Why Use A Dry Suit?

In the quest to conquer the undersea realm, we have longed for ways to lengthen our stay underwater. Better regulators and scuba cylinders have evolved. Despite these advances comfort and temperature often limit our diving.

Long thought of as a toy for the rich or professional diver, the Dry Suit is gaining in popularity. In addition to increasing the length and type of diving allowed, the dry suit, greatly extends ones diving season. Better materials, increased production, and a wider range of uses has made the Dry Suit and excellent investment. Lastly, the Dry Suit is just plain fun to dive in!

Why Choose An OS-System or Diving Concepts Dry Suit?

#1. Construction: All O.S. Systems Drysuits are constructed using a ballistic nylon outer layer with layers of urethane added to make the material waterproof.  Diving Concepts uses a polymer coating on all seals to insure quality and dryness.

#2. Materials: You have a choice of two materials; 420 denier (denier = thickness of the thread) or 210HC denier(HC = high count) outer nylon layer. Please Note: Our 210HC material offers unsurpassed protection against punctures and abrasion injuries because it has an incredibly tight weave using the 210 denier nylon thread.

#3. Colors: With our 420 material, the color choices are black, yellow, red or royal blue. With our 210HC material, the color choices are black, purple, white, royal blue, hot pink, hot lime, carbon or sea-rescue orange.

#4. Seam Construction: We are one of only two companies who use a special four needle seam machine that ties all four rows of stitching together in one pass. Other manufacturers use a standard sewing machine to make their seams. They simply run the sewing machine over the seam two or three times. It does not take much to see that our seam construction is far superior. Making the seam watertight is accomplished by heat welding urethane tape over the stitching, twice in critical areas.

#5. Undergarments: We give you three choices of undergarments:

#6. Socks: O.S. Systems offers you two choices; single-layer (15 Grams) socks or double-layer (30 Grams) socks for extreme cold-water diving.

#7. Sizing: We offer stock sizes from XS to XXL. O.S. Systems is one of the very few manufacturers that offer a true custom on the shell and the undergarments. Unfortunately, the idea of a "custom" suit to some manufacturers is to cut down a large suit or cut up a smaller suit. However, when a custom suit is ordered from O.S. Systems, we require 30 different measurements. We then make a pattern especially from those 30 measurements. Despite the work that goes into the fabrication of all our custom orders, our custom charge is very reasonable.

#8. Zippers: We use only YKK zippers in all our suits. The YKK zipper costs us more than any other zipper we can purchase, but we feel that our YKK zipper will stand up to the rugged day to day use of a dry suit diver.

We have designed O-rings into our seals on the sealing surface. You can further size our seals by stretching, which allows a custom fit for the individual person because we use bell style seals. Do Not Cut An OSS Latex Seal!

#10. Foot Wear Options: Either latex socks or boots are available on all our suits. The latex socks come standard on all our drysuits, (except the SARR & Commercial series) but as an option, you can have our D.V. boots added to your suit. The D.V. boots are a one-piece, molded rubber heavy-duty walking boot, available in sizes 4 to 14 U.S.

#11. Abrasion Protection: While some manufacturers only give you knee pads for the protection of the lower leg, we offer you a patented, double-wrap knee protection (on sport suits only). This gives the diver a double layer of material all around the lower legs, which is the must vulnerable part of the suit, as it is the area most exposed to abrasion.

#12. SARR Suits: O.S. Systems offers a special line of suits that we call SARR, which stands for Search and Rescue, Recovery. This special series of suits are available in either surface or dive versions. As the name implies, these suits were especially designed with the professional rescuer in mind, but are now widely used by instructors and sport divers as well. Ask your local OSS retailer to explain the special features that come standard on the SARR dive suits. Our SARR dive suit is also available with a top color change for a small up-charge.

#13. Made In America: Outside of the YKK zipper, Si-tech valves and DV boots, the O.S. Systems drysuit is made entirely in the United States. When you buy an O.S. Systems drysuit, you are keeping Americans employed. We think it matters to you!!

#14. Available Options: The options available at O.S. Systems allow you to customize your drysuit and configure it specifically to your personal diving requirements. Options include: Front entry, Relief zipper, Si-tech valves, application of one or two pockets, to name a few. The SARR & Commercial suits come standard with most of the most popular options already added.

#15. Repair: The idea of drysuit "repair" to most manufacturers requires you to put your suit in a box and give it to UPS to ship it back to the factory. Unfortunately for you, this could mean losing your suit anywhere from 4-8 weeks in the height of the diving season. O.S. Systems has designed their suits to be repaired either by a factory trained technician at your local dive shop, or by you, the diver. Dealers or individuals may contact their local OSS field representative directly to arrange for factory-authorized training.

Diving Concepts suits are available in either shell or neoprene.  These high quality suits come in over 6 stock sizes to insure a comfortable fit.

Dry Suit Care And Maintence

A quality Dry Suit starts with quality seals. No matter how good the seal, it is important to remember that they are subject to premature deterioration if not properly cared for. Please observe the following to get the maximum life out of our seals:

1. Wash the latex seal inside and out with a mild soap and warm water (if available) to remove all contamination that come from body oils, pollution, lotions, etc. NOTE: Remove your dryglove rings after EVERY dive before you wash your wrist seals. Leaving the dryglove rings installed in the wrist seals WILL lead to premature deterioration of the wrist seals.

2. Apply silicone to the cleaned latex both on the inside and on the outside of the seal. Insure that you are using ONLY a food grade silicone that does NOT contain petroleum distillates or fluorocarbon propellants.

3. Store the suit rolled up in its bag to minimize the airflow around the seals. This allows the silicone to better protect the latex.

4. Apply silicone (or Seal Saver) all seals again prior to using the suit.

NOTE: Applying silicone to a contaminated seal will only trap the contaminates and accelerate the deterioration.

NEW SEALS:
New neck or wrist seals may feel tight or restrictive at first but will relax a little with use. WARNING! Never use a seal that is so tight that blood flow is restricted to the head or hands. Too tight of a neck seal can lead to a life-threatening situation once in the water.

You can pre-stretch your seals by pulling the wrist seals over a small bottle and pulling the neck seal over a scuba tank or large soda bottle. 23 inches in circumference works well. Leave the seals in a stretched position for only 6 hours at a time. Tests fit the seals after the first 6 hours and repeat the 6-hour sessions as needed until the seals are comfortable. Make sure that you have applied silicone (or Seal Saver) to the latex prior to stretching. Consult your dealer if you have any questions.

NOTE: O.S. Systems manufactures 3 sizes of wrist seals and 4 sizes of neck seals, make sure that you have the correct size seal installed on your drysuit BEFORE you start any stretching of the seals.

GENERAL OVERVIEW:
Natural latex rubber seal life will be extended by minimizing contact with petrochemicals, ozone, ultraviolet light and heat. The more protection, longer the seal life.