Dry Suit SCUBA Diving

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ieyasu

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  1. Adult Baby
  2. Diaper Lover
I SCUBA dive in the Pacific Northwest. The water is cold there so I use a dry suit. (For those who are uninitiated a dry suit really does keep you dry.) In a wetsuit, you can simply go if you need to but that is not an option in a dry suit.

For those dry suit divers what do you do? Hold it? Diapers? P-Valve?

At my open water certification there are two friends who were professional divers (underwater repair). One used Depends and the other used a P-Valve.

Personally, I prefer a fairly thick disposable like NorthShore Care with Plastic Pants over the top. The only problem that I've had is the extra padding changed my buoyancy so I needed more weight.


-Ieyasu
 
Diving in a dry suit actually sounds pretty cool, like you're an underwater astronaut!
And the padding adding extra buoyancy is something interesting I wouldn't have thought could happen.
Figured you could just go overkill with a super extra thick combo and you'd be all good >u<
 
Diapers and I always make sure to powder up with corn starch. I usually just use corn starch on land (feet and diaper area), but I'll spread it around my appendages in a dry suit. Helps to keep the moisture level in check and eases the donning process. I only considered p-valves briefly but quickly determined that, for myself, they are overcomplicated and much more prone to failure. I never liked the idea of "compromising" the drysuit to install the valve, nor the idea of applying what is basically an external catheter. I've found diapers to be much easier to manage in that situation.

My go to is NorthShore Supreme for a few reasons:

1) With a name like NorthShore, they are MUCH easier to explain to un-initiated dive buddies that may have never considered diapers before. Seriously, I'm not sure why they aren't marketed just a little bit for divers.
2) Plain, business-like appearance
3) No compromises on performance or durability. They are slimmer than many others that can handle the amounts they can, and they are super effective at wicking. They are also, and by far, the most durable disposable product I've ever used. They are easily able to withstand a few hours of activity like diving.
 
As a cavern sinkhole diver this used to come up in discussion occasionally, I only dived in wet suit but a number of my buddies dived dry suits and I’m only aware of them using p valves and hearing there complaints when they failed. For me if I go dry suit it’s a no brainer I will prob go simple ultra or similar.
Unfortunately I haven’t dived much in recent times. My best mate dive buddy passed away and one other gave up diving ironically because he tried a drysuit and freaked out and gave up the sport.
I agree with previous comment re companies advertising products for divers be s great idea


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I just hold it. I am such an air hog I do not stay down that long.

I have know/heard of dry suit divers (mostly women) and they just used depends.
 
A dive is usually around 1 hour, so I keep it in. Sometimes I use a diaper In my dry suit but during the dive they become less comfortable, due to compression. My buddy has a P valve but thats not without problems. You really don’t need additional lead. You only need around 100 grams ( metric ) to compensatie for a diaper. Thats one extra cup of tea before you dive.
 
Llayden said:
Diapers and I always make sure to powder up with corn starch. I usually just use corn starch on land (feet and diaper area), but I'll spread it around my appendages in a dry suit. Helps to keep the moisture level in check and eases the donning process. I only considered p-valves briefly but quickly determined that, for myself, they are overcomplicated and much more prone to failure. I never liked the idea of "compromising" the drysuit to install the valve, nor the idea of applying what is basically an external catheter. I've found diapers to be much easier to manage in that situation.

My go to is NorthShore Supreme for a few reasons:

1) With a name like NorthShore, they are MUCH easier to explain to un-initiated dive buddies that may have never considered diapers before. Seriously, I'm not sure why they aren't marketed just a little bit for divers.
2) Plain, business-like appearance
3) No compromises on performance or durability. They are slimmer than many others that can handle the amounts they can, and they are super effective at wicking. They are also, and by far, the most durable disposable product I've ever used. They are easily able to withstand a few hours of activity like diving.


I too prefer the NorthShore Supreme. The pure corn starch makes sense because the last thing that you want to do is to destroy the seals with baby powder. (Little did the salesman know how tempting it might have been to use baby powder on the seals instead of pure corn starch.)


-Ieyasu
 
That sounds like it would be fun.
 
I only ever used wetsuits even in cold PNW water so I never had the chance to wear a diaper. It’s been many years since I’ve been diving. I remember my instructor wearing a depends with his wet suit and always joking about it. Little did he know....


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A wetsuit with diapers? Do you mean a drysuit? Wetsuit Lets all the water flow in so your diaper will be soaked in minutes, you will be cold in about 10 minutes or so. Not to mention that the tightness of the wetsuit doesn’t really combine with a big wet diaper.
 
A long long time ago I has a pair of wetsuit shorts. I was able to wear a diaper under that without it getting wet "by accident".

Given I can't exactly go without a diaper anyone I just might look into getting another pair for the next time I plan on hitting the beach.
 
Roland007 said:
A wetsuit with diapers? Do you mean a drysuit? Wetsuit Lets all the water flow in so your diaper will be soaked in minutes, you will be cold in about 10 minutes or so. Not to mention that the tightness of the wetsuit doesn’t really combine with a big wet diaper.

I'm certain that they meant to say dry suit.
 
Sorry typo, instructor had dry suit with depends. I had wetsuit with no diaper
 
I have never tried a dry suit, but if I do I would go with the diaper instead of P-valve. A diaper can't stop functioning given it's on properly, whereas a P-valve is another piece of equipment to worry about, clean and maintain. My average dive on a 12L single is 95minutes leaving a quarter tank reserve, so the diaper would come in handy with a dry suit. As for the buoyancy aspect, I'm already slightly negatively buoyant with a 3mm wetsuit, 12L steel and no weights(in salt water).

My real preference is diving in tropical waters with nothing but swim shorts and my tank in hand. Total freedom :)
 
Though I only snorkel (and pee in the ocean just like the rest of the fish) I found this topic very interesting as to its logical functionality / reasoning and good information for others. Thanks
 
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