If your thoughts are turning to putting away the diving gear until Spring then I invite you to reconsider that decision and research drysuit diving to extend your diving year. A quality drysuit (I own several and select depending upon the environment) will last for years- see blog below and you will quickly realise value for money.
A drysuit is not the end however. Insulation is key and a high quality loft undergarment, layered, will be just the ticket. Weezle make excellent undergarments, Diving Concepts and DUI too- there are many others out there also. But you do not have to purchase dive specific insulation- other sport quality layers can be multifunctional too. My base layers for diving and cold weather adventure racing are Patagonia base layers, built on that might be a Berghaus fleece and I am toasty in all but the coldest of waters- and for those I pull out the heavier Patagonia fleeces. Restriction of movement is something to be wary of.
On my head, I might add a thin beanie under my hood and either wetgloves with or without a liner or dry gloves for extremely cold conditions.
Watch for the toes, too. Quality, warm socks such as those used by hunters ones are first class.
Argon inflation is not necessary, although it is pleasant if you have it.
Get some advice from your local quality dive store re suits, fitting, undergarments (many suits come with undergarments as a package deal) and seek out a quality instructor who regularly dives a drysuit and who accordingly will advance you in dry suit diving skills and train right! There is much, much more to drysuit than is covered in a specialty programme.
Be safe. Train Right!
My primary drysuit has bitten the dust. 20 years old and the CF200 material is about 1/2 the thickness of my secondary suit- amazing how even crushed neoprene will compress over time. However I think that it illustrates an important point- buying quality, as high quality items will last you a lifetime.
I had the opportunity to compare and contrast my 3 favourite canister lights this weekend, all by Diverite, the 10w HID, the LED500 and the new LED700. LED technology is receiving a lot of focus and the light they emit in diving use is clean, bright and white, as is that of the HID units. There was not a lot in it between the 3 lights, tested in the pitch dark at a depth of 140'. The 10w HID is a narrower beam than the LEDs and the LED700 was, it seemed, every bit its equal in terms of brightness, whiteness, intensity and penetration and is a broader beam. The LED500 was a shade behind these two in terms of brightness but in fairness the batteries were not new and had been on several dives- testament to the long lived delivery from this light (13 hours from 8 AA batteries!)
My preference is for LED. I am hard on my equipment, am not as diligent as I could be in looking after it and still expect it to perform flawlessly. I have had several HID systems and sooner or later the bulb goes and these are not at all inexpensive to replace. I have all 3 of the above systems and my HID will be sent in for an LED retrofit once this bulb blows.
The LED500 is, I find, an excellent primary in its own right and extraordinarily good for travel. Weighing in at only a few ounces it uses widely available AA batteries (8) and lasts an age on them.
We have yet to touch on backup lights. More about lights etc on the course.
Train Right.
RSS Feed