5mm Mako Yamamoto for scuba diving.

[mtosmart]

Hello everyone.

Is 5mm Mako Yamamoto enough for 50-60F scuba diving. (OW1).
Or should i go with 7mm option.
Location: Boston MA

I need something where i can use for freedive and scuba dive. (I know it wont be perfect)

I know that open cell is not used for scuba and you can break it.
I do not want to go for 7mm neoprene or semi dry, and then buy a dry suit. It will be waste.

I will appreciate any suggestion or tips, if anyone tried to scuba dive with freedive / spearfishing open cell suits.

Thank you

 

[mtosmart]

^ How to move it to main discussion ?

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

I'm sure you were looking for customer input, so I hope it is OK if I try to address.

First thanks so much for giving MAKO consideration for your suit.

In general, scuba diving is more of a thermal challenge than freediving. Generally freedivers are more active and often the top few feet of the water has an opportunity to warm up a good bit. So after every dive, a freediver has a chance to warm up a little. They spend a good bit of time recovering on the surface where the water is warmer, the sun make be shining and the suit is back to being full thickness.

In contrast, a scuba diver is going to spend nearly all their time at considerable depth, where the suit will be compressed from the pressure and the water is almost always colder.

So for scuba diving in 50 degree water, you are going to be much better off with a 7 mm suit.

For freediving in those temps, you MAY be able to get by with a 5 mm suit.

One of the very important issues to consider is that suit compression on a 7 mm suit is considerably more than a 5 mm, meaning their is more loss of buoyancy at depth with a 7 than a 5 mm suit. You are also going to need to wear more lead with a 7 versus a 5 mm suit. Wearing more lead and experiencing a greater swing in buoyancy is not a big deal for a scuba diver who has a BC to compensate, but for a freediver, it is more of an issue.

So to make a long story short, it is just tougher to freedive in a 7 mm versus a 5. If you want to purchase a dedicated summer freedive suit, then go for the 5mm. If you are going to be doing a good bit of scuba below the thermocline, then you will be happier with a 7mm. You can definitely freedive with a 7 mm suit and if your are staying about 35 feet or so, the weight swing is not a huge issue compared to freediving over 60 feet.

I wish there was one suit that could do everything well, but that's just not possible yet.

Also, there is absolutely no problem with wearing a MAKO freedive suit for a scuba, we have many customers who do it.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

Up date: A picture and some comments sent to our social media

Monk fish, didn’t measure it way too slimy, but shot this guy 90 feet down off Long Beach Island

The 7 mil yamamoto is perfect for diving wrecks around here in the summer time