Diving, exploring underwater is an activity that we all get very excited and enjoy. Diving suits, which are one of the basic equipment for us, play a critical role in providing us comfort, warmth and safety during diving. Although wet suits are very comfortable in tropical or warm waters, the use of Dry Suits becomes necessary when we move to colder diving environments. In this article, I will try to give information about the use, standards, advantages and disadvantages of Dry Suits.
During my instructor career, I have had the opportunity to work in different locations. In some of these locations, the use of dry suits was a great necessity. Where I work now, in Iceland, Dry Suits are a necessity. Water temperatures are around 2 degrees along the way. In such a diving environment, it is not possible to have a safe and enjoyable dive with wetsuits or semi-dry suits.
Before entering the detailed review about Dry Suits, let’s briefly recall the types of diving suits.
Wetsuits – The most common diving suits. It is made of neoprene, that is diving suits that provide insulation by sealing a thin layer of water heated by your body heat. It is suitable for use in tropical and temperate water temperatures.
Semi-Dry Wetsuits – They provide more insulation than a standard wetsuit, but have no waterproofing features. The biggest difference from a wetsuit is the seal in the neck and wrist areas, usually made of rubber or silicone, which minimizes water circulation inside the suit.
Drysuits – Dry suits, which are the subject of the article, provide complete protection and prevent us from getting wet. It is absolutely necessary in cold water dives, and the undergarments we wear in dry suits can increase the insulation according to the water temperature.
When should we switch to a dry suit?
In recreational diving and according to PADI Standards; It is recommended to use dry suits for water temperatures below 15C. Of course, this varies depending on factors such as your cold water tolerance, the dive plan you will make, duration, depth.
Neoprene Dry Suits are very popular for cold diving because they are both affordable and practical, but let’s take a deeper look at whether they are the right choice for you.
Neoprene Dry Suits have their own self-isolation due to the material they are made of. In other words, they leave us a freer space for the undergarment we wear in the dry suit. In other words, you can make comfortable dives with the isolation provided by the neoprene dry suit without the need to wear a thick undergarment in not so cold waters.
Neoprene dry suits are more durable. It can be a good choice in terms of strength when diving from the shore to sharp objects or rocky points. To give an example specific to Iceland, we need to pass through very shallow and narrow areas at some points here, so neoprene dry suits have a longer service life in Iceland.
Neoprene Dry Suits have a certain buoyancy, just like wet suits. After gaining some experience with dry suits, you can use this feature to your advantage and contribute to your buoyancy.
Lower cost is also one of the reasons why Neoprene Dry suits are widely used.
To talk a little bit about the cons of neoprene dry suits, in my opinion, the fact that they are heavy and bulky is limiting our mobility in the water. It can be a disadvantage especially for instructors who are actively doing courses, and it can be difficult when traveling because they are heavy and require a lot of space due to their thickness. Due to the material they are made of, i.e. neoprene, their insulation properties begin to decrease as the depth increases in diving. For the same reason, weight adjustments should be made correctly before diving, as there will be a change in the buoyancy of the equipment.
Neoprene dry suits take longer to dry on the outsides than trilaminate suits, so if you are diving on a short trip and don’t have enough time to dry your suit, you may need extra baggage allowance on the way back 🙂 🙂
The fact that neoprene dry suits are self isolated can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. If you are using them in familiar water temperatures and you find the isolation provided by your dry suit sufficient, it can be an advantage. But if you are going to dive in colder or warmer waters in new locations, the situation is a little different. Because in trilaminate suits, there is the possibility to change the undergarment and adapt to different water temperatures, while in neoprene dry suits this possibility is a little more limited.
Neoprene Dry Suits offer options in different thicknesses for use in different water temperatures, such as 7mm or 8mm, so remember to consider the water temperatures you plan to use when purchasing.
Now let’s come to Trilaminate, that is, Three Layered Dry Suits. Trilaminate Dry Suits, which I have started to see more frequently recently, can be preferred because they are more flexible, comfortable and can be designed customized. So why did I prefer it or should you prefer it?
Trilaminate dry suits, where three different materials are used as three different layers, are my first choice because they are light and flexible. It gives me much more freedom while diving and reduces my effort and tiredness.
They are very suitable for traveling because of their light weight and fast drying properties.
Trilaminate suits do not have their own isolation properties like neoprene dry suits, so you need to wear an undergarment. The advantage of this for us is that we can choose the undergarment according to our own comfort and adapt to different water temperatures, and it will eliminate the problem of using different dry suits in different cold water temperatures.
Trilaminate suits have less buoyancy than Neoprene Dry Suits, so they are less affected by pressure changes during diving, which means that we should consider the type of dry suit we use , when we choose the weight.
Since it is a more advanced technology than Neoprene Dry Suits, it is one of the more costly diving equipment.
Due to the multiple stitches, gluing, etc. during production, frequent care and appropriate use are very important, especially since they are more sensitive than Neoprene material, it is useful to be careful against tears and punctures.
Trilaminate Dry Suits have different designs as they come with different zipper options and useful pocket options. The dry suit I use was designed according to my preferences, by taking measurements, in a short time like a week. For this reason, it is much more comfortable and there is much less risk of leakage.
To summary, Dry Suit is not a preference, it may be a necessity according to the environment where you will dive. If you want to have a Dry suit yourself instead of renting it, you should pay attention to the points I mentioned above within your budget. Dry suits are more costly than wet suits, it is better to be more careful when choosing.
What if you have never dived with a dry suit before?
In South Korea, even if the use of Dry Suits is not a must, we can integrate Dry Suit specialties after the beginner level courses and enable the trainee to develop themselves in this subject at the beginning. But if you want to come to Iceland and dive with us, it is a must to have a Dry Suit Specialty from an internationally recognized organization. Since I am a PADI Instructor, I recommend the PADI Dry Suit Specialty course to my trainees. So you can learn more about dry suits and dive more comfortably and safely.
Stay Warm – Stay Dry – Stay Happy
Goodbye
