Stretchy wetsuits

[Dutchman]

I guess I been diving too much old school. Need to upgrade wetsuit. Seems all the newer models are this eco friendly stretchy neoprene. Some are actually really made more for surfing, boating, etc. Surf foam neoprene, dive foam neoprene, etc. My question is being 180-250% stretchy, should one drop DOWN on size? I usually wear a large but the size charts all suggest a medium. Will this new neoprene actually be colder at 100 feet due to compression? Just wondering what your experience is. I love my Henderson suits but Bare, Scubapro, Aqualung and Fourth Element all are possibilities. 5mm only. Thanks

 

[JMJ Wetsuits]

Hi @Dutchman,

You bring up good questions here. To keep my answer short, here are the important points as I see them:

1. Fit is still the most important thing for comfort and warmth regardless of material.
2. Materials differ in how they respond to compression. Typically "surf" suit material is designed more for flexibility than compression resistance. If you dive, you'll want "dive grade" material that retains its thickness after being taken to dive depths.
3. For stock-sized suits you should be able to follow the manufacturer's size chart regardless of the material.
4. Keep in mind that when material is stretched, it gets thinner, meaning less thermal protection.

Hope that helps!
Derek

 

[DirtFish]

My wife has a Henderson "regular neoprene", (not made anymore), and it still looks good after 3 years of diving. I bought a new Henderson Thermoprene wetsuit and it turned grey in 3 months and at less than one year was frayed, worn, thin and basically useless. I replaced it with a Bare wetsuit that has the material lining and it is much warmer even though I bought a size smaller to fit my skinny legs. My friend has the Scubapro with the material lining, it has held up well, (much better than the Henderson), and he really likes it. I would definitely look for a suit with the material lining, ie. Bare, Scubapro, Aqua lung.
Just my .02c

 

[broncobowsher]

My experience is with the Henderson Aqualock line. Got one about 10 years ago. One of the early super stretchy materials. It has been a good suit. I would typically dive it (5mm) and generally stay warm as others in a typical 7mm. The warmth was from properly fitting and not flushing water through the suit. The bad experience I had with it was when someone "helped" me into the suit. They folded the hood into an "S" shape at the back of my neck. That was a funnel of cold water into the suit. Swapped for a hooded vest and nobody could do that to me again.

I would say go with the manufactures sizing chart. Don't try to out guess them. If you fit an off the shelf suit, great. If not look at the custom fit line.