Which wetsuit for warmth????

[AmysOnline]

okay - I'm new to diving - and I'm hooked! I live in New England and I need a WARM wetsuit. I'm not ready for a drysuit yet, so I need a toasty 7mm wetsuit - if there is one. I have been leaning towards the Henderson Gold - "They" (Henderson) say it is so warm and easy to get on... sounds nice - but I would rather hear that from other experienced divers. Not to mention, $$$$. I would really hate to spend the big bucks on the Henderson Gold if I can be warmer in something else.

Which suit would you recommend for warmth. Ease of putting it on is nice... but not my main concern is not freezing my butt off!

Thanks
Amy

 

[joewr]

Amy,

We live in California and do not even dive here! Imagine how we would feel about a Northeast Winter dive! But I did spent a few years in the Northeast whilst in school and I didn't think the water at Cape Cod was all that cold--in summer. However, bottom line, we never have dived in the US coastal Atlantic.

But let me say a word about Henderson Gold anyhow: we have then and love them. Why? Precisely because they are a lot easier to get in and out of when you are wet (compared to ordinary neoprene and its congeneric polymers). There are other brands that have similar materials, but we have not tried them yet--e.g., Parkhurst has "Titanium" and I think others do as well.

We think the Hendersons are worth the extra cost and we probably going to get some 5mm Golds for our next Winter diving in Hawaii. We were there in Feb of this year and used our 3mm Golds with 2.5 vests. The water was 74-77 degrees F and that is about as low as we go. Yep, we are candy a-- divers!

Joewr

 

[jobowker]

The Henderson Gold Core 7mm was the first to have a slick polyeurethane lining inside a piece of N1S neoprene. Old suit way back in the day were made this way, ie nylon on the outside and bare neoprene on the inside. This forms a pretty good seal against your body, so if the suit fits well, you have far less water on the inside to flush in & out. These old suits were warm, but really really hard to get into. Then came suits with nylon or even plush lining. They were easier to don than the bare neoprene, but the downside was that they let in more water. Along comes henderson with a slick new lining, which slides easier than anything else, and still forms a seal against your skin. The only possible concern is that one sided neoprene may not be as strong as two sided (meaning more of a chance tearing something while putting it on) but my sister in law (my wife doesn't dive) has the Henderson as she now stays far warmer than me. Just like the titanium fad that started a few years ago, a lot of wetsuit manufacturers are jumping on the slick lining bandwagon. The main difference is that Harvey's is cobalt blue, and I think Scubapro's is silver. I just bought a new wetsuit (my old one was a really old fleece lined Henderson) and I too wanted the ease of donning and warmth of the Henderson, but not the price. I went with a small manufacturer who makes custom suits. I'm getting a 7mm Farmer John, with an attached hood, and the same lining mentioned above. It's not a brand name, but it's $250 instead of $500. Neither Henderson nor Aquaflite (the company I used - http://www.aquaflite.com) actually make their own neoprene, so I don't believe tales that the neoprene is better in one than the other solely based on price. [Attention flamers - I'm not saying that all neoprenes are equal - I'd love to have a suit made entirely in Rubatex G231 but can't find a company that makes Rubatex suits with a slick lining - even wetwear only sells nylon or lycra lining.] Bottom line - there are other manufacturers that will probably keep you just as warm for less money. BTW, I'm planning on diving this weekend - the water is already up to about 45 degrees. If you ever dive around Cape Ann area, give me a shout. There's a bunch of cool dive spots around here, and plenty of beginner places.

 

[tgreaves]

check out a harveys titanium.. I have one and dive in 35F to 45F water.. I never get cold..

 

[buff]

Hey Amy

You will hear alot about how this neoprene and that neoprene and how well a suit is to get on and off-but here are some simple points.
The actual thermal protection differnece between different thickness of suit or type of neoprene is minimal compared to how well the suit prevents water from getting in-wetsuit seal is VERY important. And it is for those reasons that fit is most important. Not every manufacuterer sizes the same. You have to find a suit that fits you. A custom suit might be cheaper and fit better than a lot of the more expensive suits.
With regards to easy on and easy off with the Hendersons-I have to say that I find them just slightly less exhausting to get in and out of than a cheaper suit.
I like the BARE line of wesuits-they are on the internet. They have one model that is a jumpsuit with an attached hood and zips in the front-it's 7 ml. and then they have the 7 ml. SupraArctic that you can wear over their standard suit. You can get the later at LeisurePro for about half of what you would pay for a Henderson-but again it has to fit otherwise it's useless.

Good Luck

 

[jobowker]

Buff made a good point. You lose heat through conduction and convention. Conduction is the heat loss through the suit. The thicker the suit, the lower the heat loss, if all else is equal. Convection is the heat loss by pumping cold sea water in and out of your suit. On the slick lined suits, if it fits properly, the slick lining forms a seal against your skin, vastly cutting down the water that can get in, and greatly reducing heat loss through convection. Bottom line - fit is the most important factor to make any suit work. some manufacturers are better suited to women's shapes, and have multiple size combinations. My wife doesn't dive, but she has one size top and another size bottom, and as such it would be difficult for her to fit in an off the rack size suit.

 

[simonk999]

I guess I'm just repeating what's been said -- the best, slickest lining won't help if your suit doesn't fit tightly enough. I have a custom aquaflite with the slick lining. It is in some ways easier to put on, but in other ways not. Part of the difficulty is because since it's custom, it's pretty tight everywhere, and the slick lining really isn't all that slick in practise -- where it really helps is that it seals, rather than wicks water as would a nylon lining, and hence there's less water flow, hence more warmth. I was in nice warm 57F Monterey water this weekend with the new suit, and was warm enough that next time, I might just go with one layer (was wearing 6.5 fullsuit plus 6.5 sleeveless jacket. Of course, hood, gloves, etc too). For the cost of the Henderson, I'd go for a custom (and I did!@)

-Simon