Do people ever scuba with a free diving wetsuit?

What's the difference between a free diving wetsuit and a scuba wetsuit? My brother free dives, and he told me that the inside of his wetsuit is open cell neoprene and that he uses some sort of "conditioner" just to get his wetsuit on. Do people ever scuba with a free diving wetsuit?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

well, generally freediving suits tend to be thinner since the diver will generate a lot more heat through his swimming. a scuba wetsuit has to be thicker to protect the relatively less active scuba diver.

also, open cell neoprene used in freediving suits is much more easily damaged than the neoprene in scuba diving suits

let's see... what else ...

oh, since freediving suits use open cell neoprene, they are harder to get into. when you use a coating on the neoprene (as scuba suits do) it's a lot easier to get in and out of them. also, freediving suits don't usually have zippers, whereas scuba diving suits often do. that's likely why your brother needs lubrication just to get into the suit.

i guess you could scubadive with a freediving suit, but you'll have some issues, namely getting in and out, damaging the suit, and staying warm enough.

H2Andy:

well, generally freediving suits tend to be thinner since the diver will generate a lot more heat through his swimming. a scuba wetsuit has to be thicker to protect the relatively less active scuba diver.

also, open cell neoprene used in freediving suits is much more easily damaged than the neoprene in scuba diving suits

let's see... what else ...

oh, since freediving suits use open cell neoprene, they are harder to get into. when you use a coating on the neoprene (as scuba suits do) it's a lot easier to get in and out of them. also, freediving suits don't usually have zippers, whereas scuba diving suits often do. that's likely why your brother needs lubrication just to get into the suit.

i guess you could scubadive with a freediving suit, but you'll have some issues, namely getting in and out, damaging the suit, and staying warm enough.

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Thanks. The stuff you mention is pretty much what I thought. I am in the market for a wetsuit and I was thinking about getting a free diving wetsuit so that I could try some freediving with my brother, but the durability issue (mainly) makes me think it's not a good idea.

I wonder what issues you would have if you tried to free dive in a scuba wetsuit?

probably too stiff ... not enough mobility

i've done some free diving in scuba wetsuits, but i suck at it ... so i'm not the person to comment

The opposite - heaver, less flexibility, more durible.

The truth is unless you are a serious free diver - ie, just doing a few free dives - wear whatever you want

Unless you are serious about the sport, I would not buy a wetsuit specifically for freediving

I would, however, NEVER purchase a wetsuit made specifically for surfing if I intended to dive in - not anticipating your next thread (LOL) - just sayin'

I know people who use freediving wetsuits for SCUBA. There's a DM in West Palm at Jim Abernathy who does all the time. A couple of key points:

-Freediving wetsuits are warmer because they are very form fitting.

-Freediving wetsuits are warmer because they are not nylon lined.

A good 3mm freediving suit is way warmer than its comparable SCUBA one. That nylon lining that makes mosts suits easy to don also makes them leaky, so they exchange a lot of water which leads to conduction, which makes you cold. If you do not mind soaping up to get into your suit, freediving suits are very good SCUBA suits. My vintage wetsuit is smooth neoprene (sans nylon) and it's only 2mm thick. It's so warm I can dive it down to about 72 degrees, and I am skinny. For comparison, I usually wear a two piece nylon lined 3mm farmer john in the same water (meaning 6mm of neoprene across the chest, and 3mm on the arms and legs respectively).

Another key point in deciding which wetsuit to wear period is the type of neoprene. Something like Rubatex is way denser than something like elastoprene. Stretchy suits compress more at depth causing a greater buoyancy swing. This is why most vintage divers use dense suits for diving without a BC, as the buoyancy swing at depth is minimal. This means that your suit may only lose 1-2 lbs of buoyancy at depth, which can easily be compensated for by your internal lung volume.

Hmmm. Well, I've been putting in some time seriously freediving since I had this class, so I've gotten to know my Yazbeck freediving suit pretty well.

Both scuba and freediving wetsuits are closed-cell neoprene. The biggest difference with a freediving suit is the rubber: it is far more stretchier and flexible than regular neoprene. Part of this is the higher bubble count than regular neoprene. This higher bubble count makes the neoprene easier to rip and damage, too.

Also, it compresses easier (and to a greater extent) than regular neoprene, so it is possible to crush it and cause a loss of thickness with prolonged exposure to deep depths, as with scuba diving, as opposed to occasional excursions as when freediving.

The cut and fit with a freediving suit is generally tighter and closer than a scuba wetsuit. This makes it warmer because of reduced flushing through the suit.

To help with the flushing reduction, most suits are unlined (meaning there is no nylon bonded to the neoprene on the inside of the suit) This makes for a warm suit, but you'll need to slather up the suit with hair conditioner to help get the suit on.

By far, my Yamamoto neoprene freediving suit is the warmest, most flexible and non-restrictive wetsuit I own, and that's for competition-style freediving, where you spend a lot of time motionless on the surface breathing up for the next dive.

I only use my freediving suit for freediving, however I've spoken to a couple of folks that do scuba dive with them. All the wonderful things that make them warm freediving applies to them scuba diving, of course there's a question of durability because the suit's more delicate.

Andy is correct, after freediving in a real freediving wetsuit, I would not even consider using a 7 mil scuba farmer john, which would be equivalent to my 5 mil Yazbeck in warmth.

Hope this helps.


All the best, James

Afakasi:

What's the difference between a free diving wetsuit and a scuba wetsuit? My brother free dives, and he told me that the inside of his wetsuit is open cell neoprene and that he uses some sort of "conditioner" just to get his wetsuit on. Do people ever scuba with a free diving wetsuit?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Click to expand...

there was a time not too long ago where good custom made dive suits required the use of conditioner, talcum powder, or corn starch to put on because the inside of the wetsuit was open cell neoprene. I know people who still do.

I am with the group that says you can use a free diving suit to scuba or vice versa you should do just fine. If you are really a purist at both, buy two suits. Otherwise buy one and use the money you save to go diving.

I have a buddy who dives in her freedive suit.

Yes, it takes her more time to get into. But she has also used it regularly to dive in winter over here without being cold.

I am awaiting the delivery of a 7mm Picasso term free dive suit. Back in the day, we dove 3/8" skin in custom suits. Really warm. The termic lining is supposed to make it easier to get on, but the seller suggested lube for the first few dives. I intend to use it for scuba. The 3/8" skin in suits required powder or cornstarch to get on. It'll be interesting to see how it holds up. The seller suggested turning said suit inside out and spraying the suit down w/lotion-water mix. You then turn it back to normal, store until arrival at destination and slide in. We'll see.