Had a chat with an old salvage diver in Texas that made me reconsider dry suits

I was sitting at a diner in Corpus Christi last month after a rough day on a pipeline inspection. This older guy, maybe 65, saw my dry suit hanging out of my truck and started talking. He said he spent 20 years doing salvage in the Gulf with nothing but a wetsuit and a good knife. I mean, I always thought dry suits were essential for any kind of cold water work, but he argued that they just slow you down and make you complacent about how close you are to hypothermia. He told me a story about getting tangled in a net at 60 feet in January and having to cut himself free, and he swears a wetsuit gave him more mobility to get out of it. Idk, maybe it's just me but I've been thinking about switching to a thicker wetsuit for certain jobs after that conversation. Has anyone else had experience ditching dry suits for warmer conditions?

3 comments

3 Comments

claire_davis311d ago

Oh man, I totally get where that guy is coming from! I switched to a thick wetsuit for summer pipeline work a couple years back and honestly felt way more nimble in tight spots, even if it meant getting a little chilly on longer dives.

the_hayden1d ago

Bet you thrash around less in tight spots too.

jamie_adams1d ago

Ha! I gotta push back on that one. Thicker wetsuits just add bulk and drag, not nimbleness. I've always felt like a thinner suit lets you move more natural and free. In tight spaces that extra padding just gets in the way. Plus if you're getting chilly you're probably not pushing hard enough to generate heat anyway.