View Full Version : New to UK diving - what semi-dry suit?
fish_eds
15-02-2006, 14:03
Hi
I am new to UK diving and am looking to buy a 2 piece semi dry suitable to use in the south west.
Has anyone got any recommendations?
I want something easy to get in and out of and a combination that could also be used in warmer waters abroad as a single suit.
What is best?
5+5
7+5
7+7
I have looked at the Lontra II by cressi and also a 2 piece body glove suit. Quite a few people have also mention o'three, but I know there are plenty of others out there.
I get cold quite easily and know a dry suit would be warmest, but the cost is prohibitive and less practical on hoilday!
Cheers
Adrian Kelland
15-02-2006, 14:11
If I was looking to buy a semi for the UK, I would go for 7+7. I would also look for one where the arms and legs are one peice with the torso, then the second torso layer and hood. Beaver used to do this, but I have no idea if they still do. For all I know all are like this now. This way you have full coverage in one layer for warmer climates.
Adrian
Beaver Icelandic Ultra. All the novices in our club buy them as their first suit and they are warm as toast, of not exactly the most stylish thing on the market. www.beaversports.co.uk
Chris Cherrington
15-02-2006, 16:45
I get cold quite easily and know a dry suit would be warmest, but the cost is prohibitive and less practical on hoilday!
Cheers
Nope. You will join the ranks of the 3,865,756 UK divers who bought a semi then sell it a month later on ebay in order to get a drysuit. T'aint cheaper.
If cost is an issue look around for a secondhand drysuit.
While abroad it is relativley cheap to rent a suit and this cuts down on the luggage and the weight.
Have a long hard think what you will be doing most of before you buy.
Chris
I agree with Chris.
Get a dry suit for the UK and a thinner wet/semi for hols (or just rent one).
Honestly, this is one piece of advice about UK diving that I can give without ANY concerns.
Adrian Kelland
15-02-2006, 17:06
Nope. You will join the ranks of the 3,865,756 UK divers who bought a semi then sell it a month later on ebay in order to get a drysuit. T'aint cheaper.
If cost is an issue look around for a secondhand drysuit.
While abroad it is relativley cheap to rent a suit and this cuts down on the luggage and the weight.
Have a long hard think what you will be doing most of before you buy.
Chris
OTOH, south west based - slightly warmer water, warmer season - shortish dives and a semi should be OK. Now if you want to do all year round then drysuit is the only option.
Some of my club use semis in the summer for better comfort - it gets too hot :D Not me though.
Adrian
Nope. You will join the ranks of the 3,865,756 UK divers who bought a semi then sell it a month later on ebay in order to get a drysuit. T'aint cheaper.
If cost is an issue look around for a secondhand drysuit.
While abroad it is relativley cheap to rent a suit and this cuts down on the luggage and the weight.
Have a long hard think what you will be doing most of before you buy.
Chris
hmmm, that would be me then - mind you found it perfectly ok warmth wise in the water; it was the surface interval which I froze to death and putting the thing back on - booo
Didnt sell it - use it for holiday diving now.
But yes ignored the advice of everyone in my club who said go straight to dry or buy a second hand one
Nope. You will join the ranks of the 3,865,756 UK divers who bought a semi then sell it a month later on ebay in order to get a drysuit. T'aint cheaper.
If cost is an issue look around for a secondhand drysuit.
While abroad it is relativley cheap to rent a suit and this cuts down on the luggage and the weight.
Have a long hard think what you will be doing most of before you buy.
Chris
And presumbably none of those 3 mill divers have used one half of there
semis in the Red Sea, Canaries, Med etc. etc?
Nor do they switch back to semis in summer, much cooler.
A decent (note I said decent) two piece semi like the Oceanic Shadow will
work fine in all but the worst of the UK and one half (the single 7mm suit)
works fine abroad. Ok you might eventually get a drybag, a good number do,
but given the choice I'd rather take my own suit, one that fits and some git
hasnt peed in it thank you!
Of course with the average hire cost of a suit working out at about £5 a
dive you will be paying £40-£50 per trip for suit hire. Doesnt take that much
to pay it off, even if you do have to carry it.
