In the Atlantic Northeast (coastal Maine to Connecticut), drysuits are a must for anyone who cares to dive more than a few months out of the year. Aboard dive charters in the summer months, you’ll find divers divided nearly equally between wet and dry. In the colder months, most of those wet divers have since packed in their dive gear for the year.
I have dove a drysuit before and have just recently purchased my first drysuit. I was happy I did as I did 3 dives in 58 deg F water, and each dive lasted about 45 min. I have dove in 54 deg F water before but did not stay at that temp for very long. I was so happy to have my drysuit on this dive and know I will get much more use out of it in the future. I am an instructor and dive year round in Alabama, USA.
I live in the US and I would say dry suits are definitely regionally dependent. You see them more in the where I live in the North East then other locations. However, I was assumed that our local dive master in Key Largo wore a dry suit (helped her given she did up to 4 dives a day 6 days a week). Personally I am a fan. I just got my Waterproof D7X as diving here can get cold. Our local quarry had a bottom temp of about 55ºF in early October not fun in my 5 mil. I would also agree that limiting yourself to warm water well just limits you as some my favorite sites have been cold water (
Up in the Pacific Northwest the majority of people wear a drysuit for the majority of the year. I've dived with some wetsuit divers and it's usually because they haven't bothered with getting dry suit certified, but some others are just really into their semi-dry suits!
I am in the US. I drive a drysuit year-round. Most of the local diving is in quarries or sometimes in rivers. I even used my drysuit shell when I'm doing skill practice Dives in the swimming pool.
Never dove in a dry suit (Florida born and raised) yet but looking forward to the experience one day. My dive travels haven't taken me anywhere cold . . . Yet.
The UK is like Canada in terms of latitude. So no surprise the USA is more wetsuit-y, they are farther south, Florida is nearly sub tropical. The best side-effect of training in Scotland was getting and learning to use a drysuit. Side-effect because we didn't need to do a specialty course for it, it was a core skill of the open water sessions. Because wetsuits are simply not really viable there.
I'll be diving stony in December in a semi dry, because I want to, no I dive with a prosthetic leg that has to be altered when I'm in the water, can't be done before I put a dry suit on. Character building we used to call it in the mob.
Thanks for the great video! In Texas and just got my first drysuit. I love everything about it except all the extra weight I have to strap on but it's a small price to pay to be warm.
I've finally taken the plunge and upgraded to a drysuit this week! I can't wait to try it out when it comes in :) I live in Canada so water temp in the ocean now is probably about 5 Celsius :p Definitely going to be putting it to the test!
I have experience only in warm Caribbean water. I just did my dry suit training and it was not fun. It was in a lake at high altitude mountain range. I had a hell of a time keeping buoyant . It felt like I had never dove before. It was not easy. Pool time is needed to get the hang of the suit.
For a while I was thinking of going with a wetsuit but I dive in Ontario, quite cold water year round so a dry suit makes more sense and once I get more experienced I can try ice diving
25x faster, Mark. You lose heat 25x faster in water due to conduction than you do with air as an insulator because water is 800x more dense than air. ;) Additionally, a "semi-dry suit" is nothing more than a thicker wetsuit. Won't change my mind. LOL!
I think the only issue with a drysuit is the price tbh... If I could, I'd simply use a drysuit all around, if the water is warm, you can always go with less stuff under it :D
I dived at Capernwray last week in my semi -dry. 12 deg C in the water and I was warm. Except my feet got cold when I got out! It was colder out than in. How can I keep my feet from freezing?
Well, I'm considering getting a Dry Suit for the Caribbean, because a 5 mm wetsuit just doesn't do the job all the time, mostly because I stay to much time in the water and I feel cold very easily XD
When doing dry-suit familiarization i found all the trilaminate dry suits on offer for rental are clunky, poorly fitted didn't help to stay warm. I started with warm under-clothes but felt so incredibly claustrophobic, with the 5mm hood on too, that I just didn't want to dive and had to take a layer off. At which point I was chilly and adding air was useless as I couldn't take enough air out of my BCD to balance that added to the suit. I have a trilam and a 5mm for surface sports, and find the wetsuit warmer in pretty much every circumstance, so was very tempted to stick wetsuit for diving. But it does go against the normal advice.
I find the shear level of kit with a drysuit to be claustrophobic. Suit, thick undersuit, hood, weights, bcd, mask - total claustrophobia, especially at depth as the crush comes on. Pop a bit of air in and it only helps a little, meaning your legs stay crushed and cold. I'm used to surfing for hours on end in a 5mm wetsuit or drysuit year round, but I'm still on the fence about scuba - semidry might be in my future.
"Pop a bit of air in and it only helps a little, meaning your legs stay crushed and cold." The air in a dry suit gets distributed fairly evenly and does get to your legs. In fact, care has to be taken that too much air doesn't get into your legs lest you end up head down and feet up in an uncontrolled ascent. If your legs are "crushed and cold" then you're not using enough air and probably not a thick enough undersuit for conditions.
@@seikibrian8641 is absolutely evenly distributed if you're perfectly level trim. The moment your legs drop the air moves away from them. The minor crush is fine, but it's still not as nice as no crush. And if I had a thicker undersuit it gets even more claustrophobic. Drysuit diving sucks, but sometimes there's no choice.
HOLD ON!!! HOLD ON!! im here to watch a video...... so now i have to wait for a premiere date and time?? whats next...buy a ticket?? .... do the worst split fins video and you are forgiven !!
Is there a lightweight drysuit you could also use for tropical diving? Would saving carrying extra gear and wetsuit layers when it's slightly colder than normal. If I could eliminate my various thicknesses of wetsuits and just have one thin drysuit, that might be motivating to give it a shot. Anyone ever snorkel in a drysuit - might sound silly, just trying to cut down on equipment to transport to remote islands.
