Wetsuit, drysuit or semi - 3,5 or 7mm - what's the difference

[croppermj]

Hi, I have just started training and am looking for a middle of the road suit, to i) train in (open water), ii) dive in the uk and finally iii) use on holiday.

What is a semi dry suit?

Im looking at two suits;

a Typhoon/swarm 5/3mm full length 'steamer' - whats a 'steamer'? They're on offfer for £69 - any good as a first suit?

or

Waterproof Aquazor 5mm full length semi dry suit. Just like this;-

http://www.divernet.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?id=1671&sc=2022&ac=d&an=1671:Drysuit+Water+Proof+Aquazor

Many thanks
Matt

[IainC]

A 'semi dry' suit is a wetsuit with taped seams & better seals at the wrists & ankles, this means less water 'flushes' through the suit when you move and you stay warmer than in a wetsuit of equivalent thickness.

If you intend to use the suit in the UK (assuming you're not getting a drysuit, yet) - 7mm semi-dry is the usual option.

What suit you need depends on how long or deep your dives will be, much you feel the cold, how big you are (larger people lose heat slower) and how much personal insualtion (lard) you are carrying though :-)

Different types of suit & what temperatures they are suitable for should be covered during your diving course!

Hire or borrow first, see what fits and what you like, then decide..

Iain

[Michael Purcell]

I'll leave it to the UK divers to give you a hand with this one, but to give you an idea I wear my 5/3 here when the water temp is 19 degrees Cel.

I did my open water in Canada with a 7mm Farmer/7mm Jacket which puts 14mm over the important parts.

[IainC]

A steamer is an all in one wet suit (full length arms and legs).

As opposed to a 'shorty' - one piece with t-shirt & short style arms

You cna also get two-piece suits with a leg part (long-johns) and a top.

Or you can wear a slightly oversized shorty over the top of a steamer and 'double up' the thickness over your torso.

Some suits have built in hoods, my preference is for a separate hood, but ymmv..

Also some are front-zip, some back-zip, etc. Again a mater of personal preference for comfort and convenience.

A well fitting suit should allow freedom of movement but be close fitting, this means they can be awkward to get on and off.

Even slight bagginess at wrists, ankles, neck, under arms etc. will leads to a lot of flushing of water through the suit and it won't keep you as warm..

Iain.

[Richard Whitcombe]

Hi, I have just started training and am looking for a middle of the road suit, to i) train in (open water), ii) dive in the uk and finally iii) use on holiday.

What is a semi dry suit?

Its a wetsuit with a bigger marketing budget.

In the UK in the winter you need a drysuit. In the UK in the summer most people need a drysuit although you MAY get buy with a 2 layer 7mm semi (so 14mm in total) as long as the air isnt too cold.

If you continue to dive in the UK for more than a season chances are you'll buy a drysuit anyway so have wasted money on a wetsuit.


Im looking at two suits;



a Typhoon/swarm 5/3mm full length 'steamer' - whats a 'steamer'? They're on offfer for £69 - any good as a first suit?

For the Mediterranean or maybe red sea yes. For the UK no chance - too cold.


or


Waterproof Aquazor 5mm full length semi dry suit.

Again for the Med, red sea or warm water its fine. For the UK any time of year it isnt. Its too cold.

[croppermj]

Thanks very much for your replies. So... invest a bit more money and buy a dry suit - given that I do intent to dive in the uk with my local club. For the once or twice a year I dive in a warmer climate, consider hiring a wetsuit?

[Richard Whitcombe]

Thanks very much for your replies. So... invest a bit more money and buy a dry suit - given that I do intent to dive in the uk with my local club. For the once or twice a year I dive in a warmer climate, consider hiring a wetsuit?

Sounds sensible. Or just buy a 5mm suit (they aren't expensive) and then you dont need to rent.

You aren't going to find a suit that works in the UK and abroad at the same time.

[ChristianG]

Thanks very much for your replies. So... invest a bit more money and buy a dry suit - given that I do intent to dive in the uk with my local club. For the once or twice a year I dive in a warmer climate, consider hiring a wetsuit?
Depends on the dry suit that you buy.

If you buy a compressed neoprene one, that has at least some insulating material in it, which reduces in insulating efficiency the deeper you go (the remaining air bubbles in the suit, the principal insulating factor, compress).

