Wetsuit Question...

[tom2004]

I have a question about wetsuits. I was told that wetsuits that I use to surf, cant be used to dive with...why not? I dont see any difference. There made out of the same material and the wetsuit I use to surf with is 5mm. So I will stay warm. Is there something Im missing? Thanks

 

[Garrobo]

Total BS. Of course you can use your wetsuit to dive with.

 

[ketchumid]

It's just rubber, go dive.

Time will kill a wet suit before useage types-

 

[Tom725]

There are drysuits for wind surfing and I would guess for surfing that are cannot be used for diving because they do not have a connection for a low pressure hose needed to fill the drysuit with air while diving. A wet suit can be used for either sport provided it is of sufficient thickness for the water temperature.

 

[neil]

If anything, the opposite is true: you wouldn't want to be paddling your board in one of the front-zip diving wetsuits.

 

[Doc Harry]

There can be a significant difference between surfing and diving wetsuits. There are different kinds of rubber, some of which are more durable than others. Someone else who is more knowledgable than me can delve into the details of different kinds of rubber (neoprene) manufacturing. Or you can do a search, this question has been asked many, many times before.

Surfing wetsuits are generally not made to withstand the repeated compression of diving. Of course you can dive with a surfing wetsuit, but it won't last as long as scuba wetsuit. Your surfing wetsuit will eventually lose its insulating power if you dive with it.

 

[ianw2]

You can use the same wetsuit to surf or dive. No problems there.

Of course, the surfing wetsuit will start to fall apart very quickly after you’ve been diving with it for a few months. You see, neoprene can be made to be flexible and stretchy or it can be made to be tough and resilient. Unfortunately, it can’t really be made to do both at the same time.

The neoprene for the surf wetsuit is made to be very flexible and stretchy in order to accommodate the surfers active sport. The draw back to that flexibility is that the walls of the bubbles are not very strong. After they get compressed and expanded a few dozen times, the bubble walls will start to break down. Once the break down occurs, there’s nothing that will stop it and the insulation characteristics of the suit drop like a paralyzed falcon.

By the same token, the wetsuit made for diving will stand up to a few years’s worth of compression/expansion cycles before degrading. On the other hand, the suit won’t be very flexible to allow the surfer to do much in the way of fast movements necessary to ride a wave.


Ian

 

[spectrum]

I'm with Doc Harry on this. Maybe yes and maybe no.

It all depends on the surfing suit. Many will be fine. There are some that are not designed to have gear strapped to them and pulling on the outside surfaces. The same is true for some triathlon suits. If it's a full body suit with a nylon fabric facing on the outside you should be fine. Otherwise be careful.

It is also possible that the surf suit is made from a less compression resistant neoprene and will loose thermal value and change buoyancy with depth to a greater extent. Try it and see how it works for you.

Pete

 

[MissyP]

Depends on the suit I'd think.. I have a backzip 5mm Ripcurl suit for surfing, but I also use that same suit for diving in the pool and in Cozumel~ no problem, works great.
I don't know what the water temps in Fla are, but you might get chilled at depth once the suit compresses..

 

[TheHobster]

another thing to look at is the seams and how they are sewn. A dive suit as double and triple stitched seams to with stand gear being work. Also, some surf suits the seams are not flat on the inside; you have an actual seam extruding (or intruding?) on the inside, against your skin. Under compression that could be uncomfortable.