Drysuit VS Waders VS Wetsuit

[mudpuppy]

Well, with the Great Lakes nearly 100% ice cover, its time to start thinking about working that cold water for most of this coming year...I doubt it will warm up to any appreciable wading temps until Sept if at all...so...

Do Any of you have experience using a dry suit instead of neoprene chest waders or a wet suit? I'm trying to figure the optimum gear I might need. waders are heavy and leak, wetsuits, well, you get wet...so is a drysuit an item a guy should look at? discuss your choice of gear for this endeavor please.
Mud

 

[Grubstake]

Your going to get wet in a dry suit too. You sweat, and they hold air, so, you may need weights, even chest deep, or your feet will be floating. Grubstake

 

[Flintstone]

I just got a set of Allen 3mil. waders and plan on putting rubber waders over them. I don,t know if this will work but i can,t stand cold water. If you find something better let us know. Flintstone

 

[OldBeechnut]

Your going to get wet in a dry suit too. You sweat, and they hold air, so, you may need weights, even chest deep, or your feet will be floating. Grubstake

Never had that problem..... I just put a straw between my neck and the neck seal, will clear all air out of the suit as you go out deeper. And you must wear a wicking shirt and long johns, I get them at walmart under rocky brand underwear. And you will stay dry, unless temps are to high, like in the 80's which I have worn a drysuit also just for protection from possibly harmful polluted waters. I will post later on my drysuits, tops and waders. Dry is the only way to stay warm and enjoy the hunting when waters are chilly....For me.

 

[Grubstake]

I take blood thiners for heart problems, I feel the wetsuit keeps me warmer, because once the water gets in, your own body heat keeps it warm. I was raised around Monterey Calf, and the water stays cold there. I use a 5 mm suit. farmer john, so I have dubble protection over my heart. Had a 5X's By pass two years ago. Grubstake

 

[mudpuppy]

My hunting area demands a person cover a lot of dry sand just to get to the water, then, along the edge of the Lake looking for cuts or any change in the edge of the beach or sandbar movement...then into the car and on to the next...so its a lot of walking...miles and miles..
I am usually in shorts and barefoot...get overheated very fast getting to the beach and moving, ...as you can imagine, hiking miles of sand in waders is tough duty....I was thinking a fellow might be able to modify a drysuit so he dont get overheated? Like cutting the neckring off? Are they lighter than waders? Fold them down in front to the waist when hiking?

Maybe a 3mil wetsuit set of pants with booties would be the easiest and cheapest thing to try first? Thanks for the replies!
Mud

 

[WaterWalker]

Summer time is for a bathing suit and neoprene booties. If the water is too cool, a shortie neoprene suit is comfortable, maybe with the winter jacket.
Spring, Summer and Fall I use breathable waders with lug soles. Remember "BREATHABLE" waders do not "breath" under water.
Late fall, winter and early spring I have 3mm and 5mm waders, and an over jacket of 2mm neoprene with a front zipper to ease of on / off effort.
I use 31" long gauntlet gloves coated with NEOX and a pair of leather gloves with 200grams of thinsulate inside for warmth.
A fleece bacalva for windy days.
I always wear a ball-cap and sunglasses.
I also have a dry suit (gumby style with boots and gloves attached. These are brought out only on the coldest days.
I would hate to walk a mile in waders, or dry suit. A wet suit shortie might be OK. I would suggest what I do, pack it into a backpack, put it on your back and when you ready to go into the water, put the suit/waders on and detect. Changing back in to walking gear for the walk back.
Wearing the dry suit or waders you WILL sweat out a quart or two of water, especially on a hot day and if you are doing a lot of digging. Wearing of wicking under garments is a must in cold water to avoid feeling uncomfortable.

 

[mudpuppy]

Thanks WaterWalker! A little more information might help...

I hunt before sunup and not only is the water cold, but also the air...once I get running the beach, I heat up pretty fast, and I wear what could be called "poor mans wetsuit".... underarmour pants and shirt combo with swim trunks and always an underarmour beanie even when its hot out...barefoot (stupid) but i have found no good shoes to go through sand as efficient as a bare foot does...

