Custom wetsuit for child the way to go?

Hey guys! I'm getting ready to have my 12 yr. old get certified in March and the off the rack sizes of wetsuits that I've seen won't fit him, he is 5'5" and 109 lbs. (a beanpole). The xs men's sizes are meant for someone about 15 lbs. heavier and the children's sizes for someone his weight are for someone shorter! ARRGGgh!

Anyway, I'm thinking about having one custom made, a farmer john set-up in 7mm for about $350 and that includes the hood and shipping. Does anyone else out there know of any manufacturer that I might have missed that would have a size appropriate for a relatively tall, skinny child that is also warm enough for Monterey diving? I prefer the layered farmer john style, but couldn't find it for him.

Thanks--Fuzz

Fuzz, congrats on the little dude getting certified...he'll love it!! Have you spoken to your local LDS about which suits they carry? I'm afraid i dont remember the names, but I had many wet suits as a kid all appropriate for diving, and non were custom. Just trying to save you some cash. Good luck!!

Jay

You might want to look at www.scubal.com I haven't bought any wetsuits from them but I have a couple of their BCD's and they are of good quality and the price is great. My son started diving at 10 years old (he's now 15) and it seemed that I had to buy him a new wetsuit every year! I bought him a Henderson Hyperstretch and that suit lasted him 2 or 3 years before he "outgrew it".

Bare has a youth line.
http://www.bare-wetsuits.com/main_dive_barekids.aspx

Pete

Sometimes you can buy tops and bottoms - mix and match. Body Glove used to supply inexpensive institutional sets like these. I wouldn't invest in a custom suit because kids outgrow these things the minute you turn your head!

X

Children have a high surface area to volume ratio, so effective thermal protection is a must. But they grow quickly and custom suits are expensive. It's a difficult call, but if they are to really enjoy diving I think that a custom suit wins out.

Fuzzmutton,

Boy have you pushed one of my buttons !!!

The number of times I've seen a dive shop employee put a wet suit on a youth and heard her/him say, "S/he'll grow into in no time! You'll get a lot more value for your money from it being just a little bit large."

I think that borders on criminal!

I'd like to take that shop monkey, put him or her in a wet suit that's too large and drop him/her in a tank of ice water and yell, "Drink a lot of water, you'll grow into it!"

If the wet suit doesn't fit properly it won't function properly.

I could rant on forever about this, but I'll endeavour to control myself, as much as I don't want to !!!!

CMAN gave some EXCELLENT advice, in my poor opinion, with respect to looking at scubal.com.

One can suit up a youngster in a custom suit a very, very reasonable price that won't be a major consideration when the young diver grows out of the suit.

You want your children's diving experiences to be just as SAFE and COMFORTABLE as yours.

Protect your children . . . .

Safe dives . . . . . . . . .
. . . and safer ascents !

The Kraken

You can get custom suit from Greece for under $200 including shipping:

http://www.diveskin.net/

Spiros has a great reputation on spearboard

Also, the lady from www.liquidfit.com says they have deals for kids, you may want to call her. She has a couple of threads running in the Hot Deals forum right now.

Scuba-Jay-

I went to Sport Chalet, where I normally go (not much to choose from in my area) and they said maybe they could order something for him to try on but I didn't want to be guilted into buying something that "almost fit" just because they had specially ordered it.

To the rest of you guys, thanks for the info.! I did look into Henderson Hyperstretch because that's what the hubby and I have and my son falls between adult and youth sizes there because of height/weight. Body Glove did not have anything either. Sigh...

I'm going to check out the custom sites though to see how they match up to the site I found, horizonwetsuits.com. They have a farmer john combo that I like, the bottom is actually long-sleeved and the top step-in portion is short-sleeved, so that you can use the step-in by itself as a shortie or wear the bottom by itself and still be fully covered! My two pieces of my farmer jane are fairly worthless by themselves.

The Kraken-

Whew!:11: What did I unleash?! (hee hee)

I know what you mean, jellybean. They tell adults that the suits can't have any bags, wrinkles or looseness to it and then they try to appeal to a parent's desire to save money by trying to sell them a suit that their child can "grow into". There is no way I would stick my kid in 54 degree water (bottom temp) without the exact same thermal protection I have on!! That means layering for warmth, quality material and a proper fit.

I will then just have to give him coffee and cigarettes to stunt his growth, thereafter Kidding!