School a newbie on wetsuits please...
- Thread starter purbeast
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Some of us would say "are you sure you want a 3mm suit, seems like too much."(I stick to warm water now for the purpose of not needing to wear or pack all that neoprene - if I can't do it in my 1mm I don't go there!)
It all experienced based, yours is obviously different than mine, and its all good.....out of all the places I have dived, I can only recall one place, Eilat Israel, where the water was warm enough to wear that thin of an exposure suit. Even off the coast of Hurgada Egypt I was glad to have a 5mm, but the time of year was mid-november as opposed to June/July.
I have never been diving in Florida or the Caribbean so I have no clue exactly how warm the water gets down there. My question/suggestion was only to recommend a suit that has versatility in a wider range of temperatures...but if one is engineering their trips to specifically dive warm water then temperature range versatility has already been considered and is not an issue. But since this discussion is taking place in the "New Divers and Those Considering Diving" sub-forum, and the OP is not yet certified per his post, this is not an issue one should assume and it is better to bring the issue up to at least ensure or foster some thought on the subject.
-Z
Check out Henderson wetsuits. I have a 3mm Henderson Thermoprene that fits great. Though I am more the tall and skinny athletic runners build. They have a good range of sizes that might meet your different measurements.
So true.
And this will make it difficult for the OP to utilize all this good advise.
A young woman and I used to do a lot of traveling and diving together.
We both did our local diving in cold-water California.
Whenever we hit a warm water location, I'd strip down as close to naked as I could get legally.
She loved to be warm... never too warm.
So, she'd alway gear up in a full suit with hood, and gloves (if allowed).
Underwater we looked like the aquatic odd-couple.
But we were both in our comfort zone.
I'm with @Damselfish - if I need more than a 3mm I don't want to go there or will rent more protection. I was surprised that I needed more when we dove Kona in September last year. But of course the dive op had the perfect wetsuit for my needs - no biggie. Not worth bringing my 5mm (maybe it's time to sell that and my 8/7).
I also own a vest with a hood, and a jacket that is 1mm. If I think the water may be questionable I'll throw one or the other in my luggage. They don't take up much room and as core warmers, they provide that little extra bump in warmth.
Another thought to keep in mind is how much extra weight you have to add when adding neoprene. I know I'm overweighted with 10 pounds of lead when I dive in skins, and if I add a 3mm I go up to 16 pounds of lead. That extra 6 pounds of lead makes it so much harder for me to get up the ladder (it's an age thing - and yes, I suppose I should add some lunges to my workouts).
I also own a vest with a hood, and a jacket that is 1mm. If I think the water may be questionable I'll throw one or the other in my luggage. They don't take up much room and as core warmers, they provide that little extra bump in warmth.
Another thought to keep in mind is how much extra weight you have to add when adding neoprene. I know I'm overweighted with 10 pounds of lead when I dive in skins, and if I add a 3mm I go up to 16 pounds of lead. That extra 6 pounds of lead makes it so much harder for me to get up the ladder (it's an age thing - and yes, I suppose I should add some lunges to my workouts).
D_Fresh
Contributor
I will second the advise that many have given already, and hopefully expand upon it a bit. I suggest:
3mm full
Wrist and Ankle zips are nice, but not required. They certainly add convenience, but also increase the price.
Watch a few vids on YouTube on technique, but I suggest putting on your wetsuit by turning it inside out, insert your feet then Roll it up your legs, pull it up to your waist then adjust the suit on your legs and in the crotch area. (Major benefit here is reduced friction than sliding, and you shouldn't "overheat" and sweat while donning the lower half.) Then do the same process with the arms and up n over the shoulders. Not only is this method easier, but also better for the life of your suit (less stretching and pulling, thus less stress to the material).
*Major tip here: Before zipping up, if you can, step under a rinse shower or jump in the pool. This has two benefits, 1st, it is easier to finish any adjustments needed (twist the leg into place, make sure the shoulders/armpits are good.) And 2nd, the water that is now inside your suit will be preheated before you splash in, helps prevent any "Oh that's colder than I thought" shock.
