OP
kasper wendelboe
Registered
What celsius Will full 5mm and 5mm hooded shorty give me. ...
Wetsuit for 5 celsius water
- Thread starter kasper wendelboe
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
no less than 16C (about 62F) and you will still end up pretty cold if the dive is deeper (due to suit compression) or longer than an hour-ish
I wont even wear a 5mm in 20C unless its a short shallow beach type dive.
Serious cold water divers get drysuits, they are worth the expense and learning curve.
Dogbowl
Contributor
I really think you’re trying to jam a square peg into a round hole. For 8 degrees Celsius, it’s definitely drysuit territory for most people. Diving wet in any combination of wetsuits will be uncomfortable in those temperatures.
Some open water students up here dive 7mm farmer John’s (14mm torso) with 7mm gloves and hoods but they’re doing shallow checkout dives. And it’s still uncomfortable.
Some open water students up here dive 7mm farmer John’s (14mm torso) with 7mm gloves and hoods but they’re doing shallow checkout dives. And it’s still uncomfortable.
The answer to your question is "the one that fits you the best".
Beyond that, the question back to you is how deep and for how long?
I have dived my 5/4mm wetsuit, with boots, wet gloves, and a 6mm drysuit hood, in 45F water for 24 minutes, with max depth 70', and 49F for 32 minutes, with max depth 65'. The 45F dive was the 3rd dive of that day, as well. In both cases, I was cold at the end, but not shivering.
Everybody's personal tolerance is different. In my case, my ability to do those dives had a lot to do with my suit fitting me very well and having good smoothskin seals at the wrists, ankles, neck, and a decent spine pad. Also, I wasn't very deep, so suit compression wasn't as bad as it could have been.
For what you are asking for, I personally would normally be using a drysuit. But, sometimes I have reasons to not dive dry. In that case, I would be looking for a semi-dry. Hollis Neotek, ScubaPro Nova Scotia, or Aqualung SolFX. Whichever one fits the best. Personally, I have a 7/5mm wetsuit. Identical model and size to my 5/4. I love my 5/4 and hate my 7/5 It's just too thick. So, I would look for a thinner semi-dry (e.g. 6.5mm) and I would not go for one of the options that involves a hooded vest or other 2-layer solution. At least, not until I tried a well-fitting semi-dry by itself (with a drysuit hood and wet gloves) first. If the semi-dry is not enough, then I would look for something like a 3mm shorty to wear over the semi-dry. Or maybe 5mm, depending on how cold I was in the semi-dry.
If your big beef with diving dry is the expense, check out Seaskin drysuits.
Dry Suits from Seaskin Custom Drysuits home page - Seaskin Custom Diving Suits
I got one 2 months ago and I love it. It's my 3rd drysuit and the best, for me, by far. And they are very inexpensive (for a drysuit). They start at 426 UK pounds (with VAT - that's less than 500 Euro!) and are made-to-measure.
I like 14mm on the core and 7mm extremities for that temperature range. Adding a full 5mm to that is needed for some longer dives.
Taped ankles and wrists, prefilled with warm water.
Taped ankles and wrists, prefilled with warm water.
Dogbowl
Contributor
Wow, I can’t imagine adding another 5mm to the 14mm, but I guess you’ve done it and it works. Interesting!
Near 0° or longer dives it gets necessary for me. Only have a couple hundred dives in a 12/21mm.
It isn't my favorite configuration mainly because the suits aren't exactly my shape. But I get cold easily and like being warm so the loss of flexibility is an ok tradeoff.
I prefer wet to dry because it's hard to catastrophically flood a wetsuit.
Dogbowl
Contributor
You're not a drysuit guy either?
Honestly, my mind is a little blown how it can be done...I'm the kind of person who wears a 5mm full suit plus 5/3 hooded vest in a Canadian lake and my dive computer is telling me it's a balmy 77F (25C)...and I'm cold and shivering after about an hour. AND I poured hot water in before starting the dive. So I guess you could say I'm really a cold water wuss!
ScubaBunga
Contributor
When I lived up in WI and dove year round it was with farmer john with overlaying shorty (believe both were at least 7mm), with cold water boots (extra seal), and gloves/mitts, and full hood - gumby style. My first cert after OW was ICE diving so I kind of just started there. Always ended up cold but enjoyed all the dives. Had a 5gal jug with the hottest water I could get that morning waiting at the car for after the dive to fill the suit. Ya do what you have to do get in the water! I also dove dry suits a few times and would when I could. Enjoy the dive! Of course, full disclosure, I much prefer my 2.5mm shorty in a place with palm trees.
It's called a drysuit. Don't worry, they get quite wet on the inside.
Similar threads