Last point is that why assume that a diver will take to UK diving and need a
drybag even before they've dipped a toe? How many new drysuit owners
go warm and say never again after that first dive?
At least with a semi you have a suit for the Red Sea.
Drybag maybe longterm, but give people a break and let them use a semi first.
T.
Drybag maybe longterm, but give people a break and let them use a semi first.
T.
Do we HAVE to?????
I'll adjust my recommendation to "borrow/rent" a semi, try it and then go out and buy a dry suit.
Of course, it all depends on how much UK diving you will be doing. My 7mm semi dry is in a bag in the loft, it got worn about twice in the UK, was too hot for holiday diving and doesn't fit me any more!
Chris Cherrington
15-02-2006, 17:24
Last point is that why assume that a diver will take to UK diving and need a drybag even before they've dipped a toe?
Oh Okay I'll give you that one.... Just plain old prejudice 'cos I think the UK is the best diving there is ever...
Chris
Oh Okay I'll give you that one.... Just plain old prejudice 'cos I think the UK is the best diving there is ever...
Chris
What Chris said!!!!!
Wow, a PADI diver and a BSAC diver in perfect unity of thought!!! Woohoooooooo :) .
UK diving ROOLES!!! :)
Nigel Hewitt
15-02-2006, 17:29
Drybag maybe longterm, but give people a break and let them use a semi first.Disagree.
I think the UK fixation with starting out in a semi is why so many divers give up too soon.
There are important systems in your head that equate staying warm with survival. Activities that involve getting cold get black marks in their book and as soon as they get mentioned excuse-mode is switched on.
I did hyperthermal in a 5+5 semi on a 20 minute dive at Portland one November but I've dived 2C in a drysuit for an hour and just noted that my lips were getting a bit numb. Also watching the poor beggers in semis in the wind on the way back in the club RIB makes even my hard old heart feel sorry for them.
I seem to remember last year a whole bunch of out club newbies got a good £240 deal at RoHo at LIDS on drysuits. They aren't all expensive.
Tony Dwyer
15-02-2006, 17:56
Disagree.
I think the UK fixation with starting out in a semi is why so many divers give up too soon.
I'm inclined to agree. I see nothing wrong with newbies using drysuits. I've even lent out one of mine on occasion.
Once upon a very long ago, I used to dive in a wetsuit (the term semi-dry had yet to be invented :eek:). These days I use a 3mm full body wet suit in the pool and on holidays. For me a 7mm would be too hot for most foreign holiday venues.
Alan Ewart
15-02-2006, 18:39
Hi
I
I get cold quite easily and know a dry suit would be warmest, but the cost is prohibitive and less practical on hoilday!
Cheers
Sorry mate, but all this means is that you will buy a semi, decide its too cold and then have to find more money fora drysuit later.
Save your pennies over the next few months, go to LIDS in April, shop around and find a drysuit.
you will regret it is you don't.
You can afford to skimp on a wetsuit for holidays. I got my shortie for £20 at the dive show.
Well, I'll stick my oar in and suggest you get a second hand/ex-hire semi-dry. That way it will be dirt cheap so you won't have wasted much money and you don't have to worry about the make as you have all on just finding one that fits.
Here's one to ponder on . I dive with a drysuit during winter and a 5mm semi the rest of the year , must admit i prefer my semi , less lead to stick in my pants .:)
My son has a decathlon 7mm 2 peice the bottom comes up to his shoulders and the top has an intrigal hood , and he using that most of the year , but nicks my drysuit when i've got my back turned in the winter .:mad:
I think horses for courses and it also deepends on how deep your going , remember , the deeper you go the colder it gets !!!!:eek:
Talk to your club members , they will give you loads of advice , like on hear and you my strike lucky and one of them may be selling his old kit , a good place to start buying second hand from people you know .:)
Matt Crane
15-02-2006, 21:26
Oh well here goes for my first post :-)
I just switched from a semi dry to a dry suit not because I was cold but due to the way it restricted my movement when I was wearing the shorty over the all in one (hood was seperate).
