News – Page 8 – Dive To Escape

Are you someone who dives regularly and finds that you’re getting cold before you would like to end the dive? Do you find yourself often uncomfortable or task overloaded because you are cold during a dive? Are you miserable taking your wetsuit off when it’s cold outside, Or do you just want to dive all year round, but the winter water temperature is inhospitable? Then maybe a dry suit is for you! Drysuit diving has many benefits, such as allowing you to dive longer because you are more comfortable, and it will enable you to dive into a wider range of environments. All this will hopefully lead you to dive all year around. However, a drysuit also requires a different set of skills. A drysuit gives a diver a secondary buoyancy system or a redundant buoyancy system. This creates more tasks for managing your buoyancy. Now you may have air in your wing or BCD and also have air in your Drysuit. This requires some easily acquired skills in bouncy control on ascents when diving in cold environments. Because of the added buoyancy skills, safety and emergency management skills that will benefit any drysuit diver, I suggest you get trained by a dive instructor or take the dry suit course through your local dive shop. Drysuit construction Here are a variety of drysuits note the different zippers styles, the different wrist seals and the fit of the suits. Top Left- Neoprene Drysuit with back entry standard latex wrist and neck seals with built-in boots. Bottom Left- Vulcanized Rubber dry suits not the build-in dry hood to protect from the environments these types of suits are normally used in biohazard and chemical situations. Center- Fusion suits with waterproof lining and lycra layers over for aqua dynamics over note that it is front entry. Right Bottom- Bi laminate drysuit note that it is a back entry and the bagginess of the fit and material. Right Top - Trilamate dry suit with front entry zipper along with a single pocket on the left side. Dry Suits come in a variety of materials and construction, so really take your time and take a deep dive into all the Styles and what will work best for you and your diving style. Hopefully, this blog will give you a little clarity on the available options. I have dove three different kinds of drysuits. I have dove a neoprene back entry dive suit, I've also scuba dive a tri-laminate suit and currently, I have well over three hundred Dives on a crushed neoprene drysuit that's a front entry suit. They all dive differently, leading to a different experience, and I didn't dislike any of them. So by the end of this article, you will have an idea about the three types of dry shits I have had experience with and will set you on a course to make an informed decision on what will work best for you. There are far more than three types of dry suits constructions there are rubberized suits, vulcanize rubber there are dual-layered dry suits, where one layer is similar to a thick plastic bag like membrane that keeps you waterproof and a heavy-duty spandex layer to help keep it fitted to your body and protect from punctures. Neoprene drysuit Neoprene drysuits are suitable for cold water diving and arguably the most common suit used when one sees people diving in the north sea or arctic expeditions situation. Because neoprene has excellent insulation characteristics, it makes it a good choice for very cold water situations. When paired with the appropriate undergarment, a diver will be prepared for some of the most extreme cold situations. Another big positive to a neoprene drysuit is that it normally costs the least relative to a lot of the competition. One of the downsides to a neoprene Drysuit is the buoyancy characteristics of neoprene. Neoprene gets its thermal protection because small air bubbles are trapped in the neoprene rubber. As one descends in a dive, the air bubbles in the neoprene compress making it denser, which then makes it have less thermal protection but also makes you heavier as you dive deeper. This is then counteracted when the diver in the neoprene suit starts to ascend from their dive. If the diver doesn’t anticipate the reexpansion of the neoprene and how it will make you ascend is something that a diver will have to get used to. Keep in mind that if you are not doing many deep dives but they are often in cold water neoprene may still be the best option in spite of the buoyancy and compression characteristic of neoprene. One of the two possible negatives to a neoprene suit is that because it depends on the thickness of the neoprene for a lot of the thermal protection, a neoprene drysuit can also have limited mobility, which is just something else to consider. When I had my neoprene drysuit it was configured with a back entry zipper along with built-in boots and a latex seal. I only had about 20 dives in the suit, not quite enough dive to get used to anticipating the buoyancy change when on my assents. I also didn’t like how bulky and cumbersome the thick neoprene suit felt, and I don’t like having to rely on my buddy to open my suit because of the zipper in the back. It doesn’t work the best when one finishes a really