If you buy a membrane, aka trilam, aka shell, drysuit the suit itself has no insulation other than keeping you away from that water. Your insulation comes from what you wear underneath it and there are manufacturers out there that make all sorts of tricked up undersuits available; of varying densities for varying temperatures.

I know quite a few divers that wear their shellsuits in the tropics with pretty well nothing underneath them. Me? I think they're mad, but what would I know.

Have a look at my avatar. That's me in the tropics (Solomons) in a skinsuit, al tank and al pony, no weightbelt and no BCD. Last time I looked I'm still alive.

[Titanic]

IMHO there is no right answer to this, if you are going to dive in different climates you are likely to end up with different suits.

I have a neoprene drysuit, if you are going to dive in the UK I don't believe anything other than a drysuit is an option. It's not (just) the water temperature, but when you are sitting in a boat between dives and its raning and windy you are not going to want to be in a wetsuit (and hence wet yourself).

I actually bought a 5mm (with some bits 7mm) wetsuit before my drysuit because I trained in the UK in a wetsuit and at 6' 2" I got sick of hiring poor / ill-fitting suits. This was fine for UK not-winter inland diving and even the odd dive in the sea on our warmer west coast. It is also perfect for the Med (Malta, Cyprus etc) and I have used it in the Red Sea (although I've also dived in a shortie there, I think that decision depends on the type of diving you expect to do and the time of year - windchill considerations again).

This year I bought my own shortie as I visited Antigua. It was perfect for the water temperature there.

I bought the shortie and the wetsuit "off the peg" from my LDS (after a bit of shopping round) but the drysuit was MTM from Seaskin.

So overall I'd work out where you think you will dive most (initially) and buy the suit for that first, then take it from there.

[Ian@1904]

I have four diving suits:
For UK diving I use a drysuit. I have one for training purposes and one for sea diving. Both are membrane suits.
For warmer water diving down to 50m I have a full length 5mm wet suit.
For warm water diving, generally down to 30m I use a 3mm shortie wet suit, I will use this off Cuba in the summer.

There is not really a middle of the road suit. You run the risk of being too cold in the UK or too warm when abroad. Diving is an expensive obsession, oops I meant hobby of course. :)

[BIGLICKER]

Diving is an expensive obsession, oops I meant hobby of course. :)



you were right first time me thinks!!!!:eek:


r O y.
:D

[Richard Whitcombe]

I know quite a few divers that wear their shellsuits in the tropics with pretty well nothing underneath them. Me? I think they're mad, but what would I know.


Not quite the tropics but ive used my membrane suit in Greece (25-26c water). Tried it wearing just shorts and t-shirt and got cold. Put my weezle extreme on and yes it was hot on the boat but in the water perfectly comfortable.

(Reason for using it was a foot infection that diving 3 times a day, 7 days a week for several months was refusing to heal when constantly wet). Provded to me at least a drysuit is ok for warm water if you can survive the above water heat.
Ive never yet done a dive anywhere on the planet in any gear where ive thought im too hot. Ive done far too many where ive been too cold though.

[allanswallace]

Ive never yet done a dive anywhere on the planet in any gear where ive thought im too hot. Ive done far too many where ive been too cold though.

That's interesting, because I used to dive in the UK using a wetsuit (always a little bit too cold), then a neoprene drysuit (in which I was always too hot). Yet to try a membrane, though to be honest, I prefer the simplicity of a semi-dry. (just about the right temperature, and one less thing to go wrong cos there's no inflator or cuff dump.)

I'm glad I have gone to using a semi-dry, its been fine for diving in water at 6c, and it's been fine in this wintry weather we've had up here in the Lake District this month.

The thing I am missing however, is the full face mask I used to use when diving in my wetsuit (in my numb teenage years) - it's amazing how much of a difference a 10mm hood with a fully dry, warm face, makes to your overall feeling of warmth underwater.

So as you can see, EVERYONE is different, and those that tell you "A DRYSUIT is required for diving the UK in winter" may have the best intentions, but for some of us, it's simply not true, A semi-dry can be more than adequate.

[Richard Whitcombe]

A drysuit is adequate for everyone. A wetsuit is adequate for a small number of people and not usually for all months of the year.
Ive seen several near and a few full blown hypothermia cases as a result of people diving wet in the UK. Some in the winter but some in the summer as well.

