Does High Tide offer “shell” type dry suits?
Since our specialty is providing cold water protection for diving across the northern latitudes of the continent, we greatly prefer neoprene based dry suits and only manufacture those. There are three basic reasons we dive neoprene dry suits rather than shell: 1) WARMTH. Neoprene is warmer than shell type suits because insulating air is encapsulated in the neoprene itself and cannot gravitate upwards to the highest portion of the suit. This keeps your lower torso and legs warmer. A shell suit user will discover that the air provided by the loft of his thick “snowmobile’ like jumpsuit quickly leaves the lower extremities and concentrates in the upper chest/neck regions (air always goes up!). With the “loft” gone from the lower parts of his body, the shell suit user will feel chilled below his chest, especially on long or deep dives. 2) SAFETY: If you’ve ever had a neoprene dry suit flood then you know that the suit still retains buoyancy and thermal warmth, even if it is like a baggy we