cold dive and you need to use that restroom but have to wait for your buddy to situate themselves before they can open your suit. That was when I understood the value of having a front entry drysuit. Lol The tri-laminate The trilaminate suit that I wore was very comfortable to get into and had excellent Mobility but didn't have the best thermal characteristics, so diving in cold water, I had to have a very thick undergarment which could limit Mobility so having a properly fitted drysuit and undergarments will help with this limiting factor. There are several companies offering Trilaminate suits, and not all of them are the same. You should look for a company that has a long history of making good quality tough suits. Any company offering a commercial or military version of the suit will help you know that the suit will be tough and last a long time. Trilaminate suits along with providing some of the most mobile and comfortable suits are all so some of the best options if you plan on travelling with your drysuit and that is for two reasons. Trilaminate drysuits dry very vast almost instantly or within a few hours of ending a dive that way if you have to fly with your drysuit it will be dry for transport, a neoprene drysuit could take off to four days to be completely dry. Another big positive to diving a trilaminate drysuit is that it is very light compared to neoprene or crushed neoprene. There can be up to a 5lb difference between trilaminate and a crushed neoprene suit this can be a significant factor if you plan on travelling with your suit because a wet neoprene suit will not only weigh over 10lb but will take days to dry out this will complicate packing if your planning on getting in a plane after a week of diving. Me putting on my CFX 200 DUI Drysuit 2001 model can almost be considered a vintage suit, lol. This suit is equipped with DUI zip seals and Viking dry glove rings on the wrist and front-entry zipper. The current suit that I dive is a 2001 cfx 200 by Diving Unlimited International (DUI). This suit I bought used in 2010, and I currently have well over 300 dives on it, I've only replaced the zip seals on it once. I've also replaced the front zipper once which was the original that it came with when I bought it used but other than that the suit is fantastic in terms of thermal characteristics if the water is above 15 degrees I just wear a t-shirt and shorts, if the water is 2° yes I have a very thick undergarment suit is quite mobile for me and is a front zipper. The downside to the suit is it takes a long time for it to dry if you're diving multiple days, and it's pretty heavy for travelling I do not recommend a crush neoprene suit. You absolutely can not go wrong with a CFX200 from DUI in terms of mobility and durability. The suit is almost indestructible. The material is so tough, and it stretches nice to be able to reach your tank valves or into your pockets. If you are not planning on travelling much with your dry suits but you plan on doing lots of wreck diving, lots of rocky shore entries, and just being in rocky, icy tough environments I personally strongly recommend this suit. Drysuit undergarments One of the best things about dry suit diving is how customizable you can make each dive. You can really be well suited for each condition depending on your inventory of equipment. Being regular divers we acquire a huge inventory of equipment over time and generally speaking you could be pretty well-equipped for most dive conditions. What makes drysuit diving so comfortable is being warm. So selecting a suitable drysuit construction for the conditions you plan on diving in most frequently is the first step. Next is selecting the right undergarment for the conditions. Having thin/light undergarments for when your diving cold water in the summer is nice to have. Then you can have a very thick 450 gram Merino wool undergarment that will keep you toasty warm on shorter dives in the middle of the winter. If you're sensitive to the cold you don’t want to be limited by the thickness of your undergarment and when money isn’t too much of a factor there is another option and one that I am exploring more as my dive ambitions grow is an electrically heated undergarment. There are a few versions on the market right now. One version is a full heated undergarment head to toes, there are other modular versions where one can just have heated gloves or a vest for the torso. Recently, a brand called Scubaforce has come out with a heated undergarment where it is a heating pad that only heats your torso but you can take it out of the undergarment when you don’t want to use or if you want to wash it. I haven't been able to use any of these systems yet but once i have tested anyone I’ll be sure to feel you in on what I think of each. Drysuit accessories Top Left- Pee valve and components Top Center- Latex Wrest seal Top RIght- Silicone wrist seal Bottom Left- Silicone necks seal Bottom Center- one example of DIY wrist seals Bottom Left- One example of the dry glove system If your diving regularly and your like me, you're going to want your drysuit to be as customized as possible, and I highly