vests with drysuit?

well its almost that time of year when the drysuits are coming out. my question is what does everyone who wears a drysuit do about vests.
in the past i have worn one outside my drysuit, which was really restrictive and a wet cold vest takes away from some of the luxury of a drysuit. i have also not worn at all but i realize that dangerous and i bruised my ribs without my vest. should i try one under the suit? whose got thoughts on this?

Ive always worn a vest under the drysuit. JetPilot A-10 comp vest, dont even no its there.

same here.. vest under the drysuit

the only worry i had with that would be that the buckle could rip the suit on a bad wreck, is that even possible?

i usually wear it under the dry suit...
do us all a favor and don't do wear a drysuit w/o a vest..... almost as stupid as teak surfing.....
imagine taking a bad wreck or ripping a whole in your suit........ fill that sucker with water and have fun swimming..

no....fill it with water and the water can't escape from the ankles cause its too tight so you drown trying to get it off..... Happened to a friend of mine only he was fishing. He slipped off a sandbar in the Sac River, filled his weighters with water, tried to get them off and we found him a mile down the river 2 weeks later. Looked like he was trying to get them off when he drowned.

Wear a vest on the inside of the drysuit. More comfortable and still serves the purpose.

i never wear a Life jacket under my drysuit. Call me stupid, but I hate wearing one under the suit. I did take a hard crash once and witch blew the zipper, I was totally fine, didnt sink.

Vest under the drysuit. I had been wearing an A-10 which was super comfy, didn't even really know it was there. But then we got stopped by the cops for driving inside the buoy. He did a life vest check and told me I had to have a CGA vest even with a drysuit. Since then I've worn a CGA vest.

Friend of mine didn't wear one until he broke a rib that changed things a bit.

wear a vest, I forgot to Zip up one time and almost sank due to the suit filling up rapidly. My friend had to grab my feet and hold me upside down over the swimstep to drain it.

why wouldn't you float if your drysuit filled with water due to neutral buoyancy, or whatever? i'm not exactly mr. physics, so probably a dumb question.

Yeah, i wear it under, a non-cga though. I'm just so used to riding with it, it would seem weird without it to me. Plus it adds padding. (Falls hurt more when the water is cold)

right on andrea...EVERYTHING hurts more when it's cold out...i'm tryna wear shoulder pads under mine this winter...

(Message edited by romes on October 22, 2007)

usually all the dry suits we use float us well enough wear we dont need a life vest, even the one that dosent really have much room for air keeps use floating well.

our giant army one we use thoguh is a giant air bubble and really has enough room too put a small heater in it

Vest under the drysuit.

maybe you would be bouyant, but sure seemed like i was sinking

You definately would not be bouyant, but it depends on how much water you take in.....water weighs 8.5 lbs per gallon. The legs of a drysuit could probably hold 5-8 gallons per leg, depending on size. That could potentially be an additional 40 to 70 lbs per leg, not counting the rest of the drysuit. Also, think of a water bottle....what happens when you drop a full bottle compared to an empty one in water? One with no water floats, other sinks. I think I might have to do an experiment in my pool this winter and try different variables with sinkage of drysuits...it might be interesting.

Just be safe...anything can happen at any given time.

Water and you = positive bouyancey. Unless you are like 100% muscle.

think of it like this. you take a water bottle full of water and throw it into the lake and push it down. it doesnt move much. If you filled up with water you would think you are sinking but really you are just filling up with water. If you tried to move you wouldnt move that much, so it feels like you are drowning.

Besides the point... wear a jacket! You can still get a ticket for not wearing a vest under the drysuit... i know!

I don't understand the debate. What disadvantage does wearing a vest give while riding? Do they get in the way while throwing some tricks. I have never came up from a crash and said damn its this jackets fault.

I dont think you could drown any easier with a drysuit on with out a vest or with out a drysuit and without a vest. the water weighs the same inside ur drysuit as around you. if what u guys r saying is tru then why dont u sink with a wetsuit on?

You drown more easily because when you have a lot of water in the drysuit it is more difficult to move around. Your buoyancy is the same, but since you are dragging the water around with you in the suit, you have to deal with the momentum of the water and the friction of the additional surface area of the suit.

Try this, jump in the water with all of your clothing on (long pants, long shirt, etc,) see how easy it is to swim, compared to with just swim trunks

BTW I tend to wear my vest on the outside, but mainly because I am fat and don't have room inside the drysuit.

My friend jumped in 45 degree water without zipping his drysuit and DID NOT have a vest underneath. He easily swam back to the boat without sinking although he was very cold!

Neutral bouyancy is correct, you not gonna sink like a rock in the water cause your dry suit filled with water lol.. I always wear a vest under my suit and hardly notice it.

Richard coop,
A suit full of water isn't going to make you more buoyant either.

I always wear a vest under my suit. If its on the outside you can barely move. With colder water its just that much harder to swim imo... the loss of comfort isnt worth the risk of dieing. I've also been stopped by a sheriff while wearing a dry suit while riding in the delta.. they made me get out of the water and show them that I did have a vest on lol. they told me I was crazy to be riding and went on their way.. the air temp was 40 that day and the water was probably close to that too lol.

always were the vest over the drysuit and don't have a problem movement. But I don't think many people ride that way.


(Message edited by tonis on November 02, 2007)

I always were the vest over the drysuit and don't have a problem movement. But I don't think many people ride that way.

Tonis ~~ That has got to be one of the best profile pictures that I have seen in awhile !

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quote:

Richard coop,
A suit full of water isn't going to make you more buoyant either.

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Thats why i wear a CGA vest when ever im in the water.