried it. I imagine I might feel differently once I got used to it, but I am more prone to overheating on the surface than getting chilled at depth, and don't like feeling constricted. I guess you can put me in the Walter School of Less is More.

Having said all that, I'd probably go dry if I lived/dove in Vancouver....

[steelemagnolia6]

I feel comfortable in my 3 mil in warm water I use the shorty over my full if the water tempo is below 55 degrees. I have dove it (the full) in water that was about 60 degrees anything colder than that I am layering or digging in the closet before I leave for the skin or grabbing the good ole henderson 7 mil from my brother.

I have tried a farmer john but I don't like them.

But you'll never find me anywhere with a chain saw cutting through the ice to dive..... I am not ice cube.....

[Aggie1988]

How tight does a wet suit need to be? I mean, what is a good fit? Everybody is talking about layering their wetsuits. Won't that be restrictive?

Mark

[steelemagnolia6]

Your wetsuit should be fairly tight to restrict the flow of water.

My 3 mil shorty is a sleeveless core warmer, I wear it solo as a shorty and over my 3 mil full as a core warmer... Being sleeveless it isn't that bulky... it doesn't have anymore bulk than a 7 mil.

[Abyss]

to the wonderful world of diving!!!!!!!!!!! As a female.....i really have never done cold water. If I did it would be a Drysuit I am sooooooooo sure. My diving thus far has been in a 3ml, in carribbean waters. Temps were very comfortable. My body temp runs lower than most. Get certified and come to some tropical climates with us!!!!!!!!!!!

[annasea]

Thanks Abyss for the warm welcome! The invitation to tropical climates certainly increases my certification motivation!

annasea

[scuba1231]

I have a bone to pick with one piece of dive mythology. That layer of water doesn't insulate, it pulls away heat. If there is away for that water layer to get in, it can also get out. Circulating water needs to constantly be reheated from your body. The more snug the wet suit, the better, but it should also be comfortable. Some suits are 7mm with 5mm at the armpits, behind the knees, etc for better flexibility. The dry suit is somewhat cost prohibitive for me. Maybe someday I will get one, but I don't want to have to take a "dry suit" course. Lucky for me I met an SDI instructor who offered to help with the dry suit when I take the nitrox class.

[Cold_H2O]

Maybe someday I will get one, but I don't want to have to take a "dry suit" course. Lucky for me I met an SDI instructor who offered to help with the dry suit when I take the nitrox class.

I dive dry. I also live in Seattle WA. The water temp May 1 was about 51 degrees.
I enjoy diving in the winter months and the water temp does not really change but the surface temp does. But I did dive wet up through my rescue certification. BRRRR

Most instructors will do a drysuit run down with a diver and not require them to take a special dry suit class especially if they are already doing another specialty class. It looks like you found one of those kind instructors

[leaudaustin]

It's great to read everyone's opinions and experiences on this topic.

In May, I was diving 23C (73F) to 27C (81F) in Vietnam. The first day I had a 3mm for the 23C dives. On the second dive of the first day, I was definitely cold to the point of discomfort distracting from the fun of the dive. It was a new suit but it was just large enough that the water circulated a little too much I think. For the subsequent days (4 more, non-consecutive), my sister and another friend and I all requested two 3mm full suits each and that worked out well, though I think my sister still got chilled one day. It was the off season so it might not have worked so well to get two suits during the busy season. A hood would probably have made a huge difference by itself.

I've dived with a 7mm (with hood and mittens) in a lake in Maine, just down to 30 ft (because that's where the bottom was... ) and that was plenty chilly after 30 minutes.

Heat doesn't bother me too much by comparison. I get plenty hot like everyone else, but am still relatively comfortable, for example, playing ultimate frisbee on a mid-nineties, humid June afternoon in Austin...like today. I'm guessing that I don't need to worry too much about over-heating.

I'm thinking about getting my own suit for the future, but I do want one that'll keep me warm and as much as possible provides flexibility from the tropics where I hope to dive sometime soon to North Carolina and maybe even Maine again. Because of the ability to adjust the layering, it sounds like dry suits may have quite a lot of flexibility.

Still lots more to research on this topic. Especially since the dry suits are clearly not inexpensive....

[blacklatexozdiver]

In Oz it is winter - water temp is 19ºC (around 60ºF).

I learnt to dive wet but after doing my OW certification I went straight onto a drysuit course teamed with an Underwater Naturalist course. It was 35ºC on the first day and wearing a black Viking suit made out of the water uncomfortable but in the water it was fantastic.

I now dive dry exclusively - I've even considered selling the old wettie - it's only done 6 dives in total - 1 pool and the rest ocean dives.

That's my story - hope it helps.

[ScubaDadMiami]

I dive dry all the time, even in the 87 degree surface water temperature and 95 degree air in South Florida. I think that great memories of diving make most people forget how chilled they actually get even in "warm" water.

For example, when everyone was diving down here in Florida on Memorial Day, I got the usual "you are diving in a drysuit?" comments when everyone was suiting up for the first dive. I mentioned that they should remember this later on the outing.

Sure enough, people (not everyone but not at least several) with wetsuits were saying that the water was cold when they jumped in for the second dive. Underwater, many were doing the characteristic cold water hug throughout the dive, and many cut their second dive short due to getting cold. All of this happened in 83 degree surface water which, from what I recall, was about 80 or just below on the bottom.

I hate standing around on the boat, boiling in my drysuit and thermals in the Summer. However, I never get overheated at all in the water up to 87, the highest water temperature I have ever been in diving. I can (and do) stay under for hours in total comfort when diving dry.

One potential consideration for your diving future: if you start introducing Helium mixes into the equation, you will chill much faster. This is often the point where the last of the holdouts give in and buy their drysuits (after which, they wonder why they waited so long). This might not be the case right now, but this is also something to consider before spending your money.

I dove wet once in the last two years, and I swore that I would never do it again after freezing on that dive. I still have my wetsuit, and I might use it for pool sessions. That's about all it's good for to me.