The old 'Is a Xertherm Artic suitable for under a Membrane Drysuit?' question

[StephM]

Well I'll find out tomorrow. Spur of the moment purchase today when at my LDS getting air (I'm sure they intentionally take their time knowing I'm weak, must keep away from those £1350 DUI's).
I've been considering a set of these for a while as I feel my 120grm one piece Thinsulate was too restrictive and bulky but I was unsure if they would be warm enough. I normally wear a couple of pairs of thermals under the thinsulate and I'll put on my Merino wool/polyester long johns under the Arctic (I know your really not supposed to but I feel a little bit extra is needed, plus merino wool has very high wicking ability). Looking at the 2 suits the Arctic feels thicker (but may compress with use) but is snug fitting which should be less restrictive plus the material has a fair degree of stretch.
Diving Loch Fyne tomorrow, was diving Loch Long during the week and water temp to 10m was 12c dropping to 9c when hitting a thermocline, felt cold in my old undersuit below 10m. Loch Fyne should be similar. Will let you know the outcome. Here's for a warm one.

[Garf]

It's fine. I add a drybase during the colder months, but JAG dives with nothing other than an arctic all year round.

[Miss Roxy Chablis]

I use an arctic almost all time as well and just add another layer in the winter to stop me from becoming invaginated. Much easier to to dump a suit and reach your valves with just an Arctic as long as your warm enough I've found.

[yazzyfooty]

"invaginated. "

What does that mean??

[Lou]

Originally Posted by yazzyfooty

"invaginated. "

What does that mean??

It means to create something like a vagina, a pocket-type thing. In this case I do belive he is referring to the effects of the cold on his little man.

On the original question i use Xerotherm Arctics all year round beneath my membrane suit, just adding an underlayer of wicking thernals where necessary.

It'll do ok for up to an hour in the depths of winter, freshwater, I find. The confort of them is the real winner though. Fantastic things for that.

[StephM]

Well just back from a wee day out at Furnace on Loch Fyne. 2 dives, first to 46m, second to 28m, total time in water 75min, water temp 9c. Although not toasty, was comfortable on both dives. I'd rate the Arctics with 1 set of thermals as similar to my 120grm thinsulate with the same thermals. Would probably wear a second set of thermals in the winter though. The big difference was in the freedom of movement though, I could just manage to reach my valves, which I can't do with the thinsulate suit. Also getting into and out of the drysuit is much easier due to the low bulk of the suit. And the freedom of movement is a vast improvement. I even managed to ditch 8pounds of lead at 3m 50 bar and stay under (I normally dive a bit heavier for extra air in suit so will probably only drop 4 pounds of lead in future). Only down side is that the Arctics don't have a waterproof lining, so getting unkitted in the beautiful Scottish summer weather (pissing down) was a tad rushed. All in all although not warmer than my old suit, it wasn't any colder.