How to get in and out of a Neotek wetsuit w/o help

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

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

@Schwaeble

it is not joke , I have serious problems because I always bought a suit with best approximation fit because of my construction (long torso and bit shorter legs ) .... reaching valves for valve drill with no place inside suit over the shoulder...... :rant:
 
..., ...(long torso and bit shorter legs ) .... reaching valves for valve drill with no place inside suit over the shoulder......
Lucca, I am guilty as charged on both those accounts. At the moment I am thinking it's mostly just me. But once I actually have a chance to dive that suit (April), I will try to pay attention to how much of a mobility difference there is between being in and out of the suit.
 
You just need a lycra suit, such as below

NeoSport Lycra Suit

They are inexpensive and absolutely make or break getting into a wetsuit/semi-dry. There is no "water exchange" caused by the lycra skin as you simply remove the thumb loop from your thumb once you have the sleeve of the wetsuit on and tuck the loop back inside the wrist seal.
 
I've found my neotek one of the easiest suits to get in and out of. Now I do get my ankles stuck while doffing, but otherwise, it's really easy. On the valve drill mobility front, I do find the suit restricts my mobility a bit and makes that left valve especially difficult.
 
I've found my neotek one of the easiest suits to get in and out of. Now I do get my ankles stuck while doffing, but otherwise, it's really easy. On the valve drill mobility front, I do find the suit restricts my mobility a bit and makes that left valve especially difficult.

Drifting off to doubles S-drills: Yeah, I can tell with the mobility reaching backward, it's going to get even harder.... that's partially why I haven't bought my own doubles set yet and am still trying to figure out if I will really get there (I mean I tried, I can do it, but with lots of trouble, pulling hard on the manifold with one hand to really reach the valve with the other...and then switch and the extra grab and pull I need to do makes it a little harder to do it all in a minute or less, but can do - barely and in pain doing it...) or if I bail and go the "valves down route" or sidemount or... - (I started a separate thread for "finding out about "valves down" that).
I am thinking: If I actually ever wanted to do S drills (or actually needed to) with just one hand only (say one arm was disabled) I could not. Never ever (unless in sidemount I guess) - makes me wonder if others can (and how "safe" the setup really is as opposed to just independent tanks maybe - not wanting to provoke anything here, just being the bumbling trying to get into it kind of novice that I am...).

Back to suit: I can see there being ankle issues for some. I have no issue with my ankles (can reach, pull and tuck..), but boy, my (stiff) arms are hard to get in and once in they are in there like in a vice and I have no idea yet how to get the suit down beyond the shoulder (w/o help) to even get a shot at trying to get the arms out. I am glad nobody saw me (when I bought it - well other than the seller) in the seller's home trying all that for a loooong time, probably pouring a gallon of sweat into the suit in the process... I will see how things are with a lycra suit underneath.. and will practice some more ... only when potential help is near, for I am downright concerned about being stuck for good if by myself right now... that would be too funny ... for anyone but me...
 
I've had several pieces of Lavacore since I started diving, as well as various spandex dive skin shirts. I have never found any of them to be helpful in putting on a wetsuit versus bare skin. What I have found to be VERY helpful is squirting some diluted baby shampoo in the arms and legs before putting the suit on.

That is one of the main reasons I now have 3, 5, and 7mm wetsuits. The 3 plus Lavacore might be just was warm as a 5mm, but it's a lot easier to lube a 5mm with baby shampoo and put it on over bare skin than to put on the 3mm over a layer of Lavacore. The 5 plus Lavacore might be just as warm as the 7mm, but, again, the 7 is a lot easier to lube and slide on over my bare skin than to slide the 5mm on over the Lavacore.

And at least the Lavacore adds warmth. I gave up on wearing rash guards under a wetsuit. They don't add any warmth and it's a lot easier to leave the guard off and lube the suit to put it on. If I really needed to dive wet, for some reason, and the 7mm was not going to be warm enough by itself, I would add my Lavacore Sleeveless Full Suit. Basically, overalls. I can get my suit up my legs without too much trouble, even over the LC. You can use two hands to get the legs up and adjusted. But, the arms are such a hassle that I would still want to have the wetsuit sliding on over bare arms (with baby shampoo lube).

