Wetsuit research from surfing

[Rearviewmirror]

Hi all,

I thought this might be an interesting read for folks - We Have the Science to Make the Best Wetsuits Ever. Just Not the Marketing.

I wonder if we should be diving in the same neoprene thickness for legs to not lose finning power?

 

[scubadada]

I would love to see some science applied to scuba wetsuits. The exposure is much different and more uniform in diving

 

[Rearviewmirror]

I just emailed the professor to ask if he's done anything or knows of anyone who does!

 

[Rearviewmirror]

Wow, he replied almost instantaneously!

Unfortunately our research has not addressed scuba wetsuits. However, I believe that there is some literature that was generated from military experiments in diving wetsuits. I believe that literature is a bit outdated but I have not looked at it very extensively. Diving is very different than surfing since the only medium a diver interacts with is water. Whereas, a surfer interacts with three medium (water, air, and radiant heat from the sun). One interesting point that you bring up is the use of legs for propulsion which is the opposite of surfers that use their arms. Given that a by product of energy metabolism for muscle contraction is heat the lower extremities theoretically would need less thickness compared to the rest of the suit. However, I have no data to support this and it is merely speculation.

I told him he would have some willing test subjects on SB if he ever wanted to conduct research! I feel like we're similarly at the mercy of dive companies and anecdotal evidence...

 

[tursiops]

Interesting article. Hugh ("Brad") Bradner told me about his idea for the first wetsuit and getting his wife -- Marge -- to sew it together for him from some neoprene sheeting he had left over from a Navy acoustics project. That was the only Navy connection he mentioned.

 

[JMJ Wetsuits]

@Rearviewmirror Thank you for posting the article