I have a Oceanic Shadow 3 piece £175 from Go-Dive at the dive show, (has internal seals to stop flushing), and will keep it so that I can use the shorty on holiday. This suit was so warm it was unbelieveable the others on the boat in dry suits where complaining of being cold and I was nice and toasty in my semi-dry. :)
Disagree.
I think the UK fixation with starting out in a semi is why so many divers give up too soon.
Yep, mainly because the first experience for many divers is an ill-fitting hire
semi or one borrowed from a mate or club (again ill-fitting). Those that go
out and actually buy a decent one that fits dont seem to encounter the
same problems.
I bought my first semi 10 years ago and happily did 3 UK seasons before
going onto a drybag and still use it in the summer. One half of it has seen a
lot of action in the Canaries as a working Inst and Red Sea/holiday stuff. It
worked very well because it was a good make and MTM.
If I was only doing UK diving then yes I would say go dry at the outset,
but I personally dont know one diver that just does UK. The most common
suit used abroad for most popular destinations is a 5/7mm all in one, which
just happens to be half of your average UK semi.
So why wouldnt I buy a suit that will do both UK and abroad in the first
instance when what dives or rather location is still not confirmed?
IMO Semi 1st, but must be a good well fitting semi.
T.
My vote goes for talking to your mates in the club.
I know of two 'spare' drysuits that have been put to good use.
Both for around £150 :eek:
Admitantly I have had to replace neck and wrist seals, but got a good few dives before that, and for the cost....
Chris Cherrington
16-02-2006, 10:40
If I was only doing UK diving then yes I would say go dry at the outset, but I personally dont know one diver that just does UK.
As you can see from the top right hand corner I have moved...
Prior to leaving the shores of your overpriced and overcrowded island I dived UK and UK only. I learnt to dive in 1991 and did my first overseas dive in Spain (Menorca, S'Algar) in 1996 as a result of my friend wanting to "learn to dive somewhere warm". My second overseas dive was 1998 in Ireland when the missus and I went over for a friend's wedding. Since then its all gone to poo and I've dived all over.....
I'll bore you silly over a beer about how much better the UK is than anywhere else any time Terry.
(My round mate.. :D)
The OP was in the South West. Why on earth even think about diving elsewhere?
Chris
Chris Cherrington
16-02-2006, 10:49
...My son has a decathlon 7mm 2 peice
....a good place to start buying second hand from people you know .:)
The Decathlon range is well worth a look for cheap gear.
I second that too. Failing that try ebay and find someone near enough you can try on before you buy. Don't forget that wrist and neck seals can be replaced (easily if they are latex) and most stuff will resell on ebay at around 80% of the price you bought it at if you don't get on with it. Look at this one for example: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OTTER-ULTIMATE-DRYSUIT-DRY-SUIT-With-Hood-Gloves-LG_W0QQitemZ7218960947QQcategoryZ73994QQrdZ1QQcmdZ ViewItem
It will probably get to 180 quid or so. (nothing to do with me and not a recommendation - just an example) About the same price as a new semi...
Chris
Ben Panter
16-02-2006, 11:18
The OP was in the South West. Why on earth even think about diving elsewhere?
Because otherwise you'll turn into a lift-loving Southern softy! ;)
Ben
Nigel Hewitt
16-02-2006, 11:42
Because otherwise you'll turn into a lift-loving Southern softy! ;)Maybe I should put that in my sig.
Ian Wigg
16-02-2006, 12:10
Oh well here goes for my first post :-)
I just switched from a semi dry to a dry suit not because I was cold but due to the way it restricted my movement when I was wearing the shorty over the all in one (hood was seperate).
I have a Oceanic Shadow 3 piece £175 from Go-Dive at the dive show, (has internal seals to stop flushing), and will keep it so that I can use the shorty on holiday. This suit was so warm it was unbelieveable the others on the boat in dry suits where complaining of being cold and I was nice and toasty in my semi-dry. :)
I've also got an Oceanic. I've done two 40min dives in 4C water with a coupole of hour surface break in nigh on freezing temperatures and been really toasty all the way through. I actually cracked the neck to allow water to flush down my back to cool off on the dives as the combination of the two layers of neoprene plus the extra thickness of the comfort pads (total of about 30mm) actually made it too hot down my back.
