Ladies Drysuit Recommendation

[denismc66]

Hi,
My girlfriend is planning to invest in a drysuit next year so i just want to ask some of the ladies on here are there any drysuits that ladies prefer. One person told me girls prefer trilam because its more flexible but i would have thought warmt would be more of an issue. what about front or rear zips?. Would it be better to get one measured or are girls happy with off the peg suits? Anything else we should think about
Denis

[MJH]

I dive a Hunter membrane suit. Very happy with the one I currently have although the last one leaked a lot. But to be fair Hunter did replace if for me free of charge. I think they had an issue with a batch of material which they have now resolved.

My suit has a front zip which I love. Its just so easy.

Personally I think everyone should get a MTM suit if they can. Suits that are too tight or too loose both cause problems. I saw one of Chris Hammonds new suits last weekend - looked lovely. I will definately be paying him a visit next time mine needs replacing

[hogen-deifar]

There are lots of threads on this and there are lots of different opinions. What's good for one isn't always good for another.

When I first started diving I had a second hand membrane suit. It did me fine, and was almost like it was MTM. However it was old so when my 40th came round this year I thought it was time to treat. I'd convinced myself to go for a neoprene. Went to LDS and chatted. I'm one of these typical women! My weight flutuates. The guy recommended the membrane again because it allows more room for change. The neoprene is more closely fitting so doesn't allow for this. So I plumped for the MTM Typhoon. I think it was about £450. It's great. And with my Weezle plus Extreme I'm fine and toasty under the water.

Re MTM your best bet is take her to the shop. From a waist/chest/hips perspective I was fine. It was the length of my legs that was the downfall. I'm 5'6" with 32.5" inside leg. Unfortunately they reckon someone who is my height should only have 29" legs!! So again it depends on her dimensions. She may fit an off the peg one perfectly.

As everyone will endorse on here, you should support your LDS. And it is wrong to go and try on the suits then end up buying from the net. They deserve your business if they take the time to talk to you and help you. However if you can't get to a decent shop near you, I've heard lots of good things about the RobinHood MTM suits. They've got a very thorough form to fill in. I seriously looked at getting one but then decided to go and annoy Mr Scubee at the LDS and actually, I was glad I did. The help I got was invaluable and they were very prompt and I ended up spending a fortune this year with them! (Over a £1k - well it's a fortune for me!)

So to sum up, it's all personal preference and depending on what she wants and what size she is. Both membrane and neoprene have pro's and con's. Listen to what everyone says, take the information and go from there!

HTH!

[Silent Diver]

My wife dives with a Northern Diver Vortex Membrane Suit that was made to measure within 4 weeks and she is delighted with it. In all honesty the only reason she got made to measure is that she is very top heavy and an off the peg suit wouldnt fit around the chest without being way too big everywere else and as the MTM was no extra the whole suit cost under £500.

She wears a Weezle Extreme undersuit and has never complained of being cold yet and we dive all year round in Cornwall.

Hope thats a bit helpfull.

[Scubee]

I don't think women need to make any different specific considerations. It needs to be a good fit, but for ever woman who prefers trilam, you will find another who prefers neo. It may be that women's shapes are more varied, which may mean it is less likely a woman can get one 'off the peg'.

When i got first dry suit, my buddy was getting one at the same time. We had looked at eveything available, and ended up getting the same suit an O3. He was tall and skinny, I was average height, average build etc. He ended up getting an off the peg, mine had to be MTM. Both were excellent fits.

[Mark]

Hi,

my wife spent about £900 on a MTM O'Three suit with a rear zip and she hates it. She can't bare the zip as it's so restricting. She says it's like having a large coat hanger in there.

I would recommend a tri-lam suit with a telescopic torso and front zip. There are plenty of those to choose from these days.

Cheers,

Mark.

[Scubee]

Originally Posted by Mark

Hi,

my wife spent about £900 on a MTM O'Three suit with a rear zip and she hates it. She can't bare the zip as it's so restricting. She says it's like having a large coat hanger in there.

I would recommend a tri-lam suit with a telescopic torso and front zip. There are plenty of those to choose from these days.

Cheers,

Mark.

Both of my O'threes had lightweight zips in them. If she likes the suit apart fromt hat, have a word with them and see if they will swap the zip for a lighter one.

[puddlediver]

My first drysuit .... 12 years ago was a cheapo Protec mtm. Served me well for a good few years.

Then I got an Otter Skin. This was excellent by comparison with the Protec. Was happy enough with this until I had an upside down thing where my fins and boots popped off inside a wreck. The main reason for it was that the legs were just too long and the boots were on the big side.

Divers Warehouse made mega adjustments for me and that was good 'till the suit was nicked.

Then came the latest suit.....Otter Britannic. Excellent. With a front zip which is much better. They weren't doing telescopic when I got mine and think that would be a good option for any new suit. I got mine off the peg (actually it had been made for someone else but it didn't fit her so I got it) at a vastly reduced sum.

Good service from Divers Warehouse too.

Lyv

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Scubee

Both of my O'threes had lightweight zips in them. If she likes the suit apart fromt that, have a word with them and see if they will swap the zip for a lighter one.

Good idea, I think it's a heavy duty job,

Cheers,

Mark.

[Jenkins]

Originally Posted by hogen-deifar

I'm 5'6" with 32.5" inside leg. Unfortunately they reckon someone who is my height should only have 29" legs!!

I'm 5'8" and though I was miss-proportioned with a 31' inside leg!

can't get to a decent shop near you, I've heard lots of good things about the RobinHood MTM suits. They've got a very thorough form to fill in.

Mine is a RoHo suit and I have been very happy with it. The reason I chose them was because they offered M2M at no extra charge, it also helps that they are reasonably local.
If you do opt for them make sure you deal with Sally as she really knows her stuff, infact with me she scrapped the template and took all my measurements from scratch.