**Bonus tip, IF you pee your suit during the dive (hey, we all do right?), if you hand up your BC before climbing back onto the dive boat, unzip the back of your suit and dunk down a bit. The water will rush in and flush your suit as you climb out. Or hit the rinse showers ashore and flush out Before removing your suit.
I dive the Philippines, with water temps between 25 to 19°c. Never been "too" cold, but having a 2mm hooded vest option is nice on repetitive deeper dives during January/February, they're also inexpensive.
Happy diving and good luck to ya!
3mm full
- As mentioned by many, more protection from jelly and hydroid stings. The more cover the better.
- Back zip is way easier to put on/take off, especially when wet.
- I've never been too warm on 3mm full
- Add a 2mm hooded vest if you find your core feels too cold on repetitive dives.
Wrist and Ankle zips are nice, but not required. They certainly add convenience, but also increase the price.
Watch a few vids on YouTube on technique, but I suggest putting on your wetsuit by turning it inside out, insert your feet then Roll it up your legs, pull it up to your waist then adjust the suit on your legs and in the crotch area. (Major benefit here is reduced friction than sliding, and you shouldn't "overheat" and sweat while donning the lower half.) Then do the same process with the arms and up n over the shoulders. Not only is this method easier, but also better for the life of your suit (less stretching and pulling, thus less stress to the material).
*Major tip here: Before zipping up, if you can, step under a rinse shower or jump in the pool. This has two benefits, 1st, it is easier to finish any adjustments needed (twist the leg into place, make sure the shoulders/armpits are good.) And 2nd, the water that is now inside your suit will be preheated before you splash in, helps prevent any "Oh that's colder than I thought" shock.
**Bonus tip, IF you pee your suit during the dive (hey, we all do right?
), if you hand up your BC before climbing back onto the dive boat, unzip the back of your suit and dunk down a bit. The water will rush in and flush your suit as you climb out. Or hit the rinse showers ashore and flush out Before removing your suit. I dive the Philippines, with water temps between 25 to 19°c. Never been "too" cold, but having a 2mm hooded vest option is nice on repetitive deeper dives during January/February, they're also inexpensive.
Happy diving and good luck to ya!
OP
purbeast
Contributor
Okay so I'm pretty much set, based on a lot of the same feedback in this thread, that the following is what I want to get:
- full suit
- 3mm
- back zipper
I've been looking at them and I'm looking to get a blue/black one and I am seeing some by both Henderson and Bare that I like. I know quite a few people mentioned Henderson in here but I'm wondering if there are opinions on Bare as well.
I also see these 2 from Henderson:
Henderson Thermoprene Pro Men's 3mm Jumpsuit
Henderson Thermoprene 3mm Men's Jumpsuit (Back Zip)
And to me being a noob that I am, I don't really know what the difference is but one is nearly $70 more than the other. What causes them to be more?
- full suit
- 3mm
- back zipper
I've been looking at them and I'm looking to get a blue/black one and I am seeing some by both Henderson and Bare that I like. I know quite a few people mentioned Henderson in here but I'm wondering if there are opinions on Bare as well.
I also see these 2 from Henderson:
Henderson Thermoprene Pro Men's 3mm Jumpsuit
Henderson Thermoprene 3mm Men's Jumpsuit (Back Zip)
And to me being a noob that I am, I don't really know what the difference is but one is nearly $70 more than the other. What causes them to be more?
Damselfish
Contributor
yes of course, at any given temp it all depends on the person. In the Caribbean you can see people on the same dive in everything from 7mm (sometimes the local DMs who are acclimated to the climate), to folks in bathing suits. The OP is doing at least some Caribbean diving - no idea what else they have in mind, but possibly not planning on local diving if they're going to Cayman for their checkout dives.
3mm is actually a decent compromise for the Caribbean when one has no idea. But if you need to cover a range of temps, I think it can be better to have multiple pieces (if not multiple suits) and layer, rather than get something thick enough for anything you might do. While it's true you can let water into a suit that's thicker than you need so probably won't be too warm underwater, you can overheat on the surface. A thicker suit is also harder to pack. And some people stick to warm water precisely because they hate thick wetsuits, not to mention the extra weight needed to sink them. So there are actual drawbacks to going overboard on thickness.
Dogbowl
Contributor
OP
purbeast
Contributor
Similar threads