recommend that to be the case. I currently dive a dry suit that I got used and luckily, it fits me very well. It’s almost considered a cave cut drysuit (the most fitted custom suit selection), but it doesn't have all the accessories I like the pockets are a little too small the zip seals need to be updated, (currently the old version of zip seals) and I would love for it to have a p valve for those long dives. Drysuits can have a tremendous amount of customization. This article won’t be able to describe all the different colour options pocket and pad configurations, warm collar options, the kind of boot you would like on it. So I’ll mention the accessories that I personally like and need for the kind of diving I do. I would just say when you plan on buying a drysuit, think about the diving you want to do 5 years down the road. Are you going to go technical or cave diving? Are you planning on doing more boat entry or shore entries maybe both? Having a suit that will grow with you will help you be familiar with your suit and hopefully save you money so that you only buy one suit for a long time and not have to constantly upgrade or send in your suit for service. Pockets If you're diving regularly, I would highly recommend you have some pockets on your drysuit. I use a standard configuration of two pockets. One pocket on each leg, my pockets are filled with an extra real and extra buoyancy marker and a wet notes and a spare mask, so I would highly recommend you look into the pockets and maybe going with bigger pockets, is always better than having a pocket that's too small Wrist and neck seals Most drysuit companies now offer different kinds of wrist and neck seals, not only the material that the seal is made from but also the changeability of the seals. Nowadays there are three main kinds of seals: latex, silicone and neoprene. Neoprene is falling out of favour a little bit in recreational diving but it's probably one of the better options for keeping warm. For comfort the best one is silicone, silicone is very soft on the skin with the least amount of reactions but in my personal experience, it's not the most durable. It is durable but not the most durable. Latex seals in my experience have still been the most durable seal that I've been able to dive with. it's not the most comfortable relative to a silicone seal. latex you will still create the veins in your wrist that can allow some leaking cuz it's not as soft and pliable. Some people have Latex r reactions. These are the three most common seal options. You also have different systems for attaching the seals. Some drysuits have the seals glued on permanently so every time the seal breaks let's say about every hundred- 250 dives (if you maintain your seals every dive) you'll have to have them replaced. Replacing seals that are glued normally involves sending your suit in either to your local dive shop if there equipped for drysuits repairs or mailing it to the manufacturer for service this can take anywhere from 1-4 weeks along with the cost of the seals and labour for cutting out the old seals an installing the new one. Luckily there are systems that allow the diver to do that at home or at the dive site, so you never miss a dive from a ripped seal. I find it very practical and it is more economical in my experience doing it yourself. I currently use the DUI zip-seal system, I'm on the first generation on my suit which allows me to only have the latex seals on my suit. The current generation of Zip seals 2.0 allows you to have any kind of seal available whether being latex silicone neoprene. This is available for both wrist and neck seals. Similar technology is offered by different dry suit brands. I know Santi, another quality dry suit brand, also offers their own version of the self-installing wrist and neck seals. I personally prefer the self-installing seals because I always have a spare seal in my bag so there is no way I’ll miss a dive because of a worn or ripped seal. Valves All dry suits will have two valves on them, an intake valve that will connect to a low-pressure port on your first stage regulator, and an exhaust valve for venting air from your drysuit. There are two brands that dominate the market. They are Sitech valves that are good and reliable and have been around for a very long time, and the Apex dry suits valves which are identical in functions main difference is that they are low profile compared to the Sitech valves. Both the intake and exhaust valves need to be placed in areas on the suit that will be very easy to reach while diving. The intake valve is normally placed somewhere on your chest to make it easy to reach and for ease of routing the inflation hose from your first stage regulator. The exhaust valve can be placed in a number of places. Normally on the biceps of the left arm, the location of the exhaust valve is important because you want it in a spot where it will be easiest to vent while on an ascent. For this reason, it is on the left arm as it is normally the arm dealing with venting your wing or BCD/wing on an ascent. There are divers that prefer it on the forearm or on the triceps that I think comes