Diving suit

Does anybody know where I could get a diving wetsuit, large size, 3-piece, 7mm thick?

.

great outdoors dive centre, near back of stephens green centre. might not be cheap though.

are you in a dive club? - ask around there.

wetsuit

O' Dare's do some good deals from their factory in Bray.

suit

Try Sunset Watersports in Sligo. 071 9162792 They do mail order too.

Re: suit

protocol, my advice would be against buying a wetsuit if you intend diving in ireland or in cold water anywhere. you'll only end up selling it (for a pittance) or not using it and buying a drysuit after a year. i've seen it happen. also, i'd recommend buying diving gear online - i've had a good experience with www.diveinn.com and saved myself about 35% compared to the shop prices in dublin.

suit

The seals on drysuits do not last long and are expensive to repair. Also with a drysuit, you can have problems with suit squeeze etc , if you are a beginner diver, when you have other things to deal with. All 7mm suits are , or should be,semi dry suits anyway. Get one, rather than a drysuit, at least for the first year or two.

Re: suit

that's true but wetsuits wear out too - the neoprene loses it's insulating properties. and yes there is more to manage with a drysuit but bottom line for me is that being cold will ruin any dive. if you intend to keep up diving in ireland you're going to end up buying a drysuit anyway so why not enjoy the comfort of being warm and dry from the start.

suit

With all respect, your statement that neoprene loses its insulating qualities is rubbish. Ask any dive or watersports shop that. I have used a semi-dry neoprene suits for most of my life and I have never been cold. Nor have I had to pay expensive seal repair bills.
Still, everyone has their own preference and I respect that.

Re: suit

with all respect to you, diver, the degradation of the insulating properties of neoprene is a commonly known fact. it doesn't happen so much with wetsuits used for other watersports like sailing or surfing but it does happen with diving suits. the compression involved in diving causes the nitrogen bubbles, which provide the insulation, to rupture. the rule of thumb is that a wetsuit/semidry is good for max 200 dives but many grades of neoprene degrade even quicker.

each to their own i guess. maybe protocol should try a few dives in a drysuit and then decide. also it's not just about how warm you're kept in the water - it's also about the comfort between dives and getting in and out of the gear.

anyone got contact info for O'Dare in Bray?
Tried ringing and no answer.. is there a website?

Hello

You could try Tresspass in the Dun Laoghaire shopping centre. I saw some there last summer on sale for €95 (all sizes). I have no idea about the quality of the suits, but I thought that they were good value. The other stuff they sell is usually good quality.

If you are in Dun laoghaire you can ask in the outdoor shop beside the Pavillion. They have a good range in stock and very good in terms of advice. There is also a strong market in second hand suits, particularly for children. They will be able to give you information on this.

Information for trespass below

Regards

SM


Trespass

Contact details

Trespass Dun Laoghaire S.C. Co Dublin Dublin T (01)2800808 Categories

Camping Equipment & Supplies

I did my open water (Nov and it snowed that morning) and AOW (Apr/May) in semi-dry suits in an old quarry (Stoney Cove) in Leics. UK. Got a bit cold at 30m in a two piece 5/7mm (10/14mm over the body), but it wasn't too bad, surface interval was the worst bit, you need a really good coat to go over the top, and not being able to go to the loo - the suits have to be tight/deficult to get into and out of to be effective. I've since done my dry suit course and would not dive in UK/Irish waters in anything else -warm surface interval and the luxury of using the 'facilities'. However, I do not feel that I have wasted my money buying a semidry two-piece as I have used it in the Red Sea, the full length is great for the wreck dives and the shorty is great for the reef dives and they keep me warm enough to stay down for around an hour.
My advice - wetsuit is great for getting started as you only have to worry about controlling your bouyancy with your BCD and there is no suit squeeze (apart for the whole lot being a tad tight). Once you progress and you are sure you want to dive off our shores on a regular basis, then invest in a dry suit. If you only want to qualify locally and the dive in warmer waters a dry suit is probably not worth the expense.

I have a scubapro silver skin semi dry suit, was diving in kerry before with a girl that had a dry suit and she got cold, but i was nice and warm.. it leaves in a little water at the start and keeps it in and your body temp warms it up.. got it in oxford about 2 years ago for 350 sterling, was about 200 euro cheaper than here in ireland

I ordered a wetsuit from O'Dares costing almost €400. They said it would be available in 4 - 6 weeks. That was 10 weeks ago. They do not return my calls and I have no idea where my wetsuit is. Avoid them like the plague I'd say.

I suppose the ones currenlty being sold in Lidl are no good ???