Desperately need a better 7mm wetsuit.

[aquaregia]

Wow, those prices are pretty nice.

 

[Akimbo]

Well, that freedive suit I mentioned seems to be made out of Yamamoto neoprene, which appears to have excellent memory and avoids compression?

I believe you should investigate a little more. Yamamoto 39 and 45 are the most common formulations used for freediving suits and are well known not to tolerated prolonged repeated submersions below 40' well at all. They are also more compressible than Heiwa's Neoprene (but more flexible), though also not well suited for Scuba.

All the blended foam Neoprenes that are widely available have much lower compression resistance than Rubatex G231-N which dominated wetsuit manufacturing until around the 1990s. Unfortunately, it is a lot more expensive, less available, and less flexible.

Wetwear - Hyperbaric Chamber Test Wet Suits for Neoprenes - How does yours hold up?

Split/Open Cell Assessment - Spearboard Spearfishing Community

BTW, my Scuba suit is also made by AquaFlight, the freediving suit is made by Oceanos.

 

[mpgunner]

In Seattle area I (and friends) have used the O-Neill J Suite (7M) and been pretty happy with it.

 

[aquaregia]

My instructor has two Js and he loves them.

 

[cmburch]

The Freedive Shop sale was last week. Great prices. Those suits are not recommended for SCUBA since they will not handle repeated constant compression.

 

[Ouvea]

FuzzyBunny:

Your wetsuit needs to fit you properly and provide you the required thermal insulation. Both are equally important. Do not forego one for the other. It should fit you to the point where water sloshing inside the suit should not occur. Continued water flushing through out the suit indicates a poor fit. Secondly, the neoprene has to provide the insulation. A neoprene that compresses easily and quickly will not keep you warm. I always wondered if high stretch neoprene compresses more than their standard counterparts.

If you have difficulty finding a suit that fits your body shape, you may have no choice but to custom tailor a wetsuit. Although, at your budget, it will be difficult to find a custom suit that uses a high quality neoprene such as Rubatex. Also, I wouldn't recommend 7/5mm, if you're not especially tolerant to the cold. You still lose heat through your extremities.

C.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Thanks for all the help. I'd like to get a better wetsuit ASAP. Just had a horrible dive last night (dive itself was great, the cold afterwards was not) because SO much cold water was collecting and sloshing away in my wetsuit at the lower back where there is an empty space. When I get out of the water there is a bulge of water stuck around my midsection. And it's already a small in Henderson. Do these maufacturers size their wetsuits for people with protruding midsections? Any wetsuit manufacturers who tend to fit slim?

I'll give the custom guys a look, but I really don't think my body shape is all that off...

 

[stakanak]

The Aqualung Sol/FX is an 8/7 with integrated hood. I have 30 dives in mine which was bought used with 25 dives (55 total) and have yet to experience any leakage.
I've been in water as low as 42F and its very comfy and warm.
Under 400 dollars and well worth it!
Get Wet!

 

[Jax]

One thought would be to purchases one of the stretchy hooded vest for about $100. You would have the hood issue fixed and the stretch material would fill up your existing wetsuit making it fit better. Also it would provide an additional barrier to the zipper leak.

The semi-dry suit you buddy has are nice, but they do tend to be pricey. The 5/7 one piece is just not enough for your area.

I would consider trying the hooded vest idea. Maybe hyperstretch if you need that for the fit. Seems like it could address all your issues in one fairly cheap shot.

Get a tight fitting vest with hood---& wear it over the top...

here you go, for 60 bucks...
Neosport by Henderson 5/3mm XSPAN Hooded Vest SX153MN with reviews at scuba.com

It does sound like your wetsuit is too large.

I second - er, fourth! - the idea of a hooded vest. I have a pinnacle 5-3 hooded vest, merino lined -- they're about $100. You can use it with anything, so if you go tropical and a 3mm isn't enough, the hooded vest can keep you toasty.

In really, really cold water (60-65 degrees), I wear it with my 7mm farmer john.

 

[AGoodStart]

The Aqualung Sol/FX is an 8/7 with integrated hood. I have 30 dives in mine which was bought used with 25 dives (55 total) and have yet to experience any leakage.
Get Wet!

I have used one of these (really, it's a semi-dry) a few times and it was GREAT for winter diving here in AZ (chilly, fresh water in the mid- to upper 50s) A bunch of the instructors and DMs I dive with use the same suit. They are very warm, very little leakage with remarkable stretch throughout. Nearly idenitcal suit is sold under Aqualung branding.