1 pc VS 2 pc

[mrscubastar]

An age old question this one I know but:

I need opinions on which type of suit is better - a 1 piece or 2 piece? I need to buy a new suit and cannot decide which way to go.

I have never used a 2 piece before, but have heard you get alot more water flow - doesn't sound too good! On the flip side, there is more material covering your body so should technically be warmer?

Kind of answering my own question here, anyone care to share their experiences with different suits?

 

[spectrum]

An age old question this one I know but:

I need opinions on which type of suit is better - a 1 piece or 2 piece? I need to buy a new suit and cannot decide which way to go.

I have never used a 2 piece before, but have heard you get alot more water flow - doesn't sound too good! On the flip side, there is more material covering your body so should technically be warmer?

Kind of answering my own question here, anyone care to share their experiences with different suits?

There is a thread on this topic that goes back 3-5 weeks ago as I recall.

I have never used a John Jacket. I have 3mm,5mm and 7mm full suits a 5/3 hooded vest and a 7mm hooded stepi-in sleeveless shorty. Summer, spring, fall, lake, ocean etc etc they all mix and match and with the vests you get the same 2 layers on your core. Execept for the 3mm they are all Bare items.

My take is that a full suit gives you a single membrane that covers your body, make sure it's a good suit with calf and forearm seals. Add the layers from there.

For our first check-out dives today My wife and I each were in 7mm full suits with 5/3 hooded vests and were entirely comfortable in 54 degree water for over an hour. Granted the depths were nothing dramatic but we were subsurface most of the time. It was just the 2 of us with the instructor so there wasn't a lot of sitting around waiting for the group.

The magic of the hooded vest is that it does a great job of slowing or muting any seepage from the back zipper and the neck opening.

Some warm water divers like the John and Jacket for use as seperates. If the fit works the so be it. The jackets I've seen were not optimized for use as stand alones but if it works then what the heck.

Pete

 

[JustinW]

IMHO a one piece is better. Now there are a couple different versions of one piece suits also. I prefer a suit without zippers on the wrists and ankles. I also like a suit with a built in hood and a horizontal front zipper. Excel makes one that I really like that has a nice inner seal to keep any water that might go through the zipper from rushing in and being cold. Others make suits like this also that lack the inner seal that goes over your head and other have the seal but leave it very thin.

Other factors to consider are the water temps. These suits I spoke of earlier are typically for cooler water.