Public Safety Diving Drysuits

Choosing a public safety drysuit comes down to three questions: how dirty is the water, do your divers need to dress themselves, and are they going under or working the surface. Here is how the Whites line sorts out, and what we tell teams who come through the shop.

Front entry or back entry?

Front entry means a diver can dress himself without waiting for someone else to zip him in. It is quicker to get into, and in an emergency that matters. He can also unzip on his own during breaks. A back entry suit needs a tender, which is fine if you always work in pairs.

Contaminated water

Teams diving contaminated water choose the HAZMAT when they want the most protection short of going to helmet diving. It is heavier and a bit less comfortable than the HYBRID, and that is the trade you are making.

Whites HAZMAT Public Safety Front Entry – self-donning
Whites HAZMAT Public Safety Back Entry – tender-zipped
Whites HAZMAT Commercial – for commercial and construction diving

The everyday public safety suit

The HYBRID puts the thicker, more durable HAZMAT material on the bottom half of the suit – the half that takes the most wear – and a thinner material up top that still holds up very well. It covers what most teams actually need, and it is the suit I chose for my own public safety diving.

Whites HYBRID Front Entry
Whites HYBRID Back Entry
Whites ENVIRO Back Entry – lighter, general work

Clean water, maximum comfort

The MOS is a very comfortable suit, and several of the larger teams around us use it and love it. It is not as easy to decontaminate, so it is at its best in clean water.

Whites MOS SAR Dive
Whites KODIAK 360 SAR Dive
Whites FUSION SAR Dive
Whites FUSION Crimson – two MOLLE plates

Surface and swimmer suits

For crews working on and at the surface rather than diving.

Whites MOS SAR Swimmer
Whites KODIAK 360 SAR Swimmer
Whites FUSION SAR Swimmer
Whites STORM Pro – flood and swiftwater
Whites STORM Tek – surface rescue
Whites FLOOD Cache – a cache or truck suit

Cache and truck suits

The Cache suits are designed and priced to be a cached suit, or a truck suit. They are not assigned to a particular member. For swiftwater emergencies a team issues them on an as-needed basis to whoever is going in the water.

Tactical

All black, and built for tactical diving. Some of the larger federal teams run segmented dive teams with a tactical element, handling SWAT-type missions on the water. This is a good suit for that assignment.