Diver in open blue water alongside a shark

Six to fourteen degrees · All year

Drysuit Hire for Water That Is Genuinely Cold

Cold water ends more dives than current, depth or visibility ever will. We hire membrane and neoprene drysuits in sizes from extra small to triple extra large, with undersuits graded for four different water temperatures, dry glove systems, hoods, boots and the argon setups that make a long winter dive comfortable. Every suit is leak tested before it leaves, seals are checked and trimmed to the renter's wrists and neck, and a repair kit travels in the bag. Weekly rates make a season of cold diving cheaper than buying.

Suits & Rates Book a Fitting

About us

A Hire Shop Run by People Who Dive in February

The business started as a rack of six suits in the back of a dive club, bought because half the members stopped diving in October and the other half were shivering through their winter qualifications in wetsuits that were never going to be warm enough. Twelve years later it is a proper hire fleet of ninety suits, but the reason for existing has not changed: a drysuit that fits and is genuinely dry turns cold water from an endurance test into the best diving of the year.

Fit matters more than any other factor, which is why we do not post suits out on the basis of a size chart. Renters come in for a fitting, or send measurements and photographs and receive an honest assessment of whether we can dress them properly. Seals are trimmed to the individual, not left at factory size, and boots and undersuits are matched so that nothing compresses at depth. A suit that fits badly floods at the neck, traps air in the feet and ruins buoyancy control, and no amount of technique compensates for it.

Everything is maintained in our own workshop. Suits are pressure-inflated and leak tested after every rental, zips are cleaned and waxed, seals are replaced on a fixed cycle rather than when they split, and repairs are done in-house within a day. We also service and repair privately owned suits, retrofit dry glove rings and replace zips — work that most dive shops send away for three weeks and that we complete while the customer waits for the glue to cure.

Ice formations along a wind-blown lake shore in winter

Advantages

Why Renting Here Works

Six things that decide whether a cold dive is comfortable or a story about being miserable.

Fitted, Not Guessed

Every renter is measured and dressed in the shop before the suit leaves, with seals trimmed to their own wrists and neck rather than left at the size they arrived in. Boots are matched to fin size, the undersuit is chosen for the actual water temperature, and the whole assembly is checked kneeling, reaching and lying flat, because a suit that fits standing at a counter can pin your shoulders the moment you are horizontal. Renters who cannot attend a fitting send measurements and photographs, and we say plainly when we cannot dress them properly.

Leak Tested After Every Rental

Each suit returns to the workshop, is inflated, sealed and inspected under pressure with a soapy solution over every seam, zip and valve, and only then goes back on the rack. Zips are cleaned, waxed and exercised, valves are stripped and serviced on a fixed schedule, and seals are replaced by date rather than by appearance. The test record travels with the suit, so renters can see when it was last checked and by whom rather than taking a shrug at the counter as reassurance.

Undersuits for the Real Temperature

A drysuit is only as warm as what goes underneath it, so we stock four grades of undersuit from a light wicking layer for summer quarry dives to a heavy primaloft system for ice, plus separate hoods, gloves and socks. Renters tell us the water temperature and the planned bottom time and we issue the combination that matches, which for most people means being genuinely warm rather than merely dry. Everything is washed between rentals and replaced when the loft flattens.

Dry Gloves Fitted Properly

Cold hands end dives faster than a cold body. We fit and hire dry glove systems on both ring and latex-cuff designs, size the inner gloves so that dexterity survives, and show renters how to purge, how to deal with a squeeze at depth and what to do if a glove floods. Spare gloves and inner liners are included in the bag. For renters who prefer wet gloves we say so honestly: below eight degrees, with a bottom time over thirty minutes, they will not be enough.

Repairs While You Wait

A split seal on a Friday afternoon normally means a lost weekend. Our workshop replaces neck and wrist seals in under two hours, patches punctures and abrasion the same day, retrofits dry glove rings, replaces zips and services valves, all in-house rather than through a distributor. Renters who damage a hired suit in the field are issued a replacement immediately and are charged only for the material. Private owners get the same turnaround, which is why half our workshop work comes from people who bought their suits elsewhere.

Rates Built for a Whole Season

Daily hire suits a trial; a winter of diving needs something else. Weekly rates fall to about a third of the daily equivalent, monthly and seasonal rates lower still, and a season-long hire includes servicing, seal replacement and a free swap if the renter's size changes. Anything paid in hire is credited against the purchase price if a renter later buys a suit from us, which is how most of our customers eventually stop renting — and we regard that as the point rather than a loss.

Services

Hire, Workshop and Training

Suits, undersuits, gloves, full cold-water packages, repairs, servicing and drysuit courses.

Whale diving beneath the surface of cold northern water

Drysuit Hire

Ninety suits in membrane and neoprene, sizes extra small to triple extra large including cuts for shorter and taller builds, hired by the day, week, month or season. Every hire includes an undersuit matched to the water temperature, hood, boots, a repair kit and a leak-test record. Suits are fitted in the shop with seals trimmed to the individual, and a second undersuit grade can be added for trips where the temperature will change between sites.

Cold-Water Packages

A complete winter setup for divers travelling or starting the season: suit, heavy undersuit, dry gloves with spare liners, hood, boots, thermal socks, argon system if wanted, and a drybag large enough to carry it. Packages are priced by the week and include a fitting session, a briefing on buoyancy in a dry suit and a written checklist for dressing and undressing without damaging seals. Delivery to a dive centre or hotel can be arranged within the region.

Seal and Zip Replacement

Neck and wrist seals in latex, silicone or neoprene replaced in under two hours, ring systems fitted for quick-change seals, zips replaced in both metal and plastic types, and valves stripped, serviced or upgraded. Work is done in-house on the same bench that maintains our fleet, and urgent jobs for divers travelling the next morning are accepted whenever the glue will cure in time. Prices are posted on the workshop wall.

Repairs and Leak Testing

Puncture and abrasion repair, seam re-taping, knee and elbow reinforcement, boot replacement, and full pressure leak testing with a written report identifying every leak found. Suits arriving after a flood are tested first and quoted afterwards, so nobody pays for guesswork. We also test and certify suits for clubs and centres in batches before the season, which is considerably cheaper per suit than sending them individually.

Drysuit Courses and Coaching

Certified drysuit courses covering dressing, valve use, buoyancy, trim, recovery from a feet-up ascent and emergency procedures, run in a pool and then in open water with suits included. Coaching sessions for divers who already hold the qualification but never became comfortable focus on weighting, gas management between wing and suit, and staying still in mid-water. Groups are capped at four, and the pool session is repeated free of charge if anyone wants it.

Clubs, Centres and Commercial Users

Fleet hire for clubs running winter training, seasonal supply for dive centres that would rather not own suits, and equipment for scientific, survey and inspection work with documentation for employers. We provide maintenance schedules, train the organisation's own staff to inspect and store suits correctly, and hold spare seals and valves for the models supplied. Long-term agreements include servicing and replacement so that the cost per diving day is fixed and predictable.

Contacts

Fittings, Hire and Workshop

Tell us your height, weight, chest, inside leg and fin size along with the water temperature you expect, and we will confirm what fits and what undersuit you need. Fittings take about twenty minutes and can be booked on the same day.

Seal replacements, zips, leak tests, courses and club fleet hire go to the same workshop.

Workshop14 Rue de Siam, 29200 Brest, France

Phone+33 2 98 44 61 25

Emailcoldsealdrysuit@live.com

OpeningTuesday–Saturday 09:00–19:00; urgent repairs by arrangement