Thermocline and Wetsuits

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kdagostin0

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I'm in the market for a new suit and decided the best way to purchase this wetsuit is by going off the bottom thermocline temp rather than your standard ocean temp.
I currently freedive so i havent had a dive comp at the bottom yet so as of now i cant determine by bottom thermocline temp.
Right now the water temp is 61 degrees is there any way to figure out the ball park temp at 30ft or so?
 
Ocean or lake?
I've never experienced a big marine swing here unless moving past a FW source like a creek. We vary between low 40's to maybe 50 in the summer - mainly 45F.
Lakes, about 10F drop, maybe more. In one lake I went from low 60's to 45F at 60'.

What is your region?
 
I went from 82 degrees on the surface to 54 degrees below the thermocline at 40'. Big shifts are unusual, but if you have different currents converging in one location like the Gulf Stream and the Labrador off North Carolina then it's possible.
 
Southern California, northern San Diego. I mainly do ocean shore dives in 20-40ft of water.

---------- Post added March 1st, 2014 at 06:42 PM ----------

I'm thinking a 5mm and vest if needed. Really trying to keep as much weight off as possible.
 
Southern California, northern San Diego. I mainly do ocean shore dives in 20-40ft of water.

---------- Post added March 1st, 2014 at 06:42 PM ----------

I'm thinking a 5mm and vest if needed. Really trying to keep as much weight off as possible.

Water at depth here in San Diego is pretty much between 50 and 60 degrees year round. Most ppl who dive these waters use a 7mm at a minimum, and many are still too cold and migrate to a drysuit. But *some* ppl can tolerate a lot of cold.

And yes, you can definitely hit the thermocline even in that shallow of water. However, your suit will compress less at shallow depths so you'll have that going for you...
 
Southern California, northern San Diego. I mainly do ocean shore dives in 20-40ft of water.

---------- Post added March 1st, 2014 at 06:42 PM ----------

I'm thinking a 5mm and vest if needed. Really trying to keep as much weight off as possible.

Thermoclines in SoCal only happen when there is a seasonal change and the cold water coming in or warm water coming in. When the seasonal change stopped, there ain't no mo' thermoclines. What's on top is what's at the bottom.

Maybe on a sunny winter day, you might have a foot or two worth of depth immediately below the surface for warmth, but I doubt even that.
 
The choice between a dry suit and a wet suit really depends on how you will dive.
If you want to progress and see your self doing regular, year round diving, multiple dives per day or longer dives, a drysuit is a better choice.
If you only dive occasionally, are satisfied with two dives in summer (when you can rewarm during the SI) and only one in the winter, a wetsuit may be enough.
I own both and enjoy the simplicity of a wetsuit in the summer, but could not do my winter dives with one.

As for weight. One of my wetsuits is a Pinnacle Polar 7/5 semi-dry lined with merino wool, very warm. Once the wool become saturated it requires very little lead. In this video I am actually diving no lead by using a brass back pack that probably weights 8-10lb's and I am able to handle the buoyancy shifts of compression without needing a BCD. You can see a good side view at 1:03. So, a quality one piece need not require a lot of lead. I'm not pushing that suit btw, just using my own experience for an example.

[video=youtube;AGFpfrSZR9o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGFpfrSZR9o[/video]
 
dive computer on a 30 ft string.

I'm in the market for a new suit and decided the best way to purchase this wetsuit is by going off the bottom thermocline temp rather than your standard ocean temp.
I currently freedive so i havent had a dive comp at the bottom yet so as of now i cant determine by bottom thermocline temp.
Right now the water temp is 61 degrees is there any way to figure out the ball park temp at 30ft or so?
 
Southern California, northern San Diego. I mainly do ocean shore dives in 20-40ft of water.

---------- Post added March 1st, 2014 at 06:42 PM ----------

I'm thinking a 5mm and vest if needed. Really trying to keep as much weight off as possible.

You might want to consider a high density neoprene dry suit as well. You won't have the compression factor to deal with as you get deeper and neoprene dry suits require a lot less weight than shell dry suits. I was able to drop 8 lbs when I switched to my neoprene dry suit and I'm a lot warmer than I used to be. And you can get one for under $1000.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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