New Softwear drysuit undies

[jasondbaker]

I just received my new drysuit undies today. I bought the undies before the suit! Haha, talk about putting the cart before the horse. Anyway, I bought the undies from a company in Washington. Basically it is a gal that makes drysuit undies out of her house.

The suit is one-piece, black, 300g polartec. It has a front zipper, thumb/ankle straps, inside velcro breast pocket, and a specially designed slit for a pee valve. Price: $150. Oh, and it was custom tailored and included a pair of socks. I can't imagine there is a better deal. The suit was built within about 48 hours of my order. The suit fits well and the construction feels very solid. I'll try to bring it to the next pool session I attend so that other people can take a look. She builds suits with 100, 200, 300g polartec and in one-piece or two-piece styles. No additional charge for custom sizes. I probably didn't need a custom size but I figured what the heck.

Here is the website for Softwear:

[tcjtn0]

Ok...I gotta bite on this one...
If the undies are made out of her house, how can they be soft??? Unless they are made out of the insulation the walls?
Sorry, I just could not resist !!
Seriously , thanks for the link. I checked it out and it look pretty impressive. Custom order at no extra cost...COOL!!!!

Thanks again...Jean ;D

[JoelW]

Is that a dress right or dress left specially designed slit for the p-valve or do you have to specify?

JoelW

[jasondbaker]

Joel, I'm not sure I understand what you mean. The slit is on the left side - lower left of the front zipper. It looks well made. I didn't even think to specify a location. But I'm sure she would accomodate whatever design specs you need.

[JoelW]

I am giving you a hard time. I just meant that some people are more comfortable with the valve on the left leg, like myself, and others on the right leg. I noticed Dan's was on the right leg on his suit.

JoelW

[DanL]

Joel,
You noticed? I should have put it left, but didn´t think it through before mounting it.
Note that its a very good thing, a p-valve. I got the unbalanced on advice from Halcyon. Said unless diving 180ft+ the balanced is not necessary. Think they are correct.
Also, what you get for $65 is definitely a rip. You can get the functionally the same parts at the local plastic fittings company for less than $10. Nothing fancy is required.
Hey, by the way, speaking of p-valves, I don´t need one here. I´m logged on in an internet cafe in Coz. Diving the reefs tomorrowat 8 am. Sorry - couldn´t resist...
(I,m going to check Halcyon equip prices at the dealer down here in Coz-will let you know if any better than typical list price)

[jasondbaker]

Dan, I haven't decided yet on the p-valve. Is it really necessary for typical recreational diving? Nice, yes, necessary, not sure.

I can't wait to hear the Coz trip report.

[DRE]

I would highly recommend a P-valve. It not only makes the diver more comfortable, it also adds to (unfortunately) HIS safety (women can wear depends, but they're not nearly as effective). Most divers tend to not drink before they go diving, so they don't have to abort a dive because they gotta go. However, the gas we breathe is always very dry, and that combined with not drinking will lead to dehydration fairly quickly (especially if you had a couple of beers the night before by the campsite!). Dehydration is known to be a major contributing factor to DCS, so go figure...
If you don't want a P-valve, the way to go is to overload on fluids 3-4 days prior to diving, and then not to drink too much right before the dive: this will hydrate your body properly, and it also will make it used to the higher quantities of fluids, so you don't have to go all the time. Just make sure to drink ample fluids right after the dive.

[Derrick]

For recreational diving, I don't think not having a p-valve for a front zipping drysuit is too much of an inconvenience. With the zipper in the back, it is more of a pain. You need someone to unzip and you have to get half way out of the suit. I would definitely recommend getting a p-valve if your drysuit has the zipper in the back. I will be installing a p-valve and pockets to my drysuit this year. People tell me it is very easy to install.

Now on the other hand, I think dry gloves are an absolute must

Derrick

[jasondbaker]

Okay, the p-valve is starting to make sense. Do you need to er, hook it up on every dive? I understand the technical difference between the balanced/unbalanced versions. Is the balanced version necessary or does it depend on depth?

I was looking at the halcyon balanced p-valve last night. Does the "removable pin" part sit inside the suit or outside the suit? I couldn't figure that part out. How do you route the tube? Do you cut it shorter or just let the excess tube loop dangle down your leg?