A Tip for Putting on a Full Wetsuit

Adventure-Ocean · Nov 15, 2013

I imagine this has been offered up more than once on SB but I thought I'd mention it. The easiest way I've learned to put on a full wetsuit is to put plastic baggies over my feet and hands. You just need one bag. Slip it on your foot and it will glide all the way down the leg very nicely. Do the same for your other leg and then your hands. I dove in the tropics so we'd get in and out of our suit a couple times a day so this tip was very helpful to me.

The easiest way for me to remove my wetsuit was in the water. Again, the water is warm so I'd unzip and allow a lot of water in the suit. I could then easily peel it off from top to bottom.

Before I got the baggie tip I'd fight trying to get my legs and arms through the wetsuit. Wetting the inside helps a lot but the baggie works perfectly.

Perhaps they make neetly made foot plastic now for putting on a wetsuit. I haven't been in the loop for a few years now.

Are there newer techniques out there now? It would be cool the hear how others mastered this challenge. Adventure-Ocean

Phil_C · Nov 15, 2013

I haven't come across the plastic bag option myself - when my wetsuit is dry I never have a problem, it has 'Glideskin' cuffs and ankles - but when it is wet it tends to stick.So what I do is turn the arms inside out and then 'roll' them on - works OK for me and I regularly put it on and off a couple of times a day. - P

billt4sf · Nov 15, 2013

I use a skin. Works great for getting the wetsuit on and off, performs double duty as a sunblock, but has the downside of being cold on you after you take the wetsuit off and the skin is still wet -- and it does tend to stay wet for awhile.

- Bill

KD8NPB · Nov 15, 2013

Don't just slip the whole suit on.

Don the leg portion. Focus on getting the kneepads at knee level first.

Then, start to pull the suit up. Give yourself a wedgie at the crotch, that way the suit isn't pulling down on your shoulders when you try to don it. After you move around in it a bit, everything will settle out.

TSandM · Nov 15, 2013

I tried the plastic bag thing once, but I put my foot right through the bag.

Peter uses dilute hair conditioner and squirts it into the wetsuit.

I had an easier solution. I went back to the dry suit

supergaijin · Nov 15, 2013

+1 Shampoo/conditioner in a large spray bottle. Plastic bags work as well

scubastingray · Nov 15, 2013

ha I've used the plastic baggies. For those saying it rips, double bag it! I got funny looks when I did it at a quarry up in OH.

It's a trick I picked up from surfers in FL, and definitely works. To be clear, this is like a grocery bag, not ziplocs.

Way better than soaping up your wetsuit imo.

As far as taking your wetsuit off in the water, how?! I imagine I'd drown trying that, but then again I'm negatively buoyant.

Scuba.com · Nov 16, 2013

billt4sf:
I use a skin. Works great for getting the wetsuit on and off, performs double duty as a sunblock, but has the downside of being cold on you after you take the wetsuit off and the skin is still wet -- and it does tend to stay wet for awhile.

- Bill

Hi Bill,

You should be aware that using a Lycra skin under your wetsuit will cause a loss in thermal protection of the suit. Adding a neoprene layer will not have this loss in thermal protection.

Many freedivers wear even tighter fitting wetsuits than scuba divers. Many of them use a mixture of baby shampoo and water to soap up the suit. The soap washes away, is safe for the environment, and doesn't hurt your skin. Suits usually slide right on that way. YMMV.

dmoore19 · Nov 16, 2013

I use lycra scuba socks. They help with my feet and legs sliding into the wetsuit. They also help keep my feet from being chewed up after being wet for a week at a time.

Madacub · Nov 16, 2013

Scuba.com:
Hi Bill,

You should be aware that using a Lycra skin under your wetsuit will cause a loss in thermal protection of the suit. Adding a neoprene layer will not have this loss in thermal protection.

Hi Scuba.com, would you please explain how this will cause a loss in thermal protection?

Thanks.

A Tip for Putting on a Full Wetsuit

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Adventure-Ocean

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