A dry suit or drysuit provides thermal insulation or passive thermal protection to the wearer while immersed in water, and is worn by divers, boaters, water sports enthusiasts, and others who work or play in or near cold water. A dry suit normally protects the whole body except the head, hands, and possibly the feet. In some configurations, however, all of these are covered as well. Dry suits are used typically in these cases:
- where the water temperature is below 15°C (60°F).
- for extended immersion in water above 15°C (60°F), where discomfort would be experienced by a wet suit user.
- with an integral helmet, boots, and gloves for personal protection when working in and around hazardous liquids.
The main difference between dry suits and wetsuits is that dry suits are designed to prevent water entering. This generally allows better insulation making them more suitable for use in cold water. Dry suits can be uncomfortably hot in warm or hot air, and are typically more expensive and more complex to don. For divers, they add some degree of complexity as the suit must be inflated and deflated with changes in depth in order to avoid "squeeze" on descent or uncontrolled rapid ascent due to over-buoyancy.
Read more about Dry Suit: Early Examples of Dry Suits
Famous quotes containing the words dry and/or suit:
“Since time immemorial, one the dry earth, scraped to the bone, of this immeasurable country, a few men travelled ceaselessly, they owned nothing, but they served no one, free and wretched lords in a strange kingdom. Janine did not know why this idea filled her with a sadness so soft and so vast that she closed her eyes. She only knew that this kingdom, which had always been promised to her would never be her, never again, except at this moment.”
—Albert Camus 1013–1960, French-Algerian novelist, dramatist, philosopher. Janine in Algeria, in The Fall, p. 27, Gallimard (9157)
“Matrimonial devotion
Doesn’t seem to suit her notion.”
—Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836–1911)