If you are planning to dive mostly in cold water or if you are planning to have longer dives, purchasing a drysuit is definitely a good option to ensure you will be staying warm underwater.
Drysuits come in different shapes and forms and are most likely among the most expensive gear you will ever purchase as a scuba diver.
Prices range from $800 for entry level dry suits to over $3500 for premium ones.
Given the high initial investment, it is worth taking a close look at all the characteristics that will help you choose the perfect drysuit.
The perfect drysuit, irrespectively of your dive profile does not constrain your freedom of movement (with different types of undersuits), is ideally neutrally buoyant, and does not let water in from the arms or neck seals.
Before we enter into the details that will help you pick the perfect dry suit, let me give you some important advice.
Before spending even one cent on a scuba diving dry suit, try out different options, rent them out and have some dives with them.
This is the only way you can effectively test if you prefer latex over silicone or neoprene seals, or whether you prefer metal over plastic zippers, just to give you some examples.
To have a better understanding of all the dry suit materials and components, let’s first quickly look at how a scuba diving dry suit actually works as compared to a classic neoprene wetsuit.
1. Difference between scuba diving wet suits and dry suits
The main difference between a scuba diving wet suit and dry suit is the means by which they insulate our body from water temperature.
A wet suit (typically made of neoprene) primarily insulates our body by letting a small amount of water inside the suit which is then heated up by our body temperature.
By contrast, a scuba diving drysuit insulates our body from the water temperature by letting some gas between our body and the dry suit.
Insulating gas is most often air, but some divers prefer argon. Argon is an inert non-breathable gas with higher thermal insulating properties than air.
Although air and argon definitely have better insulating properties than water, they are often not sufficient to protect us from cold water temperatures.
This is why a drysuit is most commonly worn with an undersuit that adds additional protection from cold temperatures.
When choosing the perfect scuba diving drysuit, one of the first choices will be the drysuit fabric or material.
2. Dry Suit Materials
First and most important option to choose from is your drysuit material.
Scuba diving drysuits can be split into two main categories based on the materials they are made of.
Each category has its pros and cons. You can in fact choose between a neoprene drysuit and a membrane dry suit.
Just like the name says, neoprene drysuits are made of the same material as classic wetsuits. Main difference is that in a drysuit the neoprene is usually “crushed” or further compressed.
This means for example that a in a 9mm drysuit the neoprene is further compressed to 5mm enhancing its waterproof properties.
Neoprene drysuits are usually stiffer and heavier than membrane ones. They are also more resistant and tend to be positively buoyant.
This means that if you choose a neoprene drysuit you need to consider some additional lead as compared to a membrane one.
The main advantage of neoprene drysuit is that it usually has greater insulation properties than a membrane one and therefore you will need to invest less money on undersuits or underlayers in general.
Overall, neoprene drysuits are also cheaper than membrane ones.
Although I have started diving with a neoprene drysuit, I generally do not recommend those for one main reason which I found out to be quite common among divers.
Given that they are heavier and less flexible, I find neoprene drysuits to be quite limiting in terms of freedom of movement. Both above and below the water surface.
This is the main reason why I definitely prefer membrane drysuits over neoprene ones.
Membrane drysuits are made of a thin waterproof material often referred to as trilaminate.
Depending on the producer, you might come across different names: cordura, cordura nylon, ripstop, bilaminate or even quadrilaminate.
Membrane drysuits are lighter than neoprene ones, allow for greater mobility above and below the surface, dry faster after a dive, and allow for greater customization.
Besides being more expensive, the main drawback of membrane or trilaminate drysuits is that the material itself is not insulating, despite being waterproof.
This means that, depending on the conditions of your dive, you will need to choose an appropriate drysuit undergarment or undersuit.
All in all, if you are planning to purchase a drysuit, I would definitely recommend a membrane one over neoprene.
Given the greater mobility and flexibility of the material, you will also adapt faster to this diving setup.
3. Membrane drysuits design
When it comes to design, we can distinguish among two main types of drysuits. Front-entry drysuits and back entry drysuits.
Front-entry drysuits, like the name suggests, have a diagonal zipper running from the front of your left shoulder to the left bottom part of your belly area.
Back-entry drysuits have instead the zipper places at the back of the suit, running from right to left shoulder.
When it comes to choosing the perfect scuba diving drysuit, there are two main considerations to make in terms of suit design.
If you like to be fully autonomous (i.e. be able to close the drysuit zipper by yourself), you should definitely go for a drysuit with a front zipper.