HUGE risk when a guy gets into a blowout!, glass bottle bottoms all over the place! Only luck and the grace of God has protected me up to this point...I have a set of neoprene chest waders for spots close to the car, but you know how it is, a guy sees something way down the beach and has to check it out...a couple of times last year I came out hypothermic and had a hard time getting back to my vehicle, legs would not hardly work, arms all tingly and whatnot...theres just no off the shelf gear made specifically for us, with the zipper in front and modular for any and all weather, so a guy has to ask here for ideas of what some of the long time fellows do..I think the backpack idea will work...a small camelback type of thing for liquid, phone, keys, booties or whatever...

i can say I am completely exhausted by 9 am doing this Spring/Summer routine...probably good for a guy, maybe not...
Mud

 

[fongu]

There are some videos about drysuits on youtube, mud. One of them I watched, the instructor had the student squat down to get the air out of the suit. I'd like to get a drysuit myself, but just can't afford one right now. My dive instructor warned me about using them without getting instruction for divers. One guy must have had air in his drysuit and went floating up to the surface and this could have been dangerous in deeper water with too fast an ascent.
Stay safe in that cold water. I've only rented a wetsuit one time and it was cold and a North West wind about 22 miles per hour and as long as I was in the water, I was fine. Coming out of the water I was cold and had to wait until I got home to take the suit off, but I had under armor under my wetsuit and dive boots on. I do want one with the hood tho. The temp in the water here was way warmer than what you are used to.

 

[WaderMike]

Ive done gold sniping (floating in a river whilst snorkelling, basically its picking out gold nuggets from bedrock cracks) in a drysuit in Scotland in wintertime (snow on the ground coldness!), you would definitely need a thermal undersuit, without one you will chill very very quickly,

The squatting down idea is good to get rid of air in the suit, but the problem/s i see you having is overheating on the way to get in the water, even if you fold them down in front to the waist when hiking?
.. and undoing the rear zip if you go solo, it can be done by leaving a strap attached to the zip and using branches on trees nearby to hold the other end....but I have known one of my mates have the zip jam/catch on the undersuit, when desperately needing to answer the call of nature, and end up cutting the suit open with a knife!!

 

[Water wizard]

Good question Mud.
I have all 3 now, having just bought waders a week ago.
Firstly none of them keep you warm. Some of them keep you warmer longer than others.
Dry suit keep you warmest the longest because you wear thermals underneath, and stay dry.
Wetsuits second longest then waders.

There are different types of dry suit.

Some are made from neoprene (like wetsuits), there are many other types, trilaminate, rubber, coated fabric and combinations of all
Three.
The Neoprene in drysuit's is normally crushed:- 8mm crushed down to 4mm so you get loads of neoprene insulating you from the water, but surprisingly heavy.
Great for diving in cold water, heavy and cumbersome on land.
The zips on Neoprene suits are super heavy duty and cost about $200 to fix, they were designed by NASA.

The best type of suit for most people in cold water is a neoprene suit. Most people would advise this type, but having thought about your particular situation I wouldn't.
Are you crazy you may say,
but no!
I would advise you to buy one of the Baggie material trilaminate ones.
The benefits of this material are:- light weight, dries very quickly, light, easiest to put on. You can also put it on up to your waist, and wear a belt to walk in to where you want to detect.

Which ever dry suit you get after its on and zipped up you open the dump valve and squat down to force as much air as possible out of the suit. If you're going deeper than waist you might need some weight, you will be very buoyant no matter how much air you squeeze out.
One of the dangers with a dry suit is that if your feet get higher than your head you will be floating upside down, and it's not easy to right yourself, so you can drown. it's easy to stop, that's why a course is a good idea for divers. Ankle weights (made out of your found sinkers) not heavy but some light weight is an idea. OBN said about the straw down the neck, to let the air escape, it sounds like a good idea, I've never tried it though...
You can vary your undergarments to suit the conditions.

You must try the suit on before you buy it, check the zip, wrist and neck seals and make sure the boots are nice and thick soled for hiking in. Make sure there are no tears in the suit! Take care in that cold water buddy, we need you on here! Cheers WW

 

[WaterWalker]

Just remember what goes in must come out.

 

[OldBeechnut]

I would suggest watching ebay this summer and going after the deals on drysuits, survival suits, immersion suits. I think I have 4 now, here are a few of the deals. Everyone is Gortex Military type except the Whites I just got a few months ago. One is so light that it would say it weights in about 4 pounds at the most. I'm a large but I go after the xtra large for winter hunting only, easier to put on and wear more layers under. In extreme cold water I wear a drytop and boot foot waders just because they have the boots attached and my feet stay warm the full hunt now that I have learned what works in 30 degree waters. Plus when the water is that cold I stay shallow, no more then waist to lower chest, and always wear a PFD. Good Luck, keep us informed....

