Drysuits give you the ability to dive all year round and allow you to experience cold water diving. As the name suggests they are designed to keep you dry, which adds a huge level of comfort to diving, but there is a learning curve when you start using them.

Undergoing a drysuit orientation or drysuit course is very important as you’ll learn the techniques to prevent suit squeeze, how to deal with water in the suit and how to control your buoyancy amongst other things.

Materials, Design and Fit

The materials used to design a drysuit can vary. On the one hand you have neoprene, which is essentially synthetic rubber. Standard, compressed and crushed neoprene are types of suit design and each has their own strengths and weaknesses.

Neoprene contains air bubbles and the more these can be manipulated by water pressure, the more drastic the changes in buoyancy control. In standard neoprene suits buoyancy changes will be most noticeable, but the suit will have more thermal efficiency.

In compressed neoprene the suit goes through pressurisation which minimises buoyancy changes, but with reduced suit thickness you may need to layer thermal garments underneath the suit.

In crushed neoprene suits the process used causes the air bubbles to become flat. This makes the suit harder to penetrate, but again, thermal efficiency is reduced.

Another type of drysuit design is a membrane suit. This is made of layered materials and is often referred to as trilaminate. There is no extra buoyancy in membrane suits, so unlike neoprene, extra weighting shouldn’t be an issue. They do not insulate as well as neoprene though.

When considering the fit of a drysuit it’s important to determine whether you will need extra room for layering thermal clothing underneath. Alongside this you want to make sure the seals are flush to your body, but are not excessively tight, especially on the neck. This is because the water pressure will cause the suit to squeeze as you descend. Finally, you want to ensure you have a full range of movement. 

Features of a Drysuit

Drysuit neck and wrist seals come in either silicone, latex or neoprene. Silicone is more comfortable and seals very well. Latex is more resistant to damage, and both are easy to get on and can be replaced if damaged. Neoprene seals are thicker but there is a chance of water trickling through if it is not fitted correctly.

The valves on a drysuit are used to inflate and deflate it. As you descend you need to add air, to reduce suit squeeze and become neutrally buoyant. As you ascend you expel the air to prevent expansion and a runaway ascent. It’s important to ensure the valves are in an easy to reach position for you.

Zippers can be in different locations on a drysuit. Having a front facing zip can make life easier when putting on and taking off the drysuit, but having it on the back means it will not be in the way of equipment. The trade-off is that you’ll need assistance to get in and out of the suit.   

Our Recommendation

The Hydra drysuit by Fourth Element is made from high density neoprene, compressed from 7mm to 4mm. The suit does provide exceptional warmth, whilst retaining freedom of movement.

It’s fitted with Apollo bio-dry valves, which act more as a trigger , rather than a conventional button inflator. This gives much greater control over how much air you let into the suit. The dump valve fitted has auto dump all the way to lock, with a manual side button to deflate air.

The suit is fitted with female lining protection on the main wear areas, without limiting movement, and the parts of the suit normally exposed to abrasion have a tough durawear print.

We have tested the suit ourselves in 3-degree water and can safely say it rivals any suit on the market in our experience! So much so that I have now retired my previous suit and gone for the Hydra!

Check out our store for both male and female versions of the drysuit, which we have listed with the handy sizing guide.