Weezles Do Work

[mark pallister]

hi all
went for a boat dive last night

due to various reasons,boat trouble,rough sea ect

the dive was canned,having spent over 1 hour in my drysuit,zipped up due to being on boat and bad weather
arrived back at the car park to disrobe

my weezle was soaking wet on the outside,socks,arms legs the whole lot!
water was running down the legs!!

dry as a bone inside!

so goes to show they really do there job

my buddy had sweatpants and a tee shirt on and was soaked

well worth the money for a weezle

cheers mark

[IanD]

Top tip get some wicking pants, otherwise you will suffer from SPS ( soggy pant syndrome). Helly Hanson or Lowe are good but expensive, I got these and they make such a difference.
3PAIRS CALVIN KLEIN XT BOXER SHORTS,SIZE MEDIUM, BLACK on eBay, Men's Clothing, Clothes, Shoes Accessories (item 330151797177 end time 09-Aug-07 18:08:52 BST)

[ShinyD]

I had the same on Sunday at Vobster - fully kitted for ages waiting for my buddy and then a long walk to the entry point. When I finished the dive and stripped off the Weezle Compact I use was wringing wet on the outside, but I was completely dry. Well worth the money

[endoman]

Originally Posted by IanD

Top tip get some wicking pants, otherwise you will suffer from SPS ( soggy pant syndrome). Helly Hanson or Lowe are good but expensive, I got these and they make such a difference.
3PAIRS CALVIN KLEIN XT BOXER SHORTS,SIZE MEDIUM, BLACK on eBay, Men's Clothing, Clothes, Shoes Accessories (item 330151797177 end time 09-Aug-07 18:08:52 BST)

M+S do similar as well.

[Snash]

I'm not sure that I buy this as I think it may be a case of the Emperor's new clothes

I have an "old" hydrotech woolly bear and on dives or occasion such as described, I am kept warm and dry and when stripping off the outside of the wooly bear is dry as well.

What benefit do I get from have a wringing wet wooly bear; even if it is just the outside.

Many friends have Weezles and I have seen their suits (both under and drysuit) after a dive/ long surface wait etc and it doesn't look a real benefit to me; compared with other undersuits which do the same job without the wet outside. They all bang on about how great Weezles are, but to me it seems as though they have paid a lot of dosh and claim they are great but, in fact, are just following the received wisdom.

Maybe I am odd though.

< retreats to castle, peers nervously out of the window looking for villagers armed with burning torches and pitchforks marching on the castle >

Snash

[ShinyD]

Originally Posted by Snash

...
I have an "old" hydrotech woolly bear and on dives or occasion such as described, I am kept warm and dry and when stripping off the outside of the wooly bear is dry as well.

So when fully kitted up you're saying you don't perspire in your suit?

Originally Posted by Snash

What benefit do I get from have a wringing wet wooly bear; even if it is just the outside...

You're encased in an airtight and watertight suit, so when you sweat it can't evaporate from your skin as it does naturally when exposed to air. Something has to happen to that liquid. Wicking undersuits remove the sweat from the skin and trap it on the outside of the undersuit, keeping your skin dry and helping cool you.

Without wicking undersuits you should be stepping out of your drysuit wringing wet, or with very soggy feet at the very least

[Snash]

No, what I am saying is, I wear wicking underwear - grundies = Patagonia; top and bottoms = Karrimor and I am dry and my wooly bear is no where near as wringing (if at all) as said Weezles.

I just hear folk shouting from the rafters about their Weezles and I think hmmm.

Snash

[Richard Mason]

Originally Posted by Snash

No, what I am saying is, I wear wicking underwear - grundies = Patagonia; top and bottoms = Karrimor and I am dry and my wooly bear is no where near as wringing (if at all) as said Weezles.

I just hear folk shouting from the rafters about their Weezles and I think hmmm.

Snash

I think this "wicking" thing is a lot of frogsh!t to be honest, you won't get much moisture on your skin as it comes out as vapour anyway. All that's happening is the water vapour is condensing in the outer shell of the garment, where the cold interface sits but isn't drawn back into the fleece material because it's water-repellant. I don't think it's "wicking" in the conventional sense, it's just very warm because of it's insulating properties so that the moisture doesn't condense until it hits the cold outermost layer.

If you just wore your "wicking" base layer under the drysuit and zipped it uop, then went jogging for 5 minutes, you'd be as wet as a shag, wicking or not.

[IanD]

Originally Posted by Snash

No, what I am saying is, I wear wicking underwear - grundies = Patagonia; top and bottoms = Karrimor and I am dry and my wooly bear is no where near as wringing (if at all) as said Weezles.

I just hear folk shouting from the rafters about their Weezles and I think hmmm.

Snash

Isn't that because your sweat is dispersed evenly through out all the fibres of the wooly bear as opposed to collected in a layer between the weezle and the suit. Which means that your suit is just slightly damp rather than appearing to be soaking wet. One of the main benefits comes when the cold wind is blowing and you take your DS off.

I've dived with a wooly bear and a weezle and on the length of dives I do 30 -60 min, I don't think there is a huge difference between them but post dive I know which is more comfortable and is better on a second dive.
Ian

[Scuttler]

I too can vouch for their effectiveness. I had a suit flood up to my knees and only noticed because my feet were soggy (I didn't have the boots). Water temp was 8 deg C and I stayed warm and dry for the whole 45 minute dive and the 35 minute boat journey back.

However, I no longer use the weezle because it won't let my new drysuit dump air quickly enough without using tape or surgical tubing near the dump valve.