If instead you don’t mind asking your buddy for some help, you can freely choose a drysuit with a back zipper.
To be fair, some divers manage to close their back-zippers by themselves, but this requires an extreme level of flexibility.
Another factor to consider, in favour of front-entry drysuits, is that they have in most cases a telescopic torso.
This allows for a greater ease of movement while entering in your drysuit.
My suggestion here is to try both types of drysuits in your dive shop and go for the one that feels more comfortable in terms of entry.
If you are considering buying a scuba drysuit online, many online shops will also offer the possibility of shipping several models. In this way, you can try them and choose the one that best fits your needs.
4. Drysuit Zippers
Once you have decided which drysuit design you prefer, you will need to choose the material of the zippers.
Each scuba diving drysuit has two zippers, a waterproof one and a protective one.
As you might imagine, the waterproof zipper does 90% of the job as it is the one that prevents water from leaking into your suit.
The protection zipper is simply there to provide an additional layer of protection to the waterproof zipper.
Scuba diving drysuit zippers are made either of metal or plastic.
Consider that replacement of a drysuit zipper is the most expensive technical intervention you can have on a drysuit.
You should therefore weight your choice carefully.
Whereas metal zippers are often thought to be more sturdy, they are also harder to close and require more maintenance than plastic zippers.
In fact, given that they are harder to close, metal zippers often require some special grease or paraffine to ensure that the zip slides smoothly within its rails.
Additionally, when folding your drysuit after a dive, in case of metal zippers you need to pay special attention to the position of the whole zipper.
In fact if any of the metal “teeth” of the zip will tilt, you will have a very hard time closing your zipper and might even need to substitute it.
Plastic zippers are definitely more modern than metal ones and are smoother to open and close on your own.
In addition, they do not require grease or paraffin to function smoothly.
Replacing plastic zippers is usually less expensive than replacing metal ones.
As you might have guessed by now, I pretty much prefer plastic zippers.
5. Dry Seals
Having discussed drysuit zippers, let’s now take a look at another key element that will prevent water from entering into your scuba diving drysuit.
Dry seals are another important choice you will need to make when purchasing a drysuit.
Scuba diving drysuits have three seals: one neck seal and two cuff seals.
Irrespective of the colour, which is an optional choice for many brands, drysuit seals are made of three materials: neoprene, latex, or silicone.
Neoprene seals are usually soft, and internally coated with a material that helps them slide through your neck and cuffs as well as keep them tight to your skin.
Although they are quite resistant, the internal coating is often subject to damage. Once it’s damaged, you will start observing some water leaks either from your cuffs or neck.
Neoprene seals are usually chosen by divers that cannot stand the pressure of either latex or silicone seals on their necks.
This is because neoprene is generally softer.
One should however be mindful that with neoprene seals, particularly because they are less tight, fast movements of the neck are can lead to water leaks.
Latex seals are quite a popular alternative to neoprene seals. They are tighter, and generally stick better to your skin, avoiding water leaks more effectively.
In my opinion latex seals come with two major drawbacks.
First one is that they take longer time to adapt to the width of your neck or wrists.
This means that in your first few dives you might find the neck seal particularly tight.
Second drawback is that latex seals are usually glued to the drysuit sleeves.
This means that whenever they break (and they do break as latex is quite fragile), you will need to have your drysuit serviced.
Changing latex seals can take also several weeks, depending on whether your dive shop is equipped to change them or whether they need to be sent to the manufacturer.
Silicone seals are relatively new on the market and usually have a similar cost to the latex ones.
They are however more flexible, durable, adapt more flexibly and can be changed by yourself.
Silicone seals cannot be glued to the drysuit sleeves as barely any glue would be effective with silicone.
6. Boots
Choosing drysuit boots is relatively simple as you have only two main choices: rock boots or integrated boots.
Most drysuits come with integrated booties. They are rigid booties with a hard sole and a hard plastic reinforcement on the heel to make sure your fins will remain in place.
If you choose integrated boots, make sure they are large enough to accommodate some thick socks which are essential if you will be diving in cold water.
Another point you will need to pay particular attention to is the length of the drysuit legs.
In fact, in case the drysuit legs are longer than necessary, with integrated boots you bear the risk that too much gas gets stuck into your boot which can eventually slip off your feet.
Rock booties are a valid alternative to integrated booties and they are generally sold separately from the drysuit itself.
