attached hood or not for a exposure suit

[arcticat99]

i was diving in 56 degree water and just touched a thermocline (forgot dive cpu)so not sure what it fell to.i wasn't cold though .it was just when we were in between dives i got a little chill it was the third week in September in Saskatchewan mind you.how loose do you want a dry suit for clothes layering? like i said didn't mind the wet suit other than i found the 2 piece bulky .yes i was getting 14 mm protection on my core but bulky that why i was reading on semi dry that are supposedly warmer at least thats what i read but the dive masters up here say nay and dont even carry in stock .so 2 piece wet or a dry suit i have until spring to figure that out .ill be wearing my 3 mm shorty diving in the Caribbean in January ps love all the info on thiss site peeps i am learning quite a lot thamks

 

[tbone1004]

@2airishuman a properly chosen wetsuit diver will almost always be warmer on the first dive than a drysuit diver unless they are using a heated vest. It is subsequent dives, especially multiple dives/day over multiple days, or surface intervals where you can't escape the evaporative cooling effect from the wetsuit that makes wetsuits unsafe imho for those types of activities. Compound that with the extreme loss of buoyancy at depth, especially of a 7mm farmer john, and it is not a suit that I will ever dive or ever recommend any person dive if planned depths exceed 40ft. If you need that much exposure protection and are going deeper, you really need a drysuit, both from weighting and adequate thermal protection at depth.

Regarding how loose the suit should fit. That all depends on how many layers of undergarments you plan on wearing and how much air you want in the suit. I dive my cave cut suit down to temps in the 40's with no problem but I have a very high cold tolerance and very good undergarments.

 

[BoltSnap]

If you need to use a 7mm wetsuit and go deeper than 15 meters, you are far better off with a drysuit. A semidry is second option if drysuit isn't an option. For me, anytime the water is cold enough to require a 7mm suit, this means I should use a drysuit.