Clothing

[Ingolf]

hey, i was just wondering what you guys wear while diving.


as im still doing my pool sessions i don't want a wetsuit yet, so ive been wearing a muscle shirt and shorts. but has anyone ever worn underarmour clothing while in the water, and how does it perform?

thanks

 

[dschulte]

Big question. The answer is dependent on what temperature you will be diving in, how deep you will be going and how long you will stay in the water. There are countless manufactures and configurations out there, you instructor will be the best one to advise on where to begin for your area. As far as the undergarments like Underarmor, I have dove a few different ones, mostly for the UV protection during the surface interval or to ease the donning and doffing of a wet wetsuit. They are valuable and I know several divers who swear by the full body dive skins under their 7mm suits. Get some solid info from your local divers before investing, rent if you want to check out your tolerance to the temperatures before you buy. I personally own a 3mm, 5mm, two 7mm and a drysuit. You tend to build a collection when you dive anywhere from Maine to the Redneck Rivera.
:monkeydan

 

[DiveMaven]

I wear either a 3mm or 5mm full wetsuit while diving. I wear them for warmth and protection.

 

[cmufieldhockey8]

I've worn an underarmour long sleeve shirt in WARM water and I had no problems. I'd say the advantage of it was that it wasn't all big and floppy underwater.

 

[PerroneFord]

I wear underarmour in the pool and under my neoprene for diving. It's nice but offers no real thermal protection in the water that I can tell. Neoprene slides nicely on it though, so it makes gettting suited up pretty nice.

 

[SharkDiver36]

I have a couple different things I wear depending on what I'm doing.

Skin - I wear in my 4hr pool sessions. Regardless of how warm the water is it's 98.6 so you are getting cold.

Drysuit - 2 set's of thermals for different occasions. One viking set for my super cold dives or really long dives below 50. A "cooler" set of thermals that I wear outside of that.

Wetsuit's (3,5,7mm semi-dry): The 3mm or5mm I wear only on trips depending where and temp. The 7mm I wear as a change to my drysuit providing the water is above 55F or so at depth. In either case, I have several thin .5 anad lycra skins I wear under my wetsuits just to help better trap that thin layer of water that keeps me warm.

Different strokes for different folks really. Bottom line is I'd recommend a suit of some kind no matter in what type of water temp you dive in. It's not only thermal protection, but enviromental protection as well. First time you don't have one on a shore dive and you get skinned up on some coral getting in/out of the water, you'll wish you had something on. I wear nothing less than a 3mm in the ocean with myskin. To me a skin doesn't provide enough envriomental protection and if I need to I can always unzip the front to maintain my comfort level.

I will say this though, I'd rather have what some people might think is "overkill" for an exposure suit than not enough. Remember, it's not just thermal but enviromental protection as well and you can always unzip the front if you need to.

Good luck with the pool sessions and welcome to a whole new world !!

 

[J.R.]

I wear a 3mm vest and swim trunks in the pool and warm waters... HOWEVER... I'm shifting to a dive skin for warm waters... not because of warmth... but simply to cover bare skin against any inadvertant contact with less than human-friendly thingies...

I haven't dove below 52 degree water... but, FOR ME, I found a 5 mil. wetsuit with a 3mm vest sufficient in that environment (was actually perfectly comfortable)...

But I think the *big answer* lies in your own physiology and the nature of your dives... When I made a dive in St. Thomas last year I was a bit surprised to see the local's using 3mm wetsuits... we chatted about it a bit and they explained that while I, being a transient diver from the cold north, might find the water warm... they, being local and diving in the water on a daily basis, actually found it cold.

... and if you're doing a lot of dives... even water that feels warm at the start can feel colder as the day goes on and fatigue and time lower your tollerance. (Remember... your body uses more oxygen when it tries to keep warm... and that can cut into your fun time...)

Your instructor should be able to give ya' a good run-down on this and the options... but... and I agree with SharkDiver36... in my opinion, better to be a bit over-dressed...

 

[booth22]

For warm water and pool sessions this is how I roll....

 

[J.R.]

For warm water and pool sessions this is how I roll....

*that's* gonna' leave a mark....