A word or two about underwear…

What is it about the European’s and drysuits? During the past ten years or so, I’ve owned and worn six drysuits representing five different brands. Their design and materials used are different and they’ve helped keep me warm and dry for working dives and personal dives in a lot of different locations. Well, most of them have kept me warm and dry. The only suit made in the US, was a terrible investment spending more time going backwards and forwards to the manufacturer in California for “repairs” than in the water. So let’s forget that one. The other five suits are from four manufacturers based in Germany, Poland and the UK. All five suits (two from the same company) performed and continue to perform well and remain “onLine” in the Dive Locker at home ready to do service.

Now six suits over ten years is going some! Most active divers might need two suits over a ten-year span, but in my defense… well, I don’t have a defense. Truth is that I have more suits than I need. Another truth is that for the majority of my dives over the past year, I have worn suits from one single UK-based manufacturer because they are both outstanding performers. A slight conflict of interest here. A company that I do consulting work for recently signed a deal to distribute this brand of suit in Canada and the USA. However, they did so based on the feedback of several consultants they use (including me) who had been diving the suits for a year or so. Bottom line is that we liked the suits, and our advice to our client to represent the line was based on the product’s performance rather than profit margins.

Anyhow, as you know, a drysuit is only half of the system designed to keep a diver protected from the elements. The other half are the thermal undies worn under the suit. For the record, I have more of these than I have drysuits — two-piece, one-piece, light-weight, fluffy, heavy-weight, fancy and plain. A drysuit is important. Fit, comfort, dryness and its profile in the water are critical issues, but all (in the case of shell suits) or a portion (with neoprene suits) of the actual thermal protection a diver needs to stay alert, warm and comfortable in the water comes from whatever it is the diver wears under his/her suit.

Because of this perhaps, I am even more critical and more detail oriented about the thermals I wear than the drysuit that goes over the top of them. Most of the thermals I have bought or been given over the years no longer go near the water. They are too bulky, too restrictive to allow free movement, and are a drag to dry after a day on a boat or at a cave site. These I wear to walk the dog and shovel snow in the winter. I have quite the selection, and Brad — the ex-seeing-eye German Shepard who enjoys walks in the snow and helping me move the stuff from around our house — knows that when I pull a set on during the day, it’s time to go out and play. He does not dive.

What I look for in drysuit undies is really pretty simple. I find changing conditions, and water temperature at various dive sites ranging from more than 20 degrees (C) to less than 0C (winter sea water) lend themselves to a layered approach. A good base layer will work on its own for warmer temperatures and a good extreme top layer extends the comfort zone through MOST colder water. For really cold temps, a heated vest is the best solution.

I do a lot of diving in the Great Lakes and the conditions there present an additional challenge. Summer air temperatures can be in the 30s and water temperatures at depth are a pretty constant 4 degrees C (the temperature of water at its densest). This too calls for a layered approach with the layer closest to the diver’s body capable of providing good thermal protection while wicking away the inevitable perspiration that results from putting on warm garments in summer weather.

So, I am on a constant lookout for thermals that suit those varied needs. It also helps if they pack small, dry rapidly, and are made well enough to last more than a few dives before seams let go or become unravelled.

A month or so ago, I was in the UK doing a factory inspection of the O’Three facility in Dorset. The company’s drysuits are spectacular. The owners of the company have been pushing their undergarments to me for a while, and during my trip to see them in the UK, I was convinced to give their Point Below Base (PBB) system a trial at the first opportunity.

That opportunity was earlier this month, cave diving in Marianna in Florida’s pan handle. Conditions were perfect for this type of trial… Water temperatures ranging from 17 to 20 C and air temperatures all over the map from about 25 as a high and minus 3 at the start of the day on a few occasions.

The O’Three PBB+ Thermals performed very well and I am impressed. They were actually warmer than a much bulkier 200 gram one-piece suit with light wicking undies underneath. After two-hours in the water, I was as warm as toast and multiple dives were not a problem.

The PBB+ is a two-piece system consisting of a farmer john-style pants and bib with a pullover top to protect the arms and to give a little more insulation to the core.

You can read a much more detailed account of the technology, features and benefits on O’Three’s website:

http://www.othree.co.uk/products/thermal-15/pbb-2.aspx

But the Cole’s Notes version is simply this: I like the design, the materials, the insulation factor*, and PBB+’s ability to wick away moisture and dry quickly when it does get wet. Frankly, if you’re anything like me and always on the look out for something to keep you warm on those long dives, this may be the answer.

A little plug: O’Three products including PBB undies are priced competitively here in North America and available from Silent Diving LLC… or me. </commercial break>

*As an aside, I do not know how relevant readings for garment insulation based on Clo or Tog units are to describe the performance of drysuit underwear… and in any event, I have no idea if anyone at O’Three has bothered to rate their PBB+ thermals, but I also own a one-piece thermal suit from a rival manufacturer that is rated to 1.45 Clo, and the PBB+ system was warmer, and way more comfortable, and less bulky. Viva new materials… Viva new technology!

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