wetsuit thickness to water temp

[DivrBikr]

Can anybody tell me if there is a chart, reference guide, list or wetsuit guru that can give a basic guideline to wetsuit thickness to water temp?

Thanks!

 

[Filippo]

From my little experience, I would say that, if you're a recreational diver, you should only buy either a 5mm or a 7mm wetsuit.

You'll never be HOT in a 5mm (if you are, just unzip and let the water in). So if you're not a pro and don't want to spend couple hundred bucks on another suit just for warm water, go for the 5mm

Now the line between 5 and 7 depends on the person and accessories. If you don't wear a hood, jacket or anything else, I would go for the 7mm to dive in water below 60F

 

[meesier42]

For "most"

>82= swimsuit or lycra dive skin
82-75F= 3mm full
75-68F=5mm full with gloves
68-60F= 7mm full with gloves and hood
<60F= drysuit, although some people try to get away with farmer johns and similar

remember, these are highly subjective marks, just numbers that I have found keep most people "ok" for 2-3 dives a day. I have also found that many ladies are more cold sensitive than the men, or maybe they are just more willing to admit it.

I dive a Pinnacle Seal (Merino lined 3mm suit) from low 80's down to about 66F. This is probably the single warmest suit for its thickness on the market All I change is adding gloves, a beanie or hood, or worst case a hooded vest. Below that I just grab my drysuit

 

[fstbttms]

March thru November, I wear a wetsuit. Surface temps vary from <60° to 70°+. I use a 1/4" custom seal-neck jon from Otter Bay and wear a variety of jackets over it, depending on conditions. Lightest is a 2.5 mm Hyperflex longsleeve shorty in the warmest part of summer. Heaviest is a 7 mm Harvey's beaver tail jacket. Once it drops much past 60°, I get into a Mares Isotherm semi-dry and eventually end up in a Harvey's neoprene drysuit. Temps here in the Bay will dip below 50° in the middle of winter (like right now )

 

[DivrBikr]

As always, I appreciate the info.
Thanks to all.

 

[pdks]

Of course temp. comfort varies from diver to diver ...and dive to dive. Typically that deep-down chilled feeling creeps up on you by the third dive of the day if you're 'cheating' a bit and wearing not quite enough neoprene.

It's all a trade-off of course. It's a wonderful feeling to wear a thin suit. I personally always wear some kind of an all-over ...I don't like shorties. Diving warm water water (75F +) many can get by with a 3mm suit.

One last thought: in really nice, warm water, instead of a skin, Scubapro and some others make a really thin, true neoprene suit. It's either 1mm or .5mm. Minimal warm, but still considerably more than a skin, which is just a nylon or Lycra stretchy thing.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Here is my personal guide for diving 2 dives on a warm sunny day. More dives than that and I have to beef up the neoprene or I get chilled. If it is cold during the SI, I have to beef if up.

Everyone is different. FYI: I wear a hood and gloves anytime temp is below 70f


<40 cyber-dive.
40-50 Go dry, I can dive once wet, but dives are short
50-68 7MM
59-68 5MM
69-79 3MM
80+ Skin

 

[The Kraken]

From another grumpy old guy . . .

. . . wear your thickest wetsuit into the coldest water you want to dive, and iffen ya git cold, buy yerself a thicker one !!!

We each have different physiologies . . . what works for one won't necessarily work for another.

the K

 

[SkimFisher]

From another grumpy old guy . . .

. . . wear your thickest wetsuit into the coldest water you want to dive, and iffen ya git cold, buy yerself a thicker one !!!

We each have different physiologies . . . what works for one won't necessarily work for another.

the K

You beat me to it.

Buy whatever you need to buy to keep yourself warm.

 

[fstbttms]

One thing to bear in mind when thinking about which suit to buy- because a custom wetsuit fits so well, you will experience much less flow-through than on a similar, off-the-rack suit. I can dive much later into the year in my Otter Bay wetsuit than I ever could in anything else, simply because it fits me, not some computerized generalization of what extra-large should be.