scububa
February 1st, 2011, 08:58 PM
I tested my new base layer out on our 1/30/2010 dives at Bennett Springs. The test turned out to be of a different nature than initially intended.
Setup –
I dive a DUI CLX 450. My primary base layer is 4th Element Arctic. I have used various base layers with fair results. Mostly polypro types from light to mid weight. I was looking for additional insulation without a lot of bulk (who isn’t, eh?). When I dove Mackinaw and Huron, I’d get chilled on deco. In those conditions, I have a thinsulate jacket that works well for insulation, but it adds more bulk than I’d like. Basically my legs and feet are okay, but my chest core gets cold.
New Gear –
I bought Under Armor Base 2.5 top and leggings. UA had Heat gear, Cold Gear, and Base 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 (lt, mid, hvy) styles. Recently, they came out with a Basemap 1.5 and 2.5. The Base style reverts back to something similar to ‘waffle weave’ (if anyone remembers the old cotton long johns) in a hi-tech fabric. Air pockets and moisture channels, I believe, are the benefits. The Basemap 1.5 and 2.5 put heavier weight material at the core and a lighter weight at extremities and hot spot vents. The 2.5 uses the heavier 3.0 on the core with 2.0 at the forearm, arm pits, inner arm. The leggings have the lighter weight on the back of the calf, lower portion of shin area. Best to look at the UA site. http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/pid1210356-Men-s-Basemap-2-5-Crew/1210356-019 (http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/pid1210356-Men-s-Basemap-2-5-Crew/1210356-019)
Evaluation –
The fit is tight. Not stupid tight, but more than just snug. This is good for a base layer under primary insulation. It stays in place as you put on the over layers and as you move around and dive. It has a soft feel and doesn’t feel like you are putting on a plastic bag when it’s cold. It has a nice style, so the top wouldn’t look bad if you kept it on to go to lunch, etc. (How you handle the legs is up to you ;-) Pulling on my Arctic pieces was as easy as pulling on over bare skin and a lot easier than pulling over minimally snug base layers. I would think that you’d buy your normal size, so true to size, IMO.
Moisture management appears to be excellent. This dive tested a different attributes than I set out to test. We dove at Bennett Springs State Park which is a cavern dive. I thought I’d explore the cavern and spend a lot of time doing drills with stage bottles, etc. So, that would let me evaluate the insulation. The events unfolded differently. The water was a bit warmer, at 57°F, than Roubidoux normally is at this time of year (by about 5°F). And the flow was very strong. (Unlike a lot of dives where the entrance is a restriction and once in, the flow drops some, this was opposite. The opening was the large and it tended to funnel down as you went deeper. At the lowest portion we could get to, the flow was incredibly strong.) So, there was a high level of work involved to get to the ‘pop corn’ room (where gravel is being tumbled like popcorn.) This caused a higher level of perspiration than normal to be generated. This can be a killer, especially during the surface interval. I can report that this base layer was comfortable the whole time, in the suit on the dive and after on the surface interval and then on the next dive. I stayed warm the whole time (during the dive, I generated a lot of heat, but at safety stops and surface interval I was very comfortable.)
I’ll report on the insulation performance when I get back into some colder water and a more normal activity dive.
Background -
I was fortunate enough to be able to visit an UA booth at an industry trade show in support of my company's products. I wandered by the UA booth and there wasn’t a crowd around, so I stopped to ask a few questions. I had seen the new base 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 at a store and wasn’t sure what the difference was to the cold gear, so I was curious about the differences and explained my interest in dry suit diving insulation applications. They were very helpful, gave me a catalog (which was way more informative than the web site at explaining things), and then, to my surprise, they gave me a base 2.0 shirt. I ask if he was sure and he said, “Try it out, if it’s too much, you can go to 1.0, if it’s not enough, go up to 3.0, etc.” And, if that wasn’t enough, he gave me a card that I figured was his business card. He told me it was an on-line discount card. (It was a large discount for a few pieces.) When I looked at the catalog, the new Base 1.5 and 2.5 stood out. After using the 2.0 on a dive, I knew the 2.5 was the best bet, so I ordered the set.
