Hi Found this forum a few weeks ago and has been great help with information so far even if I haven't been posting. I am about to do my CW weekend in 2 weeks with my OW the following week (hopefully). I am going to be doing my OW dive at Loch Long on the west coast of Scotland. Of course I will be doing it in a Dry Suit and have been looking at getting an undersuit rather than wearing tracksuit bottoms etc. I am a very warm person and I usually just wear hoodies etc in winter as I can't stand jackets as I get too warm. Does anyone have any recommendations? I am 5'11" 48" chest 36" waist rugby player build. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Liam
If you are in a neo drysuit, you may well be fine in just merino wool thermals (or other thermals that retain insulating qualities when wet). You will need more than this as you progress but short training dives combined with adrenaline will keep you warm Welcome BTW
First off regardless of what the suit is you need a base layer. Marino wool is good, but tend's to be more expensive, cheaper versions are micro-fleeces sold Trespass, Regatta and Decathlon. These are man-made fibre thinner versions of the traditional fleece and need to be tight to skin. They have wicking properties and will get rid of any leak water as well as sweat. Unlike cotton if they get wet they don't go cold. make sure you get long-sleeved versions and avoid other sports like cycling base layers. These are doing a different job. Reason for tight is even if the second thermal layer is ok, you can get voids, so a tight base layer ensures Once you've got the base layer you need the main thermal and this does depend on the type of suit. For neoprene can get tech layers like Fourth Element etc. or a 100g (thin) thinsulate. Neo won't have a lot of room and going bigger means more lead and harder to move so thin efficient is the way. With membrane that's different. You've now got no thermal layer in the suit itself and also no weight issue, so can go much thicker. With these, looking at a 200g thinsulate or mega-layers on top of what you would have used for neo. In the main it's all about the torso. This is your body core and where you need your layers. I always advise going into the likes of Tesco etc. and buying some cheap basic fleeces a size too small so that it's tight to the torso. They are so cheap that worth cutting off and sewing up the pockets. You've now got a backup layer for the torso just in case you get the layers wrong + always worth having a top if the suit floods
If you want to keep the costs down especially if you want backup thermals, try Decathlon, or Aldi ( their merino wool gear is well known in the ski circles for value for money ).
Thanks all I will look at all the options mentioned. I have noticed Aldi have a new deal starting on Sunday for the merino wool gear so will see what it is like.
Be quick at Aldi as a skier I know a lot of other skiers who buy up the Aldi Merino stuff as soon as it comes on the shelves, it is discussed a lot on ski forums and gets round when it is due to come out.
The Aldi stuff is pretty good. I've just worn out the leggings, but the top is still going strong after a good few years use. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Yes but equally if you have a few stores near by then just as easy to bob in, we have two Aldi stores in our town.