Having said that I dive in a nice warm O'three drysuit
I'll bore you silly over a beer about how much better the UK is than anywhere else any time Terry.
(My round mate.. :D)
The OP was in the South West. Why on earth even think about diving elsewhere?
Chris
All depends if you are a ferros watcher or fish prodder.
I do shedloads of south coast diving each year and can see the solent from
my house, but still do just as much abroad. Wouldnt choose between the
two as I get as much, if not different types of fun with each.
T.
Chris Cherrington
16-02-2006, 13:46
All depends if you are a ferros watcher or fish prodder.
What are fish?
Chris
Buoyant Babe
16-02-2006, 13:49
I learnt to dive in an ill-fitting two-piece wetsuit in freshwater in the middle of December. I bought myself a two-piece semi-dry for my first proper outing in UK waters the following July. I went for the semi-dry as I 'didn't want to spend too much money' and felt a drysuit cost too much.
My first - and last - outing in the semi-dry was off the back of a boat in the North Sea. I was actually quite warm and comfortable in the suit under water; but once back on board, as I clung shivering to the rails while two guys attempted to wrench my suit legs off my feet, I watched in envy as everyone else simply unzipped their drysuits and peeled back the top half to bask in the afternoon sun. I struggled to get into warm clothes with a towel wrapped around me.
Lugging my heavy kit bag stuffed with the sodden semi-dry off the boat I saw the ease with which my fellow divers stepped out of their suits, all warm and dry, and threw them in the back of the car.
The semi-dry went back to the shop and out came the credit card to upgrade to a drysuit. Lovely!
Because otherwise you'll turn into a lift-loving Southern softy! ;)
Ben
As opposed to a shirt tail-lift loving Northern 'ardy'? :) :) :)
I drink my shandy in pint glasses I'll have you know!!! :)
Nigel Hewitt
16-02-2006, 14:15
What are fish?The are the mobile bits of sea stuff that get in the way while you are trying to photograph the wreck.
HTH
What are fish?
A side dish served with your chips
Richard Whitcombe
16-02-2006, 15:57
I was lucky in that i was donated a drysuit so learnt and did my first dives in one.
Im firmly convinced if id have had a wet suit (call them a semi but its still a wet suit...) i'd have done far fewer dives that year and after.
Generally on club trips the people in proper-fitting wet suits do dive 1, then get so cold on the SI they cant stomach doing dive number 2 or 3 of the day. The result is on charters they pay £40 for 1 dive at times.
Ive also seen many cut even dive 1 short due to getting cold on the journey out.
I wear my drysuit year round without problems, in the summer i simply wear less underneath it. Weight used seems to be the same as the (very few) people left in our club with semis so im struggling to see any advantages of a wet suit at all in the UK.
A 7mm underlayer with 7mm vest wetsuit is miles to heavy and thick to take abroad anywhere where usually a 5mm suit will suffice.
My vote, get a drysuit for the UK, get a cheap 5mm suit for holidays. There is no "one suit does both".
Andy Wade
16-02-2006, 16:54
I was lucky in that i was donated a drysuit so learnt and did my first dives in one.
Im firmly convinced if id have had a wet suit (call them a semi but its still a wet suit...) i'd have done far fewer dives that year and after.
Generally on club trips the people in proper-fitting wet suits do dive 1, then get so cold on the SI they cant stomach doing dive number 2 or 3 of the day.
Cissies.
My first suit was a single lined Spartan (the clue's in the name :) ) 5.5mm two piece wetsuit with detached boots and hood. That's trousers and top with the 'lobster tail' flap under the crotch. And a similar thickness hood and no gloves in the sea.
And I got a hole under my armpit once. :eek:
Of course I wouldn't wear that suit nowadays. Well, for a start I couldn't even get it on as the neoprene has shrunk considerably :D
i've heard it said that some divers even dive with tea-cozies on their heads; is this some urban myth?
