Dry, Wet or Semi?

[Mark Chase]

Hang on let me think about this
















DRY SUIT


ATB

Mark Chase

[trebor]

Im with Daffy on this one. The three options that you have out-lined are all good for almost all diving. Ive seen drysuits in blue water (hot) and 3mm wet suits in green water (cold)..

After the dive is when the dry suit really comes into its own... Unzip and relax

cheers Rob

[thehappychappy]

Have to go with the majority on this and repeat whats been said a dozen times already but to be honest youd be mental to do anything but a drysuit in the UK.

As for added expense of an undersuit there is nothing to say you cant just use jogging bottoms, sweatshirt and thermals till you get a proper undersuit, cheap fleece jackets work for a lot of folk as well.

Wetsuits are very cheap and should be considered as just a new outfit for going on holiday.
I paid £25 for my 3mm shorty and £27 for my 3mmm full length. You can get a pretty good bargain 5mm full length for £77 from lomo in glasgow who do mail order.

Just go buy a drysuit and get the appropriate training, you wont regret it at all.

Have fun and to quote O'Three "Diving should be enjoyed not endured".

Davie.

[Hellenic Diver]

When I started diving in the Uk - I had made my mind up - A semi...then I tried a drysuit -

it is far more comfortable - cold isnt an issue - if you diving at inland sites it will save you time

I paid £400 for a norther diver vortex, including the undersuit - I've been very happy with it so far (only around 30 dives though).

[Scuttler]

Drysuit.......if I go overseas then I usually rent a wetsuit or take my shortie unless I know a drysuit will be required (Spain in March for example)

[String]

DRY SUIT !

There is nowhere in the UK where a wetsuit is a better choice than a dry suit.

Dry suit means all year round diving. Even in the summer where the water is warmish a wetsuit will still cool you if doing 2 dives a day. The wind and other factors in surface interval also chill you.

If you intend on diving the UK id say get a drysuit - a wetsuit is a waste of money and chance are you'll buy a dry within a year anyway.

Plenty of choice of dry suit. Id highly recommened NOT getting one specific brand ive had a nightmare with but there are loads of choose from. You can even take them abroad (i wish id had my drysuit in malta last month as i was freezing in a 5mm suit).

[e14724]

I agree with String on that one, if you buy a semi-dry the chances are you will eventually end up with a dry if you are doing a fair bit of UK diving. If you dive a semi you have to avoid getting cold, if you have a dry you've already avoided it..

If you have the option try both out.

[String]

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[Daz217]

Horses for courses really. The Dry Suit has advantages for UK diving. There is no putting on a damp/wet suit for multi dive days/trips for a start. There is the warmth issue Dry Suits allow for the wearing of base layers thereby increasing your comfort. People choose a Dry Suit for these reasons and the Techie guy's and gal's have good reason long hangs/extended bottom times etc
However there are draw backs which tend to get skimmed over, good Dry Suits are expensive. The base layers can cost as much as a good semi dry. They can and do leak thereby negating their benefits. You need to know how to and be comfortable in their use. It can take several dives to get to grips with it.
Dry Suit repairs and maintenance are more expensive.
Generally speaking you need more weight in a Dry Suit.
A well fitting 7mm semi will do the job(usually two piece thereby doubling insulation to 14mm)
Sure you get the initial flush which can be cold but it soon subsides. I have dived in 5 oC in a semi with 1mm rash vest and been fine for a 40 Min dive with guy's in membrane Dry Suits suffering from the cold.
10 to 20 oC i am more than comfortable. As i say i lose out when on multi day trips because i have a damp suit to put on but once past the mild discomfort putting the suit on it's OK.
Surface intervals i wear a windproof over my suit and a wooly hat and gloves if needed.
I am fortunate in that i am fairly cold tolerant and have never been at the stage where i have been uncomfortable (this has only ever happened to me in a leaking Dry Suit)
I have nothing against Dry suits and i agree with all of the benefits of them but i also think the semi has it's own benefits which are often overlooked in the race to get into a Dry Suit.
Having dived both i have to say i prefer my semi i feel more in control,i carry a lot less lead, I know i'm going to get wet and not diving hoping that my suit doesn't leak so that takes that concern out of my mind straight away.
it's cheaper, it's warm enough and i'm not repairing it or altering it every two minutes.
Having said all that i do not do any Deco diving and i do not dive much below 30M
so as i said Horses for courses.

[String]

Even a badly leaking drysuit is nowhere near as cold for me as a good semi-dry.