Which undersuit?

[Chris Byrne]

Hi Lads

I going buying a new undersuit in the New year cos Im freezing my ass off for far too long.

I have a O3 2mm dry suit and am wondering can anyone recommend a good undersuit to buy?   

[Scubadec / Dec Hanniffy]

4th Element Artics. I love mine, and they work just as well when they are soaked wet........ In my buddys experience! :-)

[gordy]

hi. for me i use the weezle extreme +  one piece with weezle booties , keeps me warm for an hour or so in uk winter sea temps , make sure you have a good neoprene hood as your head is a big surface area and as such loses a fair bit of heat. preferably a 7mm hood
HTH
gordy...

[Sidemount Ninja Tx]

Love the fourth element arctics which i have with a 5mm O3 custom. But; did try O3's PBB on a recent visit to them to have some suit adjustments made. really nice and felt warmer than 4th element without any extra thickness.

[paulo]

Would a couple of light layers not be warmer than 1 thick layer? The idea is to trap air is it not?

[warny jim]

I love my Santi BZ400 under my neoprene suit.
It's not as bulky as the older thinsulate suits and has stretchy patches where you need then aswel.
A friend of mine has that 3d yoke from forth element and says its as good as his thinsulate so it might be worth a look.

[Tom Brett]

Depends where Im diving
I love the Scubapro polar undersuit bottoms but the jacket is too heavy, I use the bottoms, a Tshirt and Fourth element xerotherm top(lightest top) in portroe year round and am toasty
Other than that in the sea most of the time xerotherm bottom and top, or artic
If you want to try on a set of artic give me a shout chris - I also havea brand new one comming to me that I won, If you are interested can do you a deal

Tom

[Cathal_M]

3 year old Otter Commercial 200mg.   Lidl skiing thermal underware.  2 pares of jocks and a pair of St. Bernard winter socks.

Chris, honestly.   I will NOT dive with you in 2012 until you harden the f*&k up  a small bit..

[markb]

Hi chris,
     
          i had this problem for the last two years untill this september when i went for the santi drysuit and undersuit (bz200), i havent felt a touch of cold since
          and have never been warmer,my buddy also has the same suit and undersuit and has do 2.5 hour runtimes to 73m in the baltic with a water temp of
          4oc and he cant talk highly enough about it,the 400g like jim says is seriously warm,only thing is that i think you will have trouble fitting this under the
          othree suit,if you want to try mine your more than welcome,only thing is mine is made to measure and im 5/10,but im sure my buddy would give you   
          a go of his,he is around 6/5ish,they are a serious undersuit made for baltic waters,just my 2cents worth!

          chat soon: Mark

[Andy_HFC]

Depends where you dive as well mate.

If you're take your dry suit on holiday and stuff then you'll need to alter your undersuit according to temps. The 4th element stuff is awesome for versatility. I use a membrane suit and can layer up and down to be comfortable in temp ranges of 6C - 24C, and maybe more extreme, but i haven't tried yet!

If you're mostly a cold water diver then i reckon the weezle could be the way forward. They're very popular with ice divers etc - so they must be damn warm. Although, personally i'd imagine under a neo suit you'd be boiled alive in the irish "summer" for want of a better word.

4th element gear is pricey enough though by the time you purchase a few layers, but then is anything cheap anymore?

[Stephen McElhone]

Chris, honestly.   I will NOT dive with you in 2012 until you harden the f*&k up  a small bit..

He'll be grand once he gets some re-circulated warm air in him

Failing that the Fourth Elements are pretty good for the layered approach

[Turbo]

Chris
Take a look at the attached link re the new 4th element undersuit. http://thedecostop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47267
I'd seriously look at the Santi stuff as it is made for Baltic conditions. Failing that as Cathal-M says hit Dunnes stores and Lidl.

Rgds

Cathal

[Stephen McMullan]

Flagship sell fourth element and have the new Halo 3D undersuit. Give Rory a call and he might be able to bring something down to Portroe for ye to look at.

[Sidemount Ninja]

I'm another fan of fourth element arctics but I'll admit to feeling a tad cold after an hour in portroe in winter. I'm using a 2mm compressed neoprene suit which is not that warm to start with so drysuit thickness is definitely something to take into account. Suit aside, its the hand and feet that always suffer first, hands being the worst.

Artur used to swear by the 5 euro tesco doormat method of heat insulation and the halo3D fourth element works on the same principle of preventing the suit compressing under pressure by creating a physical barrier of 10mm (ish) between the body and the suit.

Doormat is cheaper by 300 euro. Not as trendy though.

[warny jim]

Yea the door mat works. Rick Stanton invented it. But now they are using some sort of insulation material instead, I haven't found the stuff yet.
If I find out il let you guys now.
Any thing that will create an airspace between the chest and the suit will make a huge difference.