Wetsuit thickness...

[svnipp]

Let me start off by saying I know that this varies greatly based upon the individual, but I shall ask anyway.

I'm looking at getting a wetsuit for diving in the fall/spring/winter months. I'm wondering what kind of water temps I should expect to be able to tolerate for a given wetsuit thickness? Specifically, I'm thinking about diving Pensacola, FL around New Years weekend. I've been told the water temp there is in the 50s and 60s that time of year. Would a 5mil wetsuit be enough to dive in, or possibly a 5mil full with a 3/2 shorty on over that?

I want to maximize the usefulness of my purchases, so I don't want to just go for the 7mil if I can get away with a 5mil. I really looking for comfort both in fit and thermal protection and my thought is that a 5mil would be inherently more comfortable than a 7mil so long as there is enough thermal protection there. I plan on testing out the 5mil below the thermoclines in some local lakes over the next few weeks.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[boat sju]

In my opinion every 5 degrees of water temp is a significant change so saying 50s and 60s is a wide range. 50 - 55 I'd want to be in a full 7mm farmer john/jacket. Upper 50s maybe a full 7mm. Your plan of trying the 5mm is a good idea if you have access to one before you purchase.

 

[devilkitty]

I regularly dive a 7mm jumpsuit in 50-60 degree water. (I've done low 40s in the same suit, but that was no fun at all...) I don't see too many 5mm suits up here around the Great -- or not-so-great -- Lakes; it's either 7mm or dry.

Be advised that you're going to need lead, and a lot of it, with a thick wetsuit. Get thee to a local dive site and check your weighting before you go: there are few things more maddening in than not bringing/renting enough weight and having to swim down that first 25 feet.

 

[spectrum]

50F is a common boundary for 7mm with 2X on the core. this would be a John/jacket or Fullsuit & vest. If you stay closer to 60F you may be OK in a 7mm Full suit & bibbed hood but I would suggest a hooded chicken vest.

A 5mm full suit will be nice in the mid-lower 70's and consider the same chicken vest as you dip into the 60s'

As you note personal tolerance along with frequency/duration of dives, suit quality/fit will all contribute.

Pete

 

[svnipp]

This strikes me as a bit odd. I seem to remember the pool in high school being kept at between 70 & 72. I swam in this for 3 years on the high school swim team and remember it being cold when you hopped in but definitely nothing to really worry about. Maybe I'm remembering it wrong, or maybe it's something else. I would just think that down to 70F I should be able to get by in a shorty or possibly a 3mil at most. I would think that a 5mil wouldn't even need to be considered until the temp drops below 70F.

Well, I picked up the 5mil wetsuit (Henderson Titanium Hyperstretch) and a 5mil hood yesterday over at Scuba Toys so I'll find out this Saturday how that does. The plan is to see just how cold I can go and be comfortable. The local scuba park where I dive goes down to about 60 ft and supposedly at that depth the temp is in the 50s even now. I'll be happy if the 5mil setup will allow me to be comfy down to 60F or maybe tolerable in the upper 50s. I'm trying to figure out if I'll be able to tolerate diving in Penscola, FL around New Years.

 

[JKPAO]

svnipp, You can add a hooded vest to your 5mm for more insulation. (also helps with water flow)
Have fun with it!
See you topside! John

 

[DiveMaven]

This strikes me as a bit odd. I seem to remember the pool in high school being kept at between 70 & 72. I swam in this for 3 years on the high school swim team and remember it being cold when you hopped in but definitely nothing to really worry about. Maybe I'm remembering it wrong, or maybe it's something else. I would just think that down to 70F I should be able to get by in a shorty or possibly a 3mil at most. I would think that a 5mil wouldn't even need to be considered until the temp drops below 70F.

Unless you dive like you swim, you'll find there's a huge difference between doing a swim team workout in mid-70's water vs. diving. One reason there's a huge difference in cold tolerance in diving is due to the different styles of diving. For example, my husband is a photographer, so we don't move very fast or much during a dive, making it easy to get cold. On the other hand, we've been on led dives where we're nearly sweating at the end since they've moved so quickly.

If you're the type of diver that swims, you'll need less thermal protection. If you're a diver that moves slowly, you'll need more thermal protection. How much that translates to is very personal.

You'll also have to factor in how many dives per day and how many consecutive days you're diving. The core temperature will really drop when doing multiples dives over consecutive days. Again, thermal protection a very personal need.

 

[svnipp]

Yeah. This is where I completely understand that my lack of experience is problematic. This is the reason that I'm going to be testing out my cold tolerance this weekend to try and get a feel for what I can reasonably do in a 5mil suit. I really want to get comfortable in the 5mil in a location where if I do get too cold I can simply rise a few to several feet to warm back up rather than setting up a 5 day dive trip to discover that it's just too cold for me to dive.

Thanks for the great feedback. I figured that I would definitely be more cold tolerant while doing a swim workout, I just don't have a feel for the translation to diving.