The purchase of a dry suit is without a doubt a significant investment in your personal dive equipment. Of course, with that cost comes the benefit of a more comfortable dive experience and a drastically extended dive season. Once you purchase your drysuit, the time comes to consider the ongoing costs of ownership and usage as drysuits, unlike wetsuits require ongoing upkeep.
So, what are the costs of dry suit ownership? How does a diver go about maintaining a solid and functional dry suit without draining the wallet? Well, let’s take a look at some of these costs and ways to reduce them.
Does a Dry Suit Need Regular Maintenance?
If you want to keep using your dry suit safely and effectively, then the answer is yes! Any kind of dry suit requires regular maintenance for functionality and to keep you dry during a dive. First, your suit will require replacement seals at normal intervals. Even simple glue on latex seals will run you 150-200 dollars per replacement, and it is recommended to replace them once a year if you’re an active diver.
Of course, the possibility exists of having a seal rip on a dive trip. If that happens you either have to call a local dive shop and get drysuit repairs or you can have an ungraded replaceable seal system installed. While the replaceable seal system has a higher upfront cost, the ongoing seal replacement will be less painful and you won’t miss dives over a damaged seal(unless you forget to put replacement seals in your dive bag).
In addition to seals, your drysuit will eventually require the zipper to be replaced. For most drysuit owners this represents the most significant repair expense of their suit. While most drysuit zippers will last at least a few years if maintained properly, their replacement is still a sizable hit to the wallet…usually running 275.00 and up.
Of course, the biggest thing that will turn your dry suit into a “moist suit” are leaks. Most often a suit will develop small leaks and require a leak test to determine the leak location and then the subsequent repair. Oftentimes, a suit will have multiple leaks and require a good deal of time and effort the drysuit repair.
How to Upgrade My Drysuit
If you dive with your drysuit long enough, you will desire to add some upgraded items to it to truly supercharge your dry diving experience. Listen, submerged in water sometimes you feel the call of nature and there aren’t any public bathrooms underwater (that we are aware of). So one of the upgrade options you might want to consider for your drysuit is a pee valve, which will provide much-needed comfort on long dives.
Another option would be a replaceable seal system, so you’re not stuck on the dive boat with a damaged seal while your buddies are enjoying the depth. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t include one of the most popular drysuit upgrades…dry suit gloves. For warm and dry hands on your dives, these are simply a must have!
Your Favorite Dive Shop DRIS Is Here To Save You Money on Drysuit Ownership!
So the question still lingers of how you can have an amazing drysuit diving experience and not have to take out another mortgage? Well, don’t fret because the crew here at DRIS have a line up of industry first lifetime drysuit warranty options!
First, we want you to know that all drysuit purchases come with our standard warranty free of charge! This warranty includes 1 free leak test per year for the life of the suit. In addition to that we offer 2 upgraded warranty options with the aim to keep you diving dry and save some money!
Our Premium Lifetime Warranty comes at a modest cost of 250.00, and includes free leak tests for the life of the suit, one seal replacement per year, and free leak patching for the life of the suit! You can read the fine print of the warranty here. If you would like added peace of mind we offer our Platinum Lifetime Warranty. Included in the warranty are lifetime leak tests, lifetime patches, a lifetime seam guarantee, one set of seals per year, and one zipper replacement every 3 years.
This warranty carries an affordable price tag of 500.00 and basically covers all of your bases with respect to your suit. You can read the fine print of the drysuit warranty here.
As you can see getting into a dry suit and keeping it dry has the potential to put a dent in your wallet. Of course, with our drysuit warranty packages and no-hassle policies you can rest assured that you are getting the best deal in the industry! So go ahead and get that dry suit you’ve been looking at, your local dive shop DRIS got you covered!