What to wear under rental wetsuit for more warmth?

[ravisurdhar]

Hi folks, I only go diving a handful of times every year, so I haven't invested in a wetsuit yet; I just use rentals from whatever shop I'm diving with. Unfortunately, most shops in Hawaii and Thailand and so on only have farmer johns or shorties, and I'm always FREEZING! In fact, I'm always cold whenever I'm in water, diving or not. I was wearing a 3mm shortie just swimming and snorkeling on the beach in Hawaii this past new years and I was decently comfortable....while everyone else was wearing nothing but a swimsuit. Any ideas on a good layering piece or two I can wear under a rental wetsuit that I can also wear at the beach and not look like a dork?

My past experience with "rashguards" made out of some sort of synthetic has been mixed...on one hand, it works decently well when submerged. On the other, as soon as you come to the surface, any sort of wind instantly chills you straight to your core, due to the evaporative cooling.

 

[undrwater]

Your topic says drysuit, your post says wetsuit. The difference can be significant.

Why not a 1mm neoprene rash guard type full suit?

 

[ravisurdhar]

Ah crap, meant to say wetsuit. Fully aware of the difference. *facepalm* Fixed.

I'll look into it, thanks! How well do they resist wind?

 

[al248005]

If in fact you are talking about a rental drysuit; under my drysuit undies I wear Under Armor Cold Gear which seems to give me about 5-8 more degrees of warmth.

 

[00wabbit]

Get a thermos of warm water to pour down the inside of the wetsuit before and after

 

[chillyinCanada]

Get a light 1mm hood and wear a bandana tied around your neck. Also, don't know how often you get away on a dive trip, but why not invest in a good fitting 3/2 full wetsuit? They don't cost much in the scheme of things.

 

[SangP]

Hi folks, I only go diving a handful of times every year, so I haven't invested in a wetsuit yet; I just use rentals from whatever shop I'm diving with. Unfortunately, most shops in Hawaii and Thailand and so on only have farmer johns or shorties, and I'm always FREEZING! In fact, I'm always cold whenever I'm in water, diving or not. I was wearing a 3mm shortie just swimming and snorkeling on the beach in Hawaii this past new years and I was decently comfortable....while everyone else was wearing nothing but a swimsuit. Any ideas on a good layering piece or two I can wear under a rental wetsuit that I can also wear at the beach and not look like a dork?

My past experience with "rashguards" made out of some sort of synthetic has been mixed...on one hand, it works decently well when submerged. On the other, as soon as you come to the surface, any sort of wind instantly chills you straight to your core, due to the evaporative cooling.

I would second the guys recommendation for your own personal wetsuit forget about renting the farmer john or shorties.

The scubapro oneflex, hyperflex 2 or thermoprene are all great suits.

The other alternative is polyolefin suits but they are expensive.

1. Fourth Element thermocline tops and shorts.
2. Lavacore tops and short
3. Hyperflex by Henderson 13 Oz Polyolefin 50/50 Long Sleeve Rash Guard and Hyperflex by Henderson 13 Oz Polyolefin Shortshttp://www.scuba.com/shop/product.asp?category=286&fromsearch=1&hashvalue=010362

Personally I choose option 3

 

[Tool Belt]

A hooded vest , 1 - 3 mm will do wonders.

 

[Mitchell Teeters]

Evaporative cooling is a fact of life, you might want to try a vapor barrier garment while on the surface? In the water you could use lavacore under the WS. Just a thought.


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[spectrum]

Unfortunately, most shops in Hawaii and Thailand and so on only have farmer johns or shorties, and I'm always FREEZING!

To be clear, you are talking about warm water vacation diving, right?

Cold in a farmer John, was it the John and jacket? There are divers that need 5 and even 7mm to be comfortable in ANY water so you may need what you may need. Of course rental rarely implies the best suit or fit and the suit certainly has not had time to marry to your form. One of the allures of warm water diving is limiting the neoprene and all we do to manage of its effects so make sure you get value from what you add.

I would suggest a 5mm full suit, that may be all you need at times though a beanie may help conserve some thermal energy. If that's not quite enough then add a hooded chicken vest. That will add more on your torso, cover your head and shut the neck opening from flushing. I am partial to BARE products.

If that does not do it then you need to decide between 7mm and tropical dry.

Pete