Help sort the shovel from the truth

I was looking at wetsuits today. Trying on different types and listening to the sales pitches.

Now I have been told that my one piece semi dri 3/2 is not good enough. I also have been told that a 3 farmer john would be plenty good enough because it gave me 6 on the core. Then I was also told that layering did not realy work because you would not heat up the water in the outer layer so you would just keep loosing heat.

I also tried a 7mm henderson farmer john that fit, but I am concerned that it would be overkill and I would be dieing of the heat.

So are any of the above sales pitches true?
Is it worth it to purchase a "new" 2 year old suit?

ARGH I hate sorting the bs from the truth.

tnx for the opinions.

Where and what degree water will you be diving in?

doghouse:

I was looking at wetsuits today. Trying on different types and listening to the sales pitches.

Now I have been told that my one piece semi dri 3/2 is not good enough. I also have been told that a 3 farmer john would be plenty good enough because it gave me 6 on the core. Then I was also told that layering did not realy work because you would not heat up the water in the outer layer so you would just keep loosing heat.

I also tried a 7mm henderson farmer john that fit, but I am concerned that it would be overkill and I would be dieing of the heat.

So are any of the above sales pitches true?
Is it worth it to purchase a "new" 2 year old suit?

ARGH I hate sorting the bs from the truth.

tnx for the opinions.

Click to expand...

First question is what temps are you talking about?

I have a 3mm that's great down to about 75-70 degrees before it gets a bit cold, and a 7mm that I've taken to low 40's and was very comfy, (but not for a LONG time mind you, on deeper dives it was a bit colder)

If you already have a 3/2 and want some thing for colder dives, then just buy the 7 for cold diving.

(7mm FJ DOES seem like overkill..wouldn't that be 14 at your core?)

The "heating the water up" line is BS.

Maybe I can help. I am a CARD CARRYING PANSY IN COLD WATER. Last month we did a 1 hour drift dive in 68F water. I was wearing a 5MM full suit and I was happy as a clam. The divers wearing 3MM's were getting cold about 30 mins. into the dive.

Drop down another 10 degrees to 58F and I need a dry suit. I can't stand water that cold and you can't afford to pay me for working in it! However....lot's of N Pacific and N East coast divers dive into the 40's with a 7MM.

most of the diveing around here is deep, but I have no intention of going that far down for quite a few dives yet. I would guess that the coldest average dive would be 50's to 60's. Most stuff in the 60-80 range. I know they say that most of the good diving is off shore around here in the 100' range well that is years off. I just want to get comfortable with diving this year and then deal with the deep super cold stuff later. I do intend to move back to New England in 5 years or so. FWIW.

I will try to provide more info as you ask, but being new at this stuff I don't know what to provide for info. So thanks for being patient, and providing me with your experiances.

For now Lake Rawlings, VA Some of the chesapeake bay and costal VA waters, maybe a trip to NC in the summer. SWMBO is hinting to go to Belieze...

You will need more than one suit since there is such a variance in temps of the water you will be diving in. you'll need one suit for 50* water dives, you could rent that suit if you will not be doing too many dives in that range. Not knowing how many dives you will be doing and how often in any particular tempt makes it difficultto help. Off the top my head I'd say you need one 5 mil suit and one 3 mil suit. you'll need a hood too.

doghouse:

most of the diveing around here is deep, but I have no intention of going that far down for quite a few dives yet. I would guess that the coldest average dive would be 50's to 60's. Most stuff in the 60-80 range. I know they say that most of the good diving is off shore around here in the 100' range well that is years off. I just want to get comfortable with diving this year and then deal with the deep super cold stuff later. I do intend to move back to New England in 5 years or so. FWIW.

I will try to provide more info as you ask, but being new at this stuff I don't know what to provide for info. So thanks for being patient, and providing me with your experiances.

For now Lake Rawlings, VA Some of the chesapeake bay and costal VA waters, maybe a trip to NC in the summer. SWMBO is hinting to go to Belieze...

Click to expand...

I have dove with a 7mm full suit then layered it with a shorty and it worked good to 40 degrees F the problem was my hand and feet got cold. The extra layer from the shorty did really help.

Neoprene is an insulator not the water between you suit and your skin. You want to minimize the water exchange in your wet suit because your body will lose heat to the new cold water.

Good luck in your decision.

I live & dive in Va. Beach quite often & I can tell you there is not much difference in the water temp. between wrecks in the 70 - 100 fsw range, it will be mid-50s to lower 60s in the summer. We did do a dive last year where we had 72 reported, but no one on the boat believed that. We had a strange current come in & it was warm, but vis totally sucked with it about 2 feet. Id take colder water for better vis anyday.
You will need a 7mm to dive off the coast(I use a 6.5 Mares semi-dry down to mid 50s & will put a 2mm shorty under it down to 45), 5mm could get you through the Bay, but Ive never dove there. 3/2 will keep you shallow at Rawlings as even in the summer bottom temps will be lower 60s if not high 50s.

pilot fish:

You will need more than one suit since there is such a variance in temps of the water you will be diving in. you'll need one suit for 50* water dives, you could rent that suit if you will not be doing too many dives in that range. Not knowing how many dives you will be doing and how often in any particular tempt makes it difficultto help. Off the top my head I'd say you need one 5 mil suit and one 3 mil suit. you'll need a hood too.

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Dunno offhand what your situation is, but FWIW Lake Rawlings is real cold below the thermoclines even in July and August, and I'm in a drysuit.

Mid-summer temps vary roughly 10 degrees per charter operation starting from Morehead City/Beaumont, NC area. Example, wrecks in the gulfstream off Morehead City may be in water that is 75-78 degrees; off Hatteras to OBX they drop 10 degrees to 65-68 fahrenheit. Off Virginia Beach you may find 55-58 and off Ocean City, Maryland the deeper wrecks may be in 45-48 degrees fahrenheit - all generally speaking.

You are welcome to purchase several different wetsuits. I'm informed that well-used wetsuits may lose some insulating quality due to degradation of the bubbles in the neoprene over time, however, if you're purchasing reasonably new wetsuits you may find that they work quite well. I wouldn't know, as I don't own a wetsuit and haven't dived in one since 1985.

What I DO know is that given the variance in temps offshore along the midatlantic seaboard, what works quite well is a drysuit. You simply wear different thicknesses of undergarments as needed in the various locations. We find that polarfleece works well for the Morehead City/Beaumont wrecks on up into the Outer Banks. Some guys like 200 gr off Virginia Beach (but we seldom dive out of Virginia Beach). You'll definitely want either a couple layers of polar fleece diving off Ted's boat out of Ocean City, or even a Weezle if you're going deeper.

If you don't want to go with a drysuit, then as PF notes above, you may find that eventually you will need more than one wetsuit. One thing I've seen other divers use is a hooded vest. In warmer water off Morehead a 5 mm will keep you comfortable. As you head north, wear the hooded vest beneath your top. This adds versatility and flexability, and may - at least at first - prevent you from having to come up with 2 wetsuits.

FWIW. YMMV.

Doc