Certainly in my case if i didnt have access to a drysuit i wouldnt even consider diving in the UK at all any time of year.

[bakerstreet]

I agree with what others have said.

All UK Diving - Dry Suit
Red Sea Diving - 5mm full length.

I have never had anything less than a 5mm Full length wet suit for red sea type stuff. Ok its a bit heavier than a 3mm, but winter in red sea after 50 mins in a shorty 3mm would be very uncomfortable IMO. I have seen people getting out in the winter (Earlier this month) after 50 minutes in a 3mm shorty and they looked very ill :D :D

You may survive the dive in a 7mm semi dry in the UK but what about the 2hr surface interval. You will be wet whilst every one is dry and zipping a long in an open rib or hard boat, it will soon gert very chilly.

Have a look a the Waterproof Lynx suit for 5mm full lengths. I bought one this year and it is bloody brilliant./ Great wrist and ankle seals as well as zips on wrists and kneck seals. Ok, they are expensive at £155, but they are worth the extra money.

[allanswallace]

To revise what i said, boat diving in the UK pretty much requires a dry-suit. a semi-dry IS NOT going to cut it (unless it's a blazing summer like 2003...)

I still hold that a semi-dry is suitable most of the year, if a few precautions are taken.

ie, hot drinks before the dive, a well-fitting semi-dry, and a t-shirt socks and fingerless gloves on underneath the semi-dry. They make a HUGE difference. as does a full face mask and a 10mm hood.

If anyone wants to see the statistics for full body immersion in cold water vs the effects of wearing thermal protection I will happily dig out the research. plus, you don't have to worry about filling it with air / argon / nitrox / trimix. another thing to worry about when narked....

And if you consider that water temperatures vary with depth, (16c in the top 6m of wastwater recently) then the depth that you go to and the time that you spend there may have a bearing on suit choice.... 8c at 35m.....)

[Maria CM]

my 2p...

drysuit for uk and spend money on it - I like membrane as you can adjust what you wear under it (have also been known to sleep in my undersuit when DH drags me camping in UK). A good hood!!!!

variety of wetsuits for holiday - keep an eye out in the Lidls, Tesco etc for a £20 bargain - I wear them in the pool(!) unless of course you are a sucker for 'Waterproof' ones like me for the warmer seas because of the joyous little zippy thing on the neck that you can leave undone before going in the water so you don't feel you are being strangled on the boat etc.

I have a 5mm full length, a 3mm full length, a a ridiculous quantity of 3mm shorties. I always take a 3mm hood too in case I feel cold as it makes all the difference.

best wishes,

Maria

[Kieran]

Thanks very much for your replies. So... invest a bit more money and buy a dry suit
You'd be suprised how much you can get a drysuit for .You can pick a drysuit up from clearance lines can get you a £500 drysuit for nearer £300 or you could buy a decent second hand one for a pittence. I got my drsuit which had done 20 freshwater dives for £90 new it was £695.
If you have the money (and a fairly constant weight) you can't beat a custom fit one and many manufacturers include this in their service. If you're buying new a comprehensive warranty is a good idea as things like zips and seals can be very expensive to replace if damaged.
Good luck and hope you soon enjoy the wonders of being warm and dry in British waters.
Saying that we have a German girl in our branch who dives east coast Scotland in winter (5.2°C) in a 5mm semidry. nuts!

[croppermj]

Gosh, its over 4 months since I started this thread and its still gaining input...:)

Update: I bought two Scubapro wetsuits; a 5mm full length and a 3 mm shorty used both on holiday (seperately) and using both (together) tomorrow to have a kick about at the Blue Lagoon in Womersley. Will wear gloves and hood to hopefully will be warm enough - just phoned them - the water is 21 degrees.

I'm also buying a neoprene drysuit (second hand) off someone at my club - just waiting for a new neck seal to be fitted.

[KitScuba]

It is certainly a bit of a challenge to get one suit for all environments, in the UK I dive in a drysuit or a 7mm semi dry depending on the time of year, I've used my 7mm in egypt quite a bit, then in warmer climates such as the Maldives/Thailand I tend to wear a 2mm shortie, although I have recently changed to a 2mm fullsuit. Depending on budget I'd suggest seriously considering where you intend to do the most diving, unless you intend to buy more than one suit initially.