Dry Suit Undergarments

[Heavy D]

I know that the type and thickness of undergarments that people use under their drysuits is mainly a matter of personal preference and cold tolerance, but I was just curious if there were any general guidelines out there. I am usually ok for colder water but as summer approaches, I plan on doing some drysuit diving in warmer water for some tech stuff and I was curious what people where to keep the sweat off of them and such when the drysuit isn't really needed but they wear it anyway.

[snagel]

I dive dry year round - summer included. Like to keep my skills up and changing gear is a hassle. In the summer, I typically wear some thin fleece undergarmets I bought at The Bass Pro Shop. This pulls the sweat away. Stay away from cotton.

Snagel

[CompuDude]

Just use thinner undergarments, and make sure you have a good wicking layer at the base, to keep sweat off your skin.

I find Patagonia Capilene works best for wicking. Some temps, that wicking layer may be all you need. I've never dove dry in water that warm, though. For me, once it's that warm I'm in a wetsuit.

[georoc01]

I use Under Armor as my base layer. Seems to work well. I use it for skiing in the wintertime, so it pretty much gets used year round which justifies the higher price for it.

[boat]

I just ordered some 200 weight Polartec sweatpants from Sierra Trading Post. Hopefully those will work well with a Pategonia fleece sweatshirt I have for skiing.

[mrmccoy]

I'm new to this but polypropylene transfers moisture very well. I bought a set for skiing after reading how it compared to underarmor.....polypropylene is cheap too. Mine came from the local army surplus store.

[boat]

I got thinking about this thread again. Anybody know any guidelines for what weight of fleece to use for different water temps. Like 600 g/sqm for water in the low 40's or whatever ? (Plus a wicking layer of ploypro, Capilene or whatever of course.)

[BORG]

I dove today in Lake Lanier north of Atlanta with woolen thermal underwear under sweat pants and with a fleece pullover top. I was diving in 60+ degree water. I wasn't toasty, but comfortable nonetheless. Didn't dive with a hood, which would have made all the difference, I know. My 4 way Antarctic suit is comfortable, by a real cork to sink. It would have overheated me today and especially this summer.

[boat]

BORG,

Does your Antarctic have two layers of 320 g/sqm each for a total of 640 ? How cold have you dove with that ? I assume you got it from Rondel on ebay ?

boat

[BORG]

I believe it is a total of 640gr. It's is very floaty and warm. I dove in water at Lake Lanier north of Atlanta back on March the 20th in 50 degree water and wasn't cold at all, total dive time about 10-15 minutes. Three weeks before we had our first and only snow fall of the season.
It was a short dive, because my reg. had developed free flow issues. It is a warm undergarment, I just wish it wasn't so hard to sink. I have to really pack my BCD with lead to get it under the surface.