I really don't like the feeling of bunched up undergarments under my wetsuit. Thus I don't even wear a short sleeve rash guard. Even though mine are tight around my arms and even with the suit lubed, I would still end up with the ends of the sleeves bunched up a bit on my biceps. I also would never wear board shorts under my wetsuit. I wear a Speedo swimsuit (long shorts, like these: https://www.swimoutlet.com/p/speedo-male-solid-endurance+-jammer-swimsuit-7886/) under the wetsuit. A "briefs" style would probably be even better, but I guess I'm too bashful. I wear board shorts over the swimsuit when I'm out of the wetsuit.

With some diluted baby shampoo in the arms and legs, and wearing nothing but a tight swimsuit, my 7mm wetsuit just slides right on. No muss, no fuss. And it's even to slide around on my body after I get it on, to get it really positioned right.

You (the OP) might end up with something different that works better for you, but I would highly recommend to at least give a try to diving that Neotek with no rash guard and some diluted (50/50) baby shampoo for lube. It's certainly cheap to try. And if you don't like it, you can still keep the baby shampoo solution and use it for mask anti-fog. I keep a sports squeeze bottle filled with diluted baby shampoo in my dive bag. I use it for lube and anti-fog and it's great for both.
 
You just might become a freediver.,. Eventually

Also. On a serious note, it is not often that I am diving completely alone,. Almost always have someone around to do the back zip or to help me get out of the suit.
 
I actually seem to be trending towards always diving in a dry suit... :)
 
I've had several pieces of Lavacore since I started diving, as well as various spandex dive skin shirts. I have never found any of them to be helpful in putting on a wetsuit versus bare skin. What I have found to be VERY helpful is squirting some diluted baby shampoo in the arms and legs before putting the suit on.

That is one of the main reasons I now have 3, 5, and 7mm wetsuits. The 3 plus Lavacore might be just was warm as a 5mm, but it's a lot easier to lube a 5mm with baby shampoo and put it on over bare skin than to put on the 3mm over a layer of Lavacore. The 5 plus Lavacore might be just as warm as the 7mm, but, again, the 7 is a lot easier to lube and slide on over my bare skin than to slide the 5mm on over the Lavacore.

And at least the Lavacore adds warmth. I gave up on wearing rash guards under a wetsuit. They don't add any warmth and it's a lot easier to leave the guard off and lube the suit to put it on. If I really needed to dive wet, for some reason, and the 7mm was not going to be warm enough by itself, I would add my Lavacore Sleeveless Full Suit. Basically, overalls. I can get my suit up my legs without too much trouble, even over the LC. You can use two hands to get the legs up and adjusted. But, the arms are such a hassle that I would still want to have the wetsuit sliding on over bare arms (with baby shampoo lube).

I really don't like the feeling of bunched up undergarments under my wetsuit. Thus I don't even wear a short sleeve rash guard. Even though mine are tight around my arms and even with the suit lubed, I would still end up with the ends of the sleeves bunched up a bit on my biceps. I also would never wear board shorts under my wetsuit. I wear a Speedo swimsuit (long shorts, like these: https://www.swimoutlet.com/p/speedo-male-solid-endurance+-jammer-swimsuit-7886/) under the wetsuit. A "briefs" style would probably be even better, but I guess I'm too bashful. I wear board shorts over the swimsuit when I'm out of the wetsuit.

With some diluted baby shampoo in the arms and legs, and wearing nothing but a tight swimsuit, my 7mm wetsuit just slides right on. No muss, no fuss. And it's even to slide around on my body after I get it on, to get it really positioned right.

You (the OP) might end up with something different that works better for you, but I would highly recommend to at least give a try to diving that Neotek with no rash guard and some diluted (50/50) baby shampoo for lube. It's certainly cheap to try. And if you don't like it, you can still keep the baby shampoo solution and use it for mask anti-fog. I keep a sports squeeze bottle filled with diluted baby shampoo in my dive bag. I use it for lube and anti-fog and it's great for both.

Yeah as far as stuff underneath goes it definitely cannot be bunching. Got that covered.
The 50/50 BS mix (sounds political when abbreviated, doesn't it?) as lube... I will try that.
 

Back
Top Bottom