When did you switch to a drysuit?

[lovesmexico615]

No, I'm not ready yet, but I think due to the nature of diving in the New England area at some point I will. What was the tipping point for you? Right now I'm ok in a 7MM at about 53 degrees F, but I know that the spring will be colder. I'm still new to the sport, but eventually I can see myself diving as close to year round as I can.

Thanks!
Amanda

[caroln]

I'm about to switch because I had a dive weekend ruined because I was just too cold to dive anymore after just one dive. I started out the season in a 7MM and was fine even when the bottom temps were as low as 48. The problem is now that it's not warm at the surface anymore, it's really hard to warm up between dives. I guess the answer is that I'll quit diving wet when doing so means that I'm missing dives.

[RonFrank]

Originally Posted by lovesmexico615

No, I'm not ready yet, but I think due to the nature of diving in the New England area at some point I will. What was the tipping point for you? Right now I'm ok in a 7MM at about 53 degrees F, but I know that the spring will be colder. I'm still new to the sport, but eventually I can see myself diving as close to year round as I can.

Thanks!
Amanda

I switched when I ran across a deal on a little used NexGen suit that fit me!

The main reason I switched was not getting cold while diving, but rather freezing my tail (well feet actually) off during SI's.

We were doing an AOW class in Winter at the Blue Hole. It was snowing, windy, in the upper 20F's, and cold. After our first dive the instructor went to do a OW class, and we waited. After 90minutes in a 7mm suit (peeled down with a jacket), and wet booties, my feet were numb.

I actually discovered I was warmer in the 64F water! At that point I decided to keep an eye out for a budget priced drysuit.

Now, if I can't dive it in a 3mm, I dive it dry.

[BG9879]

I have been diving less than a year and I am just got my new dry suit. I had a little more push since I was joining a public safety dive team, but being in MN, it gets cold and the water stays cold a lot of the year. I have dove in a 7mm and also in a dry suit and I felt much more comfortable in my dry suit and liked the part of being dry when you got done and had to change in the cold wind!!

[MSilvia]

I never really saw a problem diving wet in cold water... I have a custom tailored SAS 7mm 2-piece that kept me warm enough to dive water as cold as 42 degrees, and I didn't see the point in spending tons of money on a suit that would let me dive locally december through march. It just wasn't that big a deal to me.

The real turning point for me actually had nothing to do with temperature, it was wanting redundant buoyancy that made it a worthwhile investment for me. When I started doing deco dives, I opened myself up to the possibility of diving deep with gear that might be too heavy to swim to the surface if my wetsuit was compressed and my BC failed. Having a drysuit meant that in case of a catastrophic loss of buoyancy, I had something else to inflate to get me home.

Of course, since I have the drysuit now, I use it year-round anytime it's too cold for my tropical wetsuit.

[cummings66]

I started using my drysuit on I think my 12th dive out of OW. Been that way ever since and for the most part I dive it most of the year changing only the undergarment to suit the weather.

[terrillja]

I bought my DS about a month after I got my ow cert. With the ds I can layer to adjust warmth, so one suit is good for everything pretty much. Still love the versatility.

[lovesmexico615]

Thanks guys. So far I've been ok, but I'm not doing multiple dives in the cold yet. Maybe next spring I'll start looking into the dry suit class. I'm not ready to drop the small fortune a dry suit costs right now (and for the price I could go somewhere warm in Jan or Feb...) but eventually I might make the switch.

[Ohmdiver]

I had to start diving dry to appeas (sp) my dive buddies. I would dive in my wet suit until January. (Hot water, prewarming is graet.) They got really nervous and convinced me they would be happier if I would dive dry.

I will admit it is nice to get out of the water and not start shivering immediately.

[bobbin-along]

Dive #2 out of my basic open water. I absolutely hated the wetsuit. It was wet. It was cold. I didn't like how it fit, I hated putting it on, and knew that I wasn't going to dive if I had to do it in a wet suit. Just last night my husband mentioned that I probably would have had a much better OW experience if we had gotten me in a dry suit from the very first dive. Now our LDS puts pretty much everyone in a dry suit from their very first open water checkout dive. They keep a rental fleet of them with soft socks rather than integrated boots.