Setup –
I dive a DUI CLX 450. My primary base layer is 4th Element Arctic. I have used various base layers with fair results. Mostly polypro types from light to mid weight. I was looking for additional insulation without a lot of bulk (who isn’t, eh?). When I dove Mackinaw and Huron, I’d get chilled on deco. In those conditions, I have a thinsulate jacket that works well for insulation, but it adds more bulk than I’d like. Basically my legs and feet are okay, but my chest core gets cold.
New Gear –
I bought Under Armor Base 2.5 top and leggings. UA had Heat gear, Cold Gear, and Base 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 (lt, mid, hvy) styles. Recently, they came out with a Basemap 1.5 and 2.5. The Base style reverts back to something similar to ‘waffle weave’ (if anyone remembers the old cotton long johns) in a hi-tech fabric. Air pockets and moisture channels, I believe, are the benefits. The Basemap 1.5 and 2.5 put heavier weight material at the core and a lighter weight at extremities and hot spot vents. The 2.5 uses the heavier 3.0 on the core with 2.0 at the forearm, arm pits, inner arm. The leggings have the lighter weight on the back of the calf, lower portion of shin area. Best to look at the UA site. http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/pid1210356-Men-s-Basemap-2-5-Crew/1210356-019 (http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/pid1210356-Men-s-Basemap-2-5-Crew/1210356-019)
Evaluation –
The fit is tight. Not stupid tight, but more than just snug. This is good for a base layer under primary insulation. It stays in place as you put on the over layers and as you move around and dive. It has a soft feel and doesn’t feel like you are putting on a plastic bag when it’s cold. It has a nice style, so the top wouldn’t look bad if you kept it on to go to lunch, etc. (How you handle the legs is up to you ;-) Pulling on my Arctic pieces was as easy as pulling on over bare skin and a lot easier than pulling over minimally snug base layers. I would think that you’d buy your normal size, so true to size, IMO.
Moisture management appears to be excellent. This dive tested a different attributes than I set out to test. We dove at Bennett Springs State Park which is a cavern dive. I thought I’d explore the cavern and spend a lot of time doing drills with stage bottles, etc. So, that would let me evaluate the insulation. The events unfolded differently. The water was a bit warmer, at 57°F, than Roubidoux normally is at this time of year (by about 5°F). And the flow was very strong. (Unlike a lot of dives where the entrance is a restriction and once in, the flow drops some, this was opposite. The opening was the large and it tended to funnel down as you went deeper. At the lowest portion we could get to, the flow was incredibly strong.) So, there was a high level of work involved to get to the ‘pop corn’ room (where gravel is being tumbled like popcorn.) This caused a higher level of perspiration than normal to be generated. This can be a killer, especially during the surface interval. I can report that this base layer was comfortable the whole time, in the suit on the dive and after on the surface interval and then on the next dive. I stayed warm the whole time (during the dive, I generated a lot of heat, but at safety stops and surface interval I was very comfortable.)
I’ll report on the insulation performance when I get back into some colder water and a more normal activity dive.
Background -
I was fortunate enough to be able to visit an UA booth at an industry trade show in support of my company's products. I wandered by the UA booth and there wasn’t a crowd around, so I stopped to ask a few questions. I had seen the new base 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 at a store and wasn’t sure what the difference was to the cold gear, so I was curious about the differences and explained my interest in dry suit diving insulation applications. They were very helpful, gave me a catalog (which was way more informative than the web site at explaining things), and then, to my surprise, they gave me a base 2.0 shirt. I ask if he was sure and he said, “Try it out, if it’s too much, you can go to 1.0, if it’s not enough, go up to 3.0, etc.” And, if that wasn’t enough, he gave me a card that I figured was his business card. He told me it was an on-line discount card. (It was a large discount for a few pieces.) When I looked at the catalog, the new Base 1.5 and 2.5 stood out. After using the 2.0 on a dive, I knew the 2.5 was the best bet, so I ordered the set.