Keeping warm versus bulky wetsuit (and buoyancy control issues)

[TSandM]

If you are properly weighted, it is not the weight you are carrying that is causing the buoyancy issues. It may well be, however, the buoyancy of the suit, as it expands in the shallow water. It's something you can learn to handle -- we start most of our OW students in 7 mil suits with 7 mil Farmer Johns, and they manage with them.

However, if you get cold that easily, I'm with the chorus. Go dry. A White's Fusion Sport dry suit is light, dries quickly, is easy to dive, will allow you to replace your own seals, and is delightful in warm water. I know, because I get cold easily and don't dive wet anywhere any more.

 

[lamarpaulski]

Steve made a good point..a thin hooded vest adds a lot of warmth with little bulk or bouyancy gain imo...plus its a cheap simple fix versus going to $ drysuit option which you may ultimately do. The warm water input before and between dives is good too.

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[String]

I can sympathise. 28c for me is a full 5mm suit and often with a hood for multiple dives. Even then 3 dives a day im shaking.

28-25c its a 7mm full with hood. Below 25c i wear a drysuit without question.

I'd say with the above, if you're that cold, get a drysuit and make sure its a membrane. The advantage is in relatively warm water you can wear a very thin underlayer so the suit isn't bulky and much less weight is required than layers and layers of 7mm neoprene. A properly fitting membrane suit with a sensible underlayer (even normal hiking tops are fine in these temps) will be FAR less bulky than a wetsuit.

I quite often wear my drysuit in Egypt - it's not so nice on the surface in 45c sun but it makes the dive so much more enjoyable not being absolutely freezing.

With a wetsuit make sure you get out of it and dry immediately after a dive even if its only a short surface interval and wear a hood. That'll help a bit.

Some of the most miserable dives of my life have been in 22c water wearing a 3mm hooded vest, 7mm semi dry on top and a 3mm shortie on top of that. Shaking and numb after 20 mins. Much better to go dry.