from experience and preference. All the suits I have owned have all had the exhaust valve on the biceps areas and I have found that to be the best as when I ascend I don’t have to change my position very much from prone. And it works well in that location whether I am diving a single tank setup or when I dive my double tanks. One other valve that you may opt to have installed on your drysuit is a Pee valve. Yes, you read that right both men and women can have a valve installed in their dry suit normally on the inside of the upper thigh. When one installed an external catheter on themselves and connected it to their Pee Valve you can very easily relieve yourself on a dive. This is a great feature if you're often doing very long dives with decompression obligations where one can just end the dive when one is cave diving. Or my personal favourite is when you do a lot of cold water diving and just the temperature fluctuation makes you have to go at the worst time. I have to agree that a pee valve sounds like overkill but if you need it and don’t have it, it is when you learn what an amazing feature it is. Drysuit maintenance Zipper wax should be used before every dive. It is inexpensive and will prologue the life of the drysuit zippers. Aquaseal is great to keep in your save a dive kit. You can seal up any pinhole and minor leaks in your suit on the fly. SealSeaver will help the wrist and neck seals last longer, and it will help protect from UV breakdown and keep the rubber softs, so it is easier to sleep over your wrist and neck. Zipper lubricate Seal lubricant Aqua seal links If you're anything like me I know you love to maintain your equipment, that's part of my joy of diving. Tinkering with all the gear, making sure that you know every corner and every cranny of our gear and having a drysuit just adds another toy to our Arsenal that we need to love and take care of. Drysuits last a lot longer if you take care of them, they do not require a lot of maintenance but it does make a difference. Some of the maintenance that you should do on your drysuit every dive is to wax your zipper. All dry suits will have a metal or a plastic zipper if you have a metal zipper I highly recommend you use beeswax/drysuit zipper wax and lubricate the zipper every dive. This will make that zipper last longer and it'll prevent it from leaking during dives because the wax lubricates all the metal joints allowing them to mesh nicely together. The other thing that you can do every dive is moisturizing your seal so that they last longer every time are seals are exposed to UV rays they degrade so adding a little protectant like drysuit seal protectant on them we'll make it last a lot longer that's what you should do every dive which takes about 5 minutes but over the long term will save you a lot of money and less missed dives. Another thing you should do is rinse your suit off and wash it with fresh water. If you're diving in saltwater then it's a no-brainer: rinse your suit off every dive and wash it with light soap and flop the suit inside out to let it completely dry. Every 10 to 15 dives flip your suit inside out and get a flashlight then turn your lights off in your room. With the suit flipped inside outrun your flashlight on the inside of the suit along all the seams and any area where there is heavy wear or abrasions if there are any pinhole leaks or actual holes in the suit the flush light will shine right through them and you will be able to use Aqua seal or any other appropriate sealant for your suit and patch up those holes very easily. Any large holes, tares or suit alterations may need to be sent into a dive shop for a technician to repair and pressure test the suit. Cost and closing - dive longer, more durable. Getting a dry suit and dry suit diving can really change your whole scuba diving experience. Enabling you to dive all year, allowing you to be more comfortable in more extreme environments all allowing you to dive more. After all, that is what it is all about. Drysuits do come with a significant cost, which normally keeps people from investing in a dry suit. I propose a different way of thinking about drysuit diving. Drysuits have many positives about them in terms of comfort extending dive durations allowing you to dive different locations and environments all allowing you to dive more. One added feature is safety; having a drysuit is also a redundant secondary buoyancy compensator. keeping those two things in mind comfort and safety how can you really put a cost to your safety. If a dry suit allows you to dive more often and do longer dives the cost of a dry suit on the cost per dive bases getting a good quality drysuit over diving in neoprene suit that you'll have to be replaced every two to four years depending on how frequently you dive because of how the neoprene degrades over time. They leave you with no reason not to run out and get a nice dry suit for yourself. Get out there, look at some shops, talk to people, and find out why they dive the way they do. Hopefully, this article sheds some light on why you need a drysuit come back to our blog and let us know about your dry suit experience.