I get so cold all the time! I live in Abu Dhabi and during summer the temperatures are bearable for me (even though the water temperatures at the surface reach 35 degrees Celsius). Around this time (February) the water temp at the surface is 21.9 and I can't even dip my little toe in it. I'm annoyed because I get too cold so easily and I can't dive for about 6 months due to this condition. I haven't tried a dry suit. I don't think Diving clubs even have them in this country. I reckon you'd still recommend me getting a dry suit and diving all year long 😁
21.9°C is 71.42°F, and that's definitely cool water. Water conducts heat 20 times faster than air, so anytime the water temperature is less than body temperature you'll be losing heat, and the colder the water the faster the heat loss. A 7mm wet suit should work for you, though, if you wear a thick hood, gloves, and boots made for cold water diving. Where I live, the water averages 45°F/7°C, and I wear a 7mm two-piece wetsuit (so 14mm over my torso). It is doable, but if I go deeper than about 30 feet the foam compresses to the point that I get cold and can only make short dives. I just bought my first dry suit, and I'm looking forward to getting in the water again even though it's winter now and the water is colder than average.
You really need to display products like these and show the difference between brands that you sell, especially for a dry suit! For example, show how they work, how and where they seal, the gloves, etc. Even try it on for us, recommend sizing!
@@lennygermany1507 I actually live in Germany (du anscheinend auch, deinem Namen nach 😁) but true, I don't dive there a lot. I travel to places with warmer water 😅
Ange Xu you definitely have to take the specialty course I’d say and most people get used to it very quickly but there are some dangers and I saw some people with their feet up in the water. What you could train before keeping your upper body up a bit and maybe the techniques to turn around.
First you have to commit to diving in cold waters at least 10x a year...then just invest in a top quality one with the intention that it will give you 10years wear( I bought the top of the range otter Atlantic drysuit). I joined a great diving club in Manchester MDG( so many experienced divers there, that taught me how to use it)before I bought one and sought their expert advice. Saved myself hundreds of pounds from dive shops ( obviously they need to make it's a business) to do as course. Without access to this dive club then obviously I'd have to go on a course!
@@shabbirsobhani4178 Thank you for the tip. Indeed, I would like to be able to try/feel what it's like to dive in a dry-suit before investing my money in a good one.
@@angexu4361 . Unless you get a perfect fit off the shelf used drysuit at the diving centre its difficult to really get a feel. The main point I believe is that you are warm and comfortable but also flexible enough as this will only enhance your experience. Santi and Otter make great suits and their reputation precedes them. The extra investment is worth it.
Rick Knight yes, but the most important is the “condom” or “cater”. Buy an expensive brand (quality) to avoid unpleasant “surprises “. A cheap one can exit and unfortunately you will don’t know.
Mark, would you guys mind throwing up a video on preventing water ingress in your mask for the guys who have prolific facial hair? Considering your rather well appointed man mane, I would think you have some experience with this.
I havent done my padi openwater yet, but my local shop rents out dry suits and wetsuit packages but will only rent dry suit if you've proven you have had training or are going to get training .... is this necessary, and what kind of training could be needed? I live in the UK and think I would like to use a dry suit apart from summer (and obviously if I'm on a beginners course I wont be opting for a dry suit just to not over complicate things)+
@Shaun Johnson i think depends of your position when this “accident “ occurs 😁. The main issue appears when you need to undress and are people around you. Usually, because no ventilation and tri laminated material odor the BO become unpleasant anyway (i use a spray that have no odor and prevent unpleasant smell, something base on mineral) and if you add urine smell....and if you are on LOB is possible to trow you over the board. 😉
Ok so , I'm in the Pacific NW ( Oregon ) and plan on just snorkeling in 10' - 20' of water in bays. I have my eye on a 6.5mm Scubapro "Semi dry wetsuit ". There are guys swimming with that suit with ice in the water farther up north. Why would a dry suit help me here in the NW?
For just snorkeling you are probably golden looking at that 6.5 mm semi dry. If you do buy a dry suit for free diving you can get ones without the fill valve since you won't have a tank to fill from anyway. Saves a bit of cash
If you want to go year round I'd probably look more into the 7 mm + sort of range though, I've seen 7/12mm suits locally (Vancouver BC). Depends really on how long you stay in the water, how active you are in the water, and that sort of thing. Everybody is a little bit different as well so the age old question of "will i be warm enough" is a tricky one. In regards to what a dry suit would offer, basically you wouldn't get as cold each swim, and your recovery would be better at the surface because your core temperature won't have dropped as much, and also you'll be dry so no evaporative cooling after a cold swim
I wouldn't even think about breathing in argon regardless of what you think it does to your voice. Argon has a tendency to stay in the lungs and impair fresh air getting back in. I'm sure you were thinking of helium when you made the comment about how it effects your voice when inhaled. Look your blog folks!
argon is denser than helium and it makes your voice sound deeper. Look up on youtube for ,,deep voice gas,, by mythbusters. It's different gas used in this, hexafluoride, but idea is the same
You said, “Argon makes your voice sound funny if you breathe it in, but you shouldn’t breathe it in, just put it in your drysuit”. Helium changes the sound of your voice. Argon is 6 times heavier than air and will kill you with one breathe since you can’t exhale it. You should be careful with your comments as someone might take a breathe of argon just to “make themselves sound funny”. I’d hate for someone to die senselessly.
More or less, pee in a dry suit when you wait to finish your deco stops is not offer same pleasure compare to pee in tropical wet suit in a warm water, like, for example, SE Asia...man, you make me melancholy 😔....🤪
