Is a 5mm wetsuit okay to use.....

[abscuba]

5mm is thin for 65F maybe if you were well adjusted and in a low stress situation, but for a new diver 7mm for 65F. Warmer water will be much more comfortable.

 

[jessepcvfd6]

Well the water we'll be in on Saturday is 86. I think I'm just going to go buy me a top shirt and do that. No sense in being in a 5mm anyways.

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[spectrum]

If you find you need the 5mm suit to be comfortable in the water have some used water bottles filled with tap water. As you gear up when you get warm pour a liter or so down the collar. It will dissipate a lot of trapped body heat and let you get into the water without a heat stroke.

Pete

 

[jessepcvfd6]

If you find you need the 5mm suit to be comfortable in the water have some used water bottles filled with tap water. As you gear up when you get warm pour a liter or so down the collar. It will dissipate a lot of trapped body heat and let you get into the water without a heat stroke.

Pete

Thanks for that info! BC I really want to use it haha


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[bazmattaz]

I am a million miles away from being a dive pro, but I am a holiday diver. Topside temp up around 30C and water temp in the low 20C range and I'm not wearing any rubber at all. I'm diving in my shorts and rash vest. Usually only after about ten minutes of convincing the DM that I won't be cold though. Some of these tropical DMs must take a shower with a wetsuit on the way they feel the cold ;-)


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[Deitsch]

I only dive 5mm in tropics including the Carib, Indonesia, Philippines, Red Sea. I get cold easily so for me 5mm is not too much wetsuit at all.

 

[Iralub]

I'm very cold sensitive. In water temp 28 to 30 celsius I'm quite comfortable in 3mm full wetsuit for up to 4 dives a day, if there is a decent surface interval where I can get into dry gear. Below that temp, I start getting a bit cold in 3mm on multiple dives. In 23 to 24 degree water I was quite cold in a new 5mm suit and still slightly cold even adding an undershirt and hood. 18 degree water and 3mm suit sounds like torture to me.
Ymmv

 

[high/baric]

18 degree water and 3mm suit sounds like torture to me.

Not just torture, but a hazard. All kinds of problems become more likely when you are hypothermic or in risk of becoming hypothermic, including likelihood of developing DCS. Granted that I have often dived in <10 degrees C with just a wetsuit, proper exposure protection is as much an investment in safety as it is in comfort when you're diving in colder water (which is why I'm getting a drysuit in the following weeks).

 

[tazgator]

Hate to be the one to say it, but a 5mm seems a bit too much for water temp anywhere near as warm as you describe. So almost as bad as getting chilly and/or cold is to be overheating... even if you try to flush water through. Similar has happen to me in which I had a beautiful 5 mm ScubaPro suit that I have but I rarely wear although I was truly tempted as my old 3mm no longer fit well and/or could keep me adequately warm. In the end I had to pick up another 3mm as opposed to trying my luck at using a rental...

 

[bmlbytes]

18 degree water and 3mm suit sounds like torture to me.

I do it every weekend now. I don't have any issue with being cold, even on subsequent dives.

Although, the air temperature is 45 C (113 F), so it's pretty easy to warm up between dives.