Looking for the right wet suit thickness

[buddhasummer]

I feel the cold. When tropical diving I wear a full 5mm and am comfortable. I tried a 3mm once was ok for the first dive but doing multiple dives over multiple days began to chill very fast. Ended up wearing a shorty over my 3mm. Lesson learnt. Tolerance to cold is very personal I wear a two piece 7mm with hood in waters 25degressC and I'm fine, one of my friends is good in a 5mm down to 18. Once water drops below 22 I'm in a drysuit. Good luck with your search. Regardless of thickness a full suit is always a good idea for protection against sun and stingy things.

 

[scubadada]

Staying warm over the SI is also very important, one of the best scuba investments I made was my truWest boat coat

 

[mi000ke]

Another cold wimp here. I use a 5mm in the Caribbean and it's perfect for me. If I add a 5mm hood I'm good down to 68-70 degrees. Haven't done any dives in water colder than that yet.

 

[buddhasummer]

Another cold wimp here. I use a 5mm in the Caribbean and it's perfect for me. If I add a 5mm hood I'm good down to 68-70 degrees. Haven't done any dives in water colder than that yet.

A 5mm in 20 degree C water, you're harder then me. That I could not do in a 5mm. A 7mm maybe if the dive was not too long.

---------- Post added February 24th, 2015 at 10:17 AM ----------

Welcome to Scubaboard by the way.

 

[tlehman]

This may or may not be helpful:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ex...-3-5mm-akona-3mm-x-2-scuba-pro-3-2-5-4-a.html

Also, being cold makes you more disposed towards decompression sickness. So, my philosophy is dress to be warm (as in, the warm side of comfortable), not just dressing to be not-cold. And I was totally comfortable diving in the Caribbean in December in a 3/2 full suit. I'm not sure I would have been warm enough, though, in a shorty.

Curious about this. I just read in the DAN magazine (I think it was that one!) that being over-heated at depth increases the nitrogen uptake, increasing risk. Being a little on the cool side slows it. It's the reverse during ascent as being on the warmer side translates to higher exchanges and faster clearing of the nitrogen, lowering risks. I'm a newer diver, so I'm not posting an opinion, just relaying something I just read. Thoughts?

 

[stuartv]

Hey, Tom, as you know, I'm a pretty new diver, too.

All I really know about that is that we were taught in OW class that being cold increases your risk for DCS. But, I would not be surprised in the least if it's more complicated than that.

But, even if it's true that being overheated at depth increases nitrogen uptake, I'd have to ask what that means. In my ignorant and inexperienced little brain, being overheated at depth would mean actually feeling hot. Maybe even uncomfortably hot. I could see that MAYBE happening if the water was over 80 degrees and I was in a 7mm suit or something like that. But, I'm skeptical that's it's a relevant concern when you're simply diving in what feels warm to you.

Or, looking at it another way, I would expect that if you can stand to be on the surface, wearing whatever exposure protection you're going to be wearing in the water, then you're going to be fine once you actually get in.

After 6 dives in the Caribbean and 10 in Hawaii, all in my 3/2 suit + 5mm boots, and 4 of them with my Lavacore Farmer John underneath (2 x cenote dives in Mexico and 2 x night dives in Hawaii), I can say that at no time was I ever in danger of overheating when in the water. At the end of my night diving, I actually was starting to feel a bit cool in the water.

 

[ams511]

Curious about this. I just read in the DAN magazine (I think it was that one!) that being over-heated at depth increases the nitrogen uptake, increasing risk. Being a little on the cool side slows it. It's the reverse during ascent as being on the warmer side translates to higher exchanges and faster clearing of the nitrogen, lowering risks. I'm a newer diver, so I'm not posting an opinion, just relaying something I just read. Thoughts?

I would assume that this would be more of a concern for dry suit divers than wetsuit divers. When diving wet your suit will compress at depth and you will lose insulation. If for some reason you feel hot you can always let water into the suit. A drysuit diver does not lose insulation with depth and does not want to add water into the suit. So they would be more at risk.