Why do divers wear bathing suits under wetsuit?

[simoncpj]

Hope this isn’t a holy war topic.

I come from the world of surfing and find it odd that male divers often wear trunks under a wetsuit. Why? Is there some functional benefit I am unaware of? Because most started in rental wetsuits (and ugghh)?

Pretty easy to change into a full suit without flashing everyone so ????

 

[RobPNW]

So when you take off the wetsuit you aren't naked? I'm not coordinated enough to do the cool surfer under towel wetsuit dance.

 

[Bigbella]

So that you don’t get a ticket in Pacific Grove, at Lover’s Point, when a towel accidentally opens in the breeze, while removing a 7 mm suit; and a sheriff's deputy, rolling through the parking lot, reads you the riot act — that the tourists aren’t spending hundreds of dollars, per night, in neighboring bed and breakfasts, to see your sorry ass.

Or so I’ve heard . . .

 

[Rupert Maclanahan]

I wear a wetsuit undergarment, which is kind of like bike shorts without the padding. But if your question is why don't divers "go commando" in their wetsuits, most of the time when you don and doff your wetsuit you are on the deck of a dive boat, or maybe on the beach. Most dive boats have very limited, if any, bathroom facilities. So, you would be exposing yourself going commando.

 

[Altamira]

Because cold water is not a male diver’s friend!

 

[Bubblesong]

I wear a bathing suit under wetsuit for the same reason that I wear panties under pants. Hygiene.

 

[Badger7]

Also, sometimes during a surface interval, it gets hot and sunny and getting out of that wetsuit for a spell is something akin to heaven. Would you be dragging tanks around the deck setting up for the next dive wearing a towel?

 

[lowwall]

I come from the world of surfing and find it odd that male divers often wear trunks under a wetsuit. Why? Is there some functional benefit I am unaware of? Because most started in rental wetsuits (and ugghh)?

Pretty easy to change into a full suit without flashing everyone so ????

Not that easy to change without flashing everyone on a crowded and pitching boat deck. Keeping a hand free to steady yourself leaves you at least one short for holding a towel and swapping outfits.

And we normally go through the changing routine between dives, which can be up to 5 times a day on a liveaboard.

If you don't and it's hot up top, you'll bake within minutes. Especially since divers tend to wear thicker suits than surfers in the same water because they compress as you go deeper, we are fully submerged, and the temp often drops with depth. If it's not hot, then you'll freeze once the boat starts moving and the suit turns into a full body evaporative cooler.

 

[simoncpj]

The don’t flash someone on a moving boat makes sense. Changing at the beach - not too hard with a towel, way easier with a surf poncho out of towel material (and they have comfy hoods for warmth.)

 

[Centrals]

Hope this isn’t a holy war topic.

I come from the world of surfing and find it odd that male divers often wear trunks under a wetsuit. Why? Is there some functional benefit I am unaware of? Because most started in rental wetsuits (and ugghh)?

Pretty easy to change into a full suit without flashing everyone so ????

We are all individual!
Do whatever you like. I do not give a toss what you wear or don't wear. Equally speaking what I wear is not your business and I do not need to give a reason.