Wet suit thickness

[kelemvor]

If you can swing the cost, get a drysuit. It's slightly more work than a wetsuit but oh man it's nice to be warm in cold water.

I personally do not buy into the "special neoprene" that gets sold by some manufacturers. Well, I did (literally) but not anymore. I got my wife a fully custom wetsuit from wetwear.com. It's a perfect fit. They talked us into the 3mm because their special neoprene was as warm as a 5. Nope. It's not. She won't even dive in the Florida springs with it (72f year round). Maybe the brand you are looking at has something that wetwear doesn't.

Dive some rental suits if you can. If you can't, then just go for the 5. Personally, I wouldn't want to be in water much cooler than 70 with less than a 7mm, drysuit, or multiple wetsuits layered.

 

[Altamira]

I don't dive cold water any more, but when I did, it was in a full 7mm with matching boots, mittens, and hood. Even with that, I never got too hot, but sure did get too cold on occasion, especially when doing a two tank dive. Money spent on a high quality wetsuit that fits you, and keeps you warm considering the water temperature, will be one of the best investments you can make in dive gear. Save money someplace else.

 

[CT Sean]

You might want to post this in the New England subforum for some actual NE diver input. I personally dive here in a good quality 7mm and can be a bit cool after an hour if it's very low 60's. Below 60 and I'll be cold after a hour dive.

Location matters too - NE covers a lot of temp range. Big different in water temp between diving in ME and diving in RI.

 

[DivealotZA]

No mention of a semidry?

I have a 6.5mm semidry and dive in temps between 11'c-19'c, by googles conversion +- 50'f - 67'f

I only get cold once it dips below those...

The other day I did an 83 min dive in 55'f

This being said, google didn't give me a stable answer of the water temps there...

 

[RhodeDiver]

If you're going to be diving in New England you should be considering a dry suit.

That is if you plan on diving all year round and/or have the money to drop on one.

I dive May-November in Gloucester,MA and do it exclusively in a one piece 7mm Pinnicale wetsuit. I would say a 7mm would serve you a lot better than a 5mm. Just make sure it fits well.

 

[Neilwood]

To me the whole wetsuit thickness/drysuit issue all comes down to personal preference and tolerance. There is also no such thing as a "standard" wetsuit. Some have thermal linings with wrist and ankle dams, others are simple neoprene

I have dived a 7mm wetsuit where others were diving dry and came up warmer.

The other important thing is how warm the surface interval is and how it is spent. Standing beside a roaring fire= toast warm, standing in gale force winds and driving rain=freezing.

 

[stuartv]

Out of 30 dives, I only have one in cold water, but I want to do more. I talked to a dive shop owner today and he was saying that I should strongly consider a 5mm Thermoprene because he feels that it would be as warm as a cheaper 7mm and that I would find the flexibility of the 5mm to be more comfortable. I will be diving in New England.

Naturally, you don't know anything about my cold tolerance, and I'm not sure of it myself, though the only other cold water dive that I did was in 60 degree water and I was wearing a farmer john and a top, both 5mm, and I felt comfortable.

Any opinions?

"Comfortable" in a suit that had 10mm of neoprene on your core does not sound like it would be "comfortable" with just a 5mm one-piece.

A bunch of people already said "drysuit". For the record, you can get a decent drysuit for $1000 or less. My local shop is selling Mobby's suits for well under $1000, and they have a bunch of Hollis DX300 suits they are selling for around $1000 (I think - not sure of exact price). Or they can sell you a Waterproof, DUI, Bare, or 4th Element suit for on up to over $3000.

If it's cold enough to want more than a 5mm, I go dry. 5mm is comfy to me. 7mm is over my personal line into "not as comfy as I would like". That's talking about feeling constricted. Nothing to do with how warm it is.

Lastly, remember: What is "comfortable" for 20 minutes will probably be "cold" after 30 minutes. What is comfortable at 30 feet might be cool or cold at 60 feet. Neoprene compresses as you go deeper, so the suit will be considerably thinner at 60 feet than at 30 feet. Suits compress every time you go down. Some of that compression gradually sets in and becomes permanent.

So, if you want to use your suit for a while, and your diving is going to become progressively deeper and/or longer bottom times, you should buy something that is REALLY warm to start with. After not too long, it will be thinner and you'll (probably) be doing dives that are a little deeper and/or lasting a little longer. At that point, you'll just be hoping what was REALLY warm is still warm enough.

 

[Dan]

...Suits compress every time you go down. Some of that compression gradually sets in and becomes permanent...

I think my 12-years old 3mm wetsuit is like 1mm thick now.

 

[2airishuman]

So, wet vs dry, not sure that addresses the OP's question. To be sure a dry suit will be warmer. Dry suits have their tradeoffs however.

But there is a lot of diving that can be done safely and comfortably in a good 7mm wetsuit.

 

[Ojai Diver]

But there is a lot of diving that can be done safely and comfortably in a good 7mm wetsuit.

....And even more in a two piece 7mm wetsuit with a 7mm jacket.

In mine I am good down to at least 50 degrees, and/or multiple dives.

The two piece option lets me dive here comfortably year round.