Wetsuit or drysuit?

Question

in an ideal world with average water temps would you prefer a wetsuit or a drysuit.please explain your choice

Answer 1

Define average. The waters I routinely dive in, the "average" is anywhere between 70 F and 34F. What sort of dive would I be doing? One where there's exertion or a drift dive? Am I on air on some other gas mix? Do I have a bottle of argon with me or not for the dry suit? That can also make or break a decision if I dive wet or dry Did I bring my Viking vulcanized dry suit or my Brooks crushed neo dry suit ( the 7mm two piece semi dry with integrated hood always travels with me so it's always a second or first option.)

Do I have to think about squeezing through a tight space? ( my semi suit wins, no matter the temperature)

There's more to consider than just temperature.

Me? I dive both wet and dry. It just depends on the circumstances. I may even dive dry on a summer day, if there's no place to change and I plan on going directly to a restaurant or pub. I dived wet in ice 3 weeks ago because I knew the dive involved a lot of exertion and I would have cooked in a dry suit. Heck, I still cooked, even wet. You can sweat up a storm in even near freezing water temps diving a wet suit.

Far too many variables to be able to give a definitive  on either suit. I just use what's appropriate for what I plan on doing and the level of comfort.

In an ideal world, I wouldn't need to think about exposure protection.

Answer 2

if the water was decent I would just take the wet suit, because the dry suits are pretty uncomfortable

Answer 3

assuming all of the water was cool, not freezing, i would prefer a wetsuit.  Why?  Less bulky, and gives you the feeling of water on your skin.

Answer 4

depends on what you are calling average water temps.  if we're talking 60's and above I'll take the wetsuit, compresses the body in case of injury and it's more streamlined than a dry suit for maneuverability.

Answer 5

I believe wetsuit

Answer 6

It depends on what you are doing.  A dry suit will keep all the water out and a wet suit will make the water inside the wet suit warm.  I use a wet suit for water skiing and white water rafting.  I would probably use a dry suit for scuba diving or snorkeling.