fantastic thread on drysuit undergarments

ljjames · Post by **ljjames** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 8:49 am

http://thedecostop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19388

spatman · Post by **spatman** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 9:38 am

interesting read. thanks for the link.

airsix · Post by **airsix** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 10:37 am

Cool! No. Wait. Warm!

kdupreez · Post by **kdupreez** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 5:59 pm

thats a pretty cool post for sure!!

I'm heading to REI for a little extra layer of warmth!

ArcticDiver · Post by **ArcticDiver** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 7:18 pm

If this is so good how about a summary for those of us who are not decostopers?

airsix · Post by **airsix** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 7:55 pm

Way too much info to rewrite. Worth it to just go look.

Sent from my HTC Magic using Tapatalk

LCF · Post by **LCF** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 10:17 pm

It's a very good thread, but be aware that the person who wrote it concludes that there are no situations he has encountered where he could justify Thinsulate insulation. If you are like me, diving THICK Thinsulate and still cold, some of his recommendations about Polartec being to seem a little thinner.

spatman · Post by **spatman** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:44 am

I agree with Lynne. His warmth value seems pretty subjective. Nonetheless, there are some very good comparisons of materials that individuals can use to form their own best case scenario.

airsix · Post by **airsix** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:55 am

I agree the information is quite subjective. I did learn from it though. I think the biggest omission was diver mobility. Some of the insulation systems criticized in other categories may excel when it comes to mobility, which I think is an important consideration.

CaptnJack · Post by **CaptnJack** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:30 am

LCF wrote:It's a very good thread, but be aware that the person who wrote it concludes that there are no situations he has encountered where he could justify Thinsulate insulation. If you are like me, diving THICK Thinsulate and still cold, some of his recommendations about Polartec being to seem a little thinner.

yeah the scale is wacked

ljjames · Post by **ljjames** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:33 am

agreed

though richard and lynne, i sometimes feel like we're the only nutballs on the planet who think that 400g thinsulate plus 100g polartech undies and vests and whatnot isn't warm enough and dream of aerogel and heated suites for sub 2 hr dives

mancub · Post by **mancub** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:41 am

I like how he explains the different fibers and how they respond to water, dampness vs soaked through. Never even thought of wool as a main material. And I don't think he does either, just comparing all fibers. Maybe that's why our Canadian friends call them "woolies" (woolys).

Although, as I personally have a different cold tolerance level my choices in materials and thickness differ from him. But great info and I will choose underlayers more wisely now.

limeyx · Post by **limeyx** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 1:27 pm

CaptnJack wrote:
LCF wrote:It's a very good thread, but be aware that the person who wrote it concludes that there are no situations he has encountered where he could justify Thinsulate insulation. If you are like me, diving THICK Thinsulate and still cold, some of his recommendations about Polartec being to seem a little thinner.
yeah the scale is wacked

Come on Richard, you should know by now that a battered used-up 200G Polartech is good enough down to 44F's...

Honestly, as soon as I saw the comments RE: Thinsulate being "too hot" i disregarded the entire thread as not being useful to me.

CaptnJack · Post by **CaptnJack** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 1:36 pm

I also find my smart wool long underwear less desirable than my patagonia capilene. Wool holds moisture to a much greater degree and I can really tell the difference after an hour. The need for crush proofing I have ample experience with. Its why the Seamar knit wool gloves work so well IMHO. Those things are not the best materials or design but the weave is downright crushproof.

spatman · Post by **spatman** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 4:29 pm

limeyx wrote:Honestly, as soon as I saw the comments RE: Thinsulate being "too hot" i disregarded the entire thread as not being useful to me.

i found that if i calibrated it to my own experiences, it was quite informative.

airsix · Post by **airsix** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 4:32 pm

spatman wrote:
i found that if i calibrated it to my own experiences, it was quite informative.

= wisdom

CaptnJack · Post by **CaptnJack** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 6:25 pm

spatman wrote:
limeyx wrote:Honestly, as soon as I saw the comments RE: Thinsulate being "too hot" i disregarded the entire thread as not being useful to me.
i found that if i calibrated it to my own experiences, it was quite informative.

Too bad my experience started with the "too hot" 200gm thinsulate, then proceeded off the charts to 400gm thinsulate, and finally went for supposedly sun spot temperatures with a weezle extreme+

spatman · Post by **spatman** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:06 pm

CaptnJack wrote:Too bad my experience started with the "too hot" 200gm thinsulate, then proceeded off the charts to 400gm thinsulate, and finally went for supposedly sun spot temperatures with a weezle extreme+

so did the sun spots work out for you in the end, or did you need to add a few layers of molten lava underneath?

CaptnJack · Post by **CaptnJack** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:55 pm

spatman wrote:
CaptnJack wrote:Too bad my experience started with the "too hot" 200gm thinsulate, then proceeded off the charts to 400gm thinsulate, and finally went for supposedly sun spot temperatures with a weezle extreme+
so did the sun spots work out for you in the end, or did you need to add a few layers of molten lava underneath?

molten lava only required for deco

Penopolypants · Post by **Penopolypants** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 11:34 pm

CaptnJack wrote:
molten lava only required for deco

Ooh! You have a good source for it? I used to have one, but I sent him several emails recently and he never responded. I finally called him, and got a recorded message with nothing but shrill screaming and sirens in the background.

CaptnJack · Post by **CaptnJack** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 7:55 am

Penopolypants wrote:
CaptnJack wrote:
molten lava only required for deco
Ooh! You have a good source for it? I used to have one, but I sent him several emails recently and he never responded. I finally called him, and got a recorded message with nothing but shrill screaming and sirens in the background.

Can't say, this being a family board and all

limeyx · Post by **limeyx** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 10:08 am

spatman wrote:
CaptnJack wrote:Too bad my experience started with the "too hot" 200gm thinsulate, then proceeded off the charts to 400gm thinsulate, and finally went for supposedly sun spot temperatures with a weezle extreme+
so did the sun spots work out for you in the end, or did you need to add a few layers of molten lava underneath?

No, he's still as white & pasty as before

jeffgerritsen · Post by **jeffgerritsen** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 1:33 pm

Yep,
the whole concept of "feeling warm" is so subjective. The only thing I can add to the discussion is to add a base layer of poly propylene (or any other fibre natural or otherwise) to wick moisture away from the skin so one doesn't "feel" cold. Again this is so subjective.

As a male, I perspire so profusely that sometimes I can't tell if my dry suit leaked or it was just sweat forming prior to entry on a sunny day. My wife on the other hand suffers from a medical condition where she pretty much doesn't sweat. So on hot days she carries around a spray bottle of water to act as artificial sweat. Now in my case, during the summer, I could take two showers a day just to remove the oily sweat, as where my wife has to apply lotion to prevent dry skin and only showers a couple times a week. Go figure, if we could only combine our two extremes, life would be good!

Blaiz · Post by **Blaiz** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 12:26 am

I've been laying wool long johns under my Whites MK2 under my DUI Thinsulate 400

I was plenty warm after my dive

I could barely lift my feet over the beach debris to get to the water

I had to add 16 pounds of lead

i look like the michelin man, before he got all computer generated and nimble

whatevah · Post by **whatevah** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:29 am

I've been diving some Under Armor under 200g Thinsulate forever, but lately it's just not getting it. I think the undergarment I wear (including the 200g Thinsulate) has lost its (admittedly minimal) loft. Things have changed with my mass/volume ratio too, so I think it is time to layer up and go do a weighting test dive again.

Northwest Dive Club