"Changing towel/robe" for boat coat?

[scubadada]

Truwest Parkas - Water Apparel

 

[Marie13]

I know plenty of people who use them in the tropics, but since you want cheap, pretty much anything will work in that case.

 

[scubadada]

I use my boat coat all winter in SE Florida

 

[Dish]

@WetInPortland ... we just finished the Surge to Curacao and wore our Surf Furs on every boat dive. I reckon that would qualify as the tropics. We used the Surf Furs in Bonaire and the Caymans. Never leave the dock without them.

 

[WetInPortland]

So allow me to amend a bit here ... fleece versus microfiber - thoughts/comments?

 

[Jcp2]

I think the key is windproof. The surf fur isn’t just a fleece, but a wind and waterproof membrane sandwiched between two layers of fleece. It’s also reversible, but if you were looking for inexpensive with the same functionality for a boat/dive coat, I would look at old swim parkas at the thrift store.

 

[CathyE]

IMO, Microfibre dries, fleece warms. Two products, two jobs. Which do you think you need?

 

[WetInPortland]

IMO, Microfibre dries, fleece warms. Two products, two jobs. Which do you think you need?

I'm looking to reduce the evaporation rate of water in the neoprene, which gets a bit chilly in the breeze. I think I'm going to try a nylon shell that should block the wind. Drying/warming isn't the issue, it's stopping the evaporative cooling.

 

[CathyE]

I'm looking to reduce the evaporation rate of water in the neoprene, which gets a bit chilly in the breeze. I think I'm going to try a nylon shell that should block the wind. Drying/warming isn't the issue, it's stopping the evaporative cooling.

Makes sense.
I often take both a microfibre sports towel and a windbreaker. My husband (who usually removes his wetsuit between dives) will often commandeer the windbreaker when the breeze gets cool.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Makes sense.
I often take both a microfibre sports towel and a windbreaker. My husband (who usually removes his wetsuit between dives) will often commandeer the windbreaker when the breeze gets cool.

The above plus an optional neoprene surface hooded jacket as needed, that I see a lot of the SE Asia/Micronesia Dive Guides use.

For a long length changing towel/garment to get out of wet swimsuits underneath, we tropical Asian Divers typically use a Sarong/Pareo/Batik (or short "Lava-Lava" as the Polynesians call them).
Pareo Sarong

Shop around -you can get them much less expensive than above (especially in country like the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand etc).