5 MM Shorty - too warm?

[KeithG]

I'm still waiting to hear who makes this mythical 5mm shorty. Perhaps the OP should get a 7mm or 9mm shorty. Or even a drysuit shorty.

Go custom and you can get anything you want. I have had both 5mm and 7mm shorties custom made with front zip. If it is too warm, you simply undo the zipper a bit.

But i agree that a 3mm full length is probably the best bet.

I now have a full length front zip 3mm and find it too warm in many places. last august in roatan i went with swim suit only. feb in bonaire i needed the 3mm. 82 degrees versus 76 degrees made a big difference.

 

[boulderjohn]

I also get IST and Waterproof

I thought there were more at first, but when i looked more closely, I saw that it was also pulling up any size ending in .5.

 

[tridacna]

Go custom and you can get anything

If you go custom, this entire thread is moot!

I use an Aqualock 3mm full suit. Equivalent to most other manufacturer's 5mm suits.

 

[Steve_C]

I want no bare skin. In real warm water I will dive a 3mm shorty with a dive skin under it. Sometimes a 3 shorty with a full 1.5. Usually a full 3/4 or 5 or 7. I wear a beanie. Have more than once found myself going through a layer of small stingy things. Can feel them on my cheeks. No desire to have all over my body. Sometimes the tentacles on a jellyfish are longer than the visibility and you can run into them. Even in summer you can hit some colder water below a thermocline. Warm is good. I can always vent in a little cooler water if need be. If you are relaxed in the water and your SAC is decent you will not generate much body heat and get easier to chill on the longer more relaxed dives.

 

[Fdzzaigl]

I'm still waiting to hear who makes this mythical 5mm shorty. Perhaps the OP should get a 7mm or 9mm shorty. Or even a drysuit shorty.

Usually it's an overshorty used solo. You see it being offered instead of fullsuits sometimes by dive centers who are looking to be cheap (as in my previous example).

Confusion can begin for some people because sometimes these overshorties come with a leaflet that rates them as a category C wetsuit (16-24°C). Obviously this is not meant to be used solo, but for clients who aren't being critical or are purchasing their first wetsuit (and let's be real here: want to cut it cheap), it can seem like the use of just the overshorty is enough for that temperature.

I guess it would still keep you alive, so the rating isn't completely off point. Comfort is another matter though.