They tend to be more comfortable in all such occasions where access to the water requires some walking on uneven ground.
Although they are a separate piece of equipment, it is important to note that your feet will remain dry as rock boots are worn on top of a neoprene sock which is sealed to your drysuit.
7. Pockets
As a standard, dry suits come with two large “cargo” pockets on your thighs.
Those will be super comfortable to store part of your equipment such as wetnotes, DSMB, and spool.
If you are purchasing a custom made drysuit, you will have the choice of eliminating or adding some pockets.
I definitely recommend to stick to two pockets as they will turn handy for most of your diving.
A singe pocket might not be enough if you are planning to switch from recreational to technical diving for example.
Most drysuit cargo pockets come with a strong Velcro strap closure. This will make it easier for you to open and close them even stif dry gloves.
Some brands will propose you to have zipper pockets instead. I do not recommend those as you will end up not using them.
Opening and closing a zipper pocket with drysuit gloves and under-gloves is not easy.
8. Valves
Last but not least, one of the elements you will need to pay attention to when choosing your scuba drysuit are the valves.
Scuba diving drysuits usually have at least two valves. An inflator valve on your chest, and a deflating valve on your left arm. The deflating or dump valve can be placed also on your right arm.
The inflator valve, just like the inflator valve of your BCD, will be connected either to your scuba cylinder or to a separate small cylinder.
You will use it to gradually inflate your drysuit as you descend. This will help insulating from cold and avoiding a drysuit squeeze.
The main factor to consider when choosing an inflator valve is whether you will be using a heated undersuit or not.
In case you will be using a heated undersuit, your inflator valve should also have an EO-cord so that you will be able to connect the canister battery to the undersuit heating system.
Inflator valves are however relatively easy and not so expensive to substitute. So in case you have not made your mind up yet, you can postpone this choice.
After you have chosen the inflator valve, you might want to choose also the deflator or damp valve.
This valve is usually placed on the upper part of your left arm and is used to remove gas from the drysuit while ascending. This will help you avoiding an uncontrolled ascent.
Deflator valves are quite standard, and there are not many options to choose from. It is usually a rotating valve so that if you leave it fully open, gas will automatically flow out of your drysuit as you ascend.
Classic damp valves also have a middle button so that you can dump gas manually if the normal outflow is not sufficient enough to keep you at the desired depth.
Another type of valve you might want to choose is the P-Valve. I recommend this valve only in case you know you will have long dives.
As the name suggests, P-valves are used to urinate during a dive in a drysuit. They are connected to a diver’s intimate parts via a hose and are placed on the left or right leg.
P-Valves come both in a male and female version. Unfortunately however, current technology does not make female P-valves as reliable as the ones for males.
9. Extras
As you might have noticed, we have covered 99% of a scuba drysuit components, but there is an extremely important one missing: drygloves.
Thanks to the wrist seals, you can dive in a drysuit either with wet gloves or even without gloves.
However, for colder dives, I strongly recommend to buy a drygloves system.
Scuba drygloves are removable gloves that can be clipped over a drysuit’s wrist rings, ensuring no water will leak in your drysuit from your wrists.
They are particularly comfortable to use in cold water dives as you can wear them on top of some normal gloves that will further insulate you from cold temperatures.
When it comes to drygloves my suggestion it to buy a system that works on different drysuits.
In such a way, the moment you will change your drysuit you will still be able to use your dry gloves.
An example is the Waterproof ULTIMA system, which can be used Waterproof, Scubaforce, and Santi Drysuits.
In terms of materials, drygloves can be made of latex, crushed neoprene, or silicone.
Their surface can be either smooth or rugged. I prefer rugged surface as it provides a strong grip.
Whichever gloves you choose, make sure you try them on with some undergloves. Otherwise you will risk of buying some gloves that are too small.
If you go for a custom drysuit, you will be able to choose many extras. They mostly relate to the look of your drysuit and include: color, custom name tag and additional pockets.
10. Conclusion
Choosing a scuba diving drysuit can be a cumbersome process given all the options that are available on the market.
Given the high price of such piece of gear, choosing the perfect one is essential to ensure that your diving style will not be affected.
Having to replace a scuba drysuit because of wrong sizing or wrong positioning of the entry zippers can be quite expensive.
The most important takeaway from this post is to try out different drysuit configurations before buying your own.
This will ensure you are fully aware of all the options that are available on the market and which one best fits your needs.
Once you know which drysuit best fits your needs, you can start looking at all the possible customization options and details.