Advice on Gaiters for a wetsuit?

[Manta Aria]

Here's my situation.( deep breath) The only Thermaltec suit I could fit in fairly snuggly was a 3XL 5mil , this was not because of my height but my chest, 46" made a precise fit difficult. This gave me a tiny bit of extra room which I could layer with, no prob... but since I got the suit I have dropped some weight ( about 10-15 lbs). Now to the quandry: when I exit now after a wonderful dive, I now have water trapped in the bottoms of my legs up to my knees ! This water squishes out after about 5-10 minutes but raises a number of questions to me. 1) how long has this water been there? 2) is it dragging on me during the dive? 3) if so can I remedy this by using dry suit gaiters around my lower legs or will that just trap the water higher? 4) should I just get my suit custom altered to my new size? I'd hate to spend a couple hundred $ to fix a problem that could possibly be remedied for less than half that price (gaiters=$60.-$90.).
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. It's not a huge problem but kind of annoying.
Thanx
-Manta

 

[kidspot]

I have a suit which when I tuck the legs into my boots (won't fit over top them) does the same thing at the end of a dive, but it's just the water in the suit collecting there. Since I'm in a warm climate I punched 2 holes in each leg just above my boots (with a hole punch) so they drain when I get out of the water instead of just filling up. In some ways the fact that it is trapped there is a good thing - it indicates that the water is not flowing through, rather being trapped and allowed to warm. I'd guess the same is true of your suit, it's just all the water in the suit being affected by gravity when you get out of the water. If you are diving cold water, I would not recommend punching drain holes however - just pull the legs away from your boot (or unzip your boot) to let the water drain out when you leave the water.

Also if you find it difficult finding a suit that fits, you might consider a custom suit as they can be found for under $300.

Aloha, Tim

 

[Manta Aria]

The suit is definately keeping me nice and toasty! Maybe I am being too critical and making something out of nothing? I just don't want the trapped water in my suit creating a drag or weight problem down under. I mean there is alot of it.
-Manta

 

[markfm]

Is a Thermaltec a wet suit?
If it is, I'd be curious about how difficult it would be to get the lower legs "taken in" a bit. Cut, slight overlap, Aquaseal/stitch, tape.

 

[Manta Aria]

Yes, it's a Scubapro, Thermaltek wet suit. It has internal gaskets on the extremities to restrict water exchange between the suit and the water. This has the effect of holding in the warmer water longer. I like it. I was told, that a custom fit or mods would be expensive. But if I can do it with my hood, why not my suit?
-Manta

 

[Bob3]

Not to worry, all that water down there was distributed all about inside your suit when you were underwater.
Like Kidspot says, gravity sucks.

 

[Ronald K]

Whatever you like to do about it; and maybe you will find some gaiters, don't over tighten. Keep the blood flowing; always good to prevent decompression sickness symptoms.

 

[aquaoren]

Actually, the water in the suit shows that the gaskets are working well and reducing the water flow in and out of your suit, which is a good thing.