Buoyant Babe
16-02-2006, 18:11
i've heard it said that some divers even dive with tea-cozies on their heads; is this some urban myth?
Something like this you mean? :D
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d2/helen2525/Compo.jpg
Something like this you mean? :D
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d2/helen2525/Compo.jpg
hmmm, seeems familiar even has a beard :) :)
Buoyant Babe
16-02-2006, 19:39
hmmm, seeems familiar even has a beard :) :)
Who can this be then?
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d2/helen2525/finless01.jpg
Andy Wade
16-02-2006, 20:18
Who can this be then?
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d2/helen2525/finless01.jpg
I'm probably gonna get in real trouble for this, but I couldn't help but notice an old enemy of Dr Who in there..... :D
http://wheelinspace.com/sontarans.htm
Look, I'm not going to say this again "It's not a 'kin tea cosy! It's a well 'ard fishin type hat! I'm so 'kin 'ard that I even put up with it itching without complaint!"
Bloody hell ........ a man of my calibre and experience ........... bloody **** taking kids .........should be in school or bed ...............
I've dived below 10 mtrs y'know!!!
:) :) :)
[EDIT]The itching refered to above is NOT in the nether regions but of the scalp and caused by the double hard wool used!!!
Adrian Kelland
17-02-2006, 11:43
I'm probably gonna get in real trouble for this, but I couldn't help but notice an old enemy of Dr Who in there..... :D
http://wheelinspace.com/sontarans.htm
I knew exactly what you meant, even without the link. Sad. :D
Ian@1904
17-02-2006, 12:53
Look, I'm not going to say this again "It's not a 'kin tea cosy! It's a well 'ard fishin type hat!
It is a tea cosy
So why are you sporting a long ginger wig under the tea cosy. Trying to look like Mr T?
Buoyant Babe
17-02-2006, 13:39
It is a tea cosy
So why are you sporting a long ginger wig under the tea cosy. Trying to look like Mr T?
Toutchy isn't he? :D
It is a tea cosy
So why are you sporting a long ginger wig under the tea cosy. Trying to look like Mr T?
Ginger??? What colour is the sky in your world???? My hair is dark blond ........ OK OK, it's manky brown!!!!
:)
Buoyant Babe
17-02-2006, 13:59
Ginger??? What colour is the sky in your world???? My hair is dark blond ........ OK OK, it's manky brown!!!!
:)
Something like this you mean?
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d2/helen2525/Phil_Harding_small.jpg
Something like this you mean?
No, nothing like.
I've just cut a chunk of hair off and will attach it to an email and send it to you.
Buoyant Babe
17-02-2006, 14:26
No, nothing like.
I've just cut a chunk of hair off and will attach it to an email and send it to you.
Won't you lose your strength like Samson?
Adrian Kelland
17-02-2006, 14:30
No, nothing like.
I've just cut a chunk of hair off and will attach it to an email and send it to you.
Surely that should be by hair mail.
fish_eds
19-02-2006, 11:23
Thanks all for the advice
I'll have a good think about it and look around before I decide what to do.
Tristan Green
20-02-2006, 09:03
Aaaarrrgh :eek: - must resist - oooooh :eek: - but it's hard not to resist - uurrghh and relax :D
Adrian, you came oh so close to getting a red blob for that awful pun :p
Cheers,
Tristan
Beaver are flogging off some semi-drys at the moment cheap so now would be the time to get one.
Beaver are flogging off some semi-drys at the moment cheap so now would be the time to get one.
Semi-dry Beaver?
Hi.
Believe me you do not want anything that lets UK water touch you, ughh its to cruel!.
A dry suit mi lad and nothing else, you will thank us for it, you can hire one until you can afford one , and this will give you chance to make up your mind whether you like membrane or neoprene best.
Semi-dry Beaver?*sigh*
Yes, Bryan, a semi-dry Beaver.
Tristan Green
20-02-2006, 13:13
Semi-dry Beaver?
No no no - as we all know "Happiness is a WET beaver!" :D
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f158/tag2000/wetbeaver.jpg
Cheers,
Tristan
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