Vid of my buddy hunting in OC during the winter, drysuit then his wader setup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvHdU_gMPOE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ubrgKXA3_0

 

[mudpuppy]

Thanks for the vids Joe! Those set ups look perfect, must be the type of trilaminates WaterWizard stated...and your surf looks a lot like what I have to deal with here too. It is seldom flat, takes an east wind here to knock down the rollers, maybe 10 perfect hunting days out of the year. Windfinder.com can give a guy an idea of present as well as future wind coming in, and the surfcams really help, even at night I can pull up a surfcam and see how rough it is by the lights off the pier reflecting off the water.
So a fellow hunts along down the beach looking for cuts and watching those rollers, if the wave pattern all of a sudden show signs of a longshore rip, a guy goes on in it...current so strong, its hard to dig a target let alone stand up. Then theres always a spot where the current turns and goes out offshore right through the middle of a sandbar...it can get deep and fast in there! Dangerous to a fellow just wearing waders, especially if its cold.

Anyway, light and fast is the ticket...those suits look perfect! Thanks! Thanks everybody! As soon as this ice goes out, it may have carved up some really old goldy stuff..
Mud

 

[msareborn]

Just bought a pair of 5 mil ,1600 magnum neoprene waders from Cabelas, Their the best they had. I can use just wool socks and a thin breathable underwear with a breathable top and another layer, topped with a rain jacket. This is plenty warm all winter long and rugged for fresh water hunting for me. I also use 20" flannel lined rubber gloves. I will upgrade to sleeve ledge gloves next winter. I have been out in below zero weather both hunting ducks and water detecting in them and I stay toasty warm. It can be a little sweaty when the weather gets above 35 degrees so a Peet waders dryer is a must. I should have bought the double dryer that will do the long gloves I use. Happy aqua hunting!

 

[fongu]

Mud, in the video I watched about the drysuits, they had a long string or chain tied or clipped to the zipper because it was in the back of the drysuit. Sure would hate to see you buy a drysuit and cut it open with a knife to answer nature's call. lol
After some thought, I think I will stick with renting a wetsuit until I can afford to buy one. It's bad enough when wearing my waders to hold my water 3-4 hours and I wouldn't want to spring a leak like the cartoon said in my waders or an expensive drysuit. My dive instructor said some people pee in their wetsuit and the rest lie about it. Hope I can buy a wetsuit with a hood this year, but if not, I will rent one.
A video on the Garrett video section on the At/Pro or At/Gold about fresh water hunting in the Netherlands had a drysuit I would like to buy if anybody sold them over here. Kooistra metal detectors sells them in the Netherlands, but they are expensive. I used to travel to Amsterdam every few years, but my last trip was in 2007 and doctor's bills have destroyed my savings. My two older brothers offered to send me to Amsterdam last year for looking after our elderly Mama, but I wasn't able to go. Much less do any dirt fishing. Kooistra is about 3 hours from Amsterdam by train. Good luck with your decision and happy hunting.

 

[OldBeechnut]

One of my light weight drysuits, Gortex material, weights around 4 pounds, Mustang survival.
good for 50 air temps then water temps in the 50's to high 40's, after the water hits in the Lower 40's I go with long underwear.. And very easy to go if nature calls...Notice chest deep, (PFD Half inflated), no problems with doning. air, no weights, or feet floating...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH6O9TlMEE4

 

[mudpuppy]

Yep OBN..that sure looks exactly the ticket! Thanks for the vid...a 1 min vid says 1000 words! Thanks!

Hey Joe, whats the model and size of that one you have? I was on Mustangs site trying to find one and all that...lots of them there to look at..
Mud

 

[cjc]

MP
I use light waders that have the sock built in. Underneath I have Cableas fleece liners. The boot is a normal scuba boot. Then you can wear a down jacket to break the wind. Just the hands can be a problem--clammers gloves and good quality liners--with spares in case they get damp from sweating or condensation.
clive

 

[steve herschbach]

I have thousands of hours in dry suits. For gold dredging I always went neoprene for extra durability but for metal detecting I go with a shell suit. I just got a new BARE Nex Gen dry suit which I know to be a very durable yet compact dry suit. Not exactly cheap but I spend a lot of time in cold water and do not like being cold. I'm not trying to sell you on dry suits per se but if you are serious about spending much time in really cold water they are the way to go in my opinion.

The thin material affords minimal thermal protection so you customize that by the amount and type of thermals you wear. I have used everything from street clothes to special under suits designed for working in water with ice floating in it.

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