Entry level drysuit for skinny diver
Hi Scuba divers out there!
I am Fabian and have been thinking about getting a drysuit for quite some time now. I am located in Germany, where it's totally fine to dive in a 7mm semi-dry wetsuit during the summer months. But in spring (April/Mai) it's usually still cold and as soon as the days get shorter in October I am freezing in the 7mm wetsuit as well.
So yea in winter I went to a big fair in Germany (the "Boot") and looked at tons of drysuits. Being totally overwhelmed by all the manufacturer and all the offers I returned home not buying anything. Now the topic comes up again.
These are my requirements:
- I consider myself a sport diver (AOWD, 45 dives), no cavediving, no double-tank diving, no deep diving. I want to breathe underwater in the local lakes in the 10-25m.
- I am freezing quite fast - last summer I was diving in the Mediterranean I was okay with my 7mm semi-dry. But I wouldn't want a 5mm or a colder day.... brrr....
- I am quite skinny (183cm height, 93 chest, 83 waist, 93 hip).
- I am fine with spending 1000 Euros, if less, I am happy, too. I don't see the point spending 2000 on a drysuit.
- I ready to buy another suit if I all the sudden want to go deep diving and cave and tec diving.
So most drysuits I look at, do not have a standard size that fits me well. So for most manufacturers I would have to get a suit made to measure. Usually that's 100-300 Euros in addition. You saw my budget earlier, so that's a lot I think.
Therefore my questions:
- Any recommendations for standard sized drysuits I could pick that would fit my skinny measurements?
- For my kind of diving I would prefer a neoprene drysuit? Do you see any "blockers" in that decision?
- I finally found one suit made by cressi. I have good experience with cressi, my semi-dry I currently own is also made by cressi (size L/4) . They threw drysuits out of their program, but you can get the drysuit from last year for around 600 (see here: http://www.divingshop.nl/nl/cressi/266-cressi-drylastic-man-4mm-hd-8022983037226.html . ) Does anyone of you have experiences with a 4mm cressi neoprene drysuit? Again, the semi dry by cressi currently fits me very well. I would pick this drysuit in size L/4, which has:
- Height: 175/183cm (I am 183)
- Chest: 98/103cm (I have 93)
- Waist: 78/83cm (I have 83)
- Hip: 88/93cm (I have 93)
- Do you have any experience by buying a drysuit "from the catalogue" without trying it on?
I ended up with a bunch of questions, but maybe you can still help me with my decision.
Cheers, Fabian
Posted Jun 26, 2017, 8:16 PM UTC · edited