what is your favorite cold water wetsuit

[spectrum]

Bare 7mm Arctic and the matching 7mm hooded step-in. Very confortable for back to back at 50F. I've been to 42F in this configuaration and have been fine. Since going dry I have not had need to ask more of the suit but I'm confident that I'd continue to do at least single dives through our Maine winters.

Neo-socks in the booties and Gauntlet gloves to double insulate your wrists are also a huge enhancement. (both from Bare)

Pete

Pete

 

[MSilvia]

SAS custom fit 7mm farmer john & jacket. Still going strong after 15 years, and is very warm. If I didn't want the redundant bouyancy for deco diving, I wouldn't have seen any need to buy a drysuit.

Good luck finding one though... I think they're out of business.

 

[Manta Aria]

I've got a Scubapro Thermaltek 5mil. It has big wrist and ankle gaskets to massively restrict water exchange. I couldn't go with their 7 mil because I'm built funky ( 5'8", 185#, 35" waist, 46-48" chest), things could get real tight. I dove the 5mil in 46F so far and maybe 40F this weekend but no complaints so far. Definately wear dry mitts though and a dry hood on top of your other hood, extremities get numb and iced up when surfacing. Beyond their 7 mil, better go dry.

 

[Drew1]

wow, lots of different answers. thanks everyone for responding

Drew

 

[Bob3]

I used to use a 3/8" 1-piece with hooded vest underneath when diving in the NJ winter - the Shark River Inlet was great for flounder spearing.
If I was going to go wet I'd use a ScubaMax 1-piece w/attached hood: http://www.escubamax.com/.sc/ms/dd/WET%20SUITS/143/ACROSS%20CHEST%20ZIPPER%20SUITS

They're very reasonably priced & the lighter weight suits we use for commercial seafood harvesting (long hours in warmish water) have performed as good as or better than the high priced suits.

 

[jland800]

I currently use a Tilos Hooded 7mm semi dry in Lake Huron and it does the job well.....of course having said that I'm currently saving up for my next scuba purchase.....dry suit time!!

 

[ShakaZulu]

The Henderson suits has a lot of stretch, and this is nice to get it on/off, but it's the same property that causes the suit to compress much more at depth and thus reducing the insulation prperties of the suit.

 

[melle]

It depends on your build. I am short and broad-shouldered, so an Italian fit is not good for me
I have a 7mm Bare Arctic. The avg temp here is in the 40's (F). It suits me well.

Melle

 

[Tacticaltj]

Wetsuit warmth depends on wetsuit fit. Most off the shelf wetsuits just don't fit the average diver well. They have open spaces which cause 'water pumps' and massive water transfer, which equates to massive temperature loss. They are also unbelievably dificult to don. Go with a semi-dry custom fit wetsuit. I'd rx a 7mm fullsuit with a 7mm hooded jacket, 5mm gauntlet gloves and 7 mm bootys. I use a 5mm custom fit semi-dry wetsuit from aquaflite.com and love it. If your gonna go wetsuit, go with a custom fit. They're often less expensive then an off the shelf from an LDS.

M

 

[jwvanno]

Hmmm..... I've got a Pinnacle Extreme (8/6 hooded semi-dry) on order that I expect to be here sometime next week...

All reports I've read about the Pinnacle suits were very positive. But then a thread like this pops up, and no one's using it??

Please tell me that it's just because the suits are so new...