7 mm?

[scubawife]

Life lesson #666 - The man is ALWAYS wrong.

A hint, she's your girlfriend.

Some advice, let her dive in what she wants to dive if you want her to stay your girlfriend.

If she dives in something other than the 7mm and gets cold, I can assure you that you will never hear the end of it. It is just the nature of that sort of thing.

An observation, it is infinitely easier to cool off in water than it is to warm up. If whe gets warm, all she has to do is open the neck a wee bit and let in some cool water.

If she gets cold, well, you know the rest of the story.

the K

Kraken, you are a wise man

My husband learned one lesson very early on in our diving - never get between a woman and her neoprene! I like to have the option to add or subtract based on how I feel that day. I have a full 3mm, full 1mm and core warmer and they all come with me. He can take whatever cameras he wants, and I take whatever wetsuit or suits I want.

 

[abitton]

Loved Kraken's post!!!

I learned that lesson a while ago, but it's always good to be reminded of it!!

In this case, even she is not sure. We will be trying it out in a pool to simulate the temperature (minus the sun, obviously!). She's not sure there is value in buying a wetsuit for just this trip, and rental wetsuits all seem to be shorties, and I know she prefers a full...

She may also try just wearing the 7 mm tunic with a 1mm skin.

BTW, we are going the last week of April.

 

[The Kraken]

Abitton,

You may have something there with the tunic and skin. The full rig, especially in salt water, would be sooooooo cumbersome in the tropics! And she would, in all probability, get too warm.

the K

 

[Blue Moon]

Of course the K is right.... Let her dive in what she wants to... Be a hero and remind her to wear a hood also….

For supporting evidence that your girlfriend might actually be right, my blonde diva :inlove: is 5' 2" and weighs about 101.... My ripped muscle mass keeps me a bit north of 200 so we have complete opposite requirements for thermal protection...

As an example, we dove Grand Cayman in October and Cozumel in February.... The water temp was between 78-82 in both places...

In Grand Cayman I was warm in my AquaLung 3/2 full stretch suit and did a couple of dives in just my half mil skin and was comfortable… On the other hand, my girlfriend was cold to the point of shivering in her 3M Henderson Hyperstretch… Now some people don’t think highly of the Henderson Hyperstretch as far as thermal protection and based on our experience, they may have a valid point…

For Cozumel in early Feb, considering that we would be drift diving and that water temp would be maybe a one or two degrees colder, we added a 3 M core warmer to her 3 M Hyperstretch plus a bonnet style hood but she was still cold… She ended up adding a 3 M shorty on top of everything and she was finally warm but had 9M on her core....

In Cozumel, we were diving with a couple from Pittsburg, Mike & Elise, and I believe that she had on a 7/5 full suit on and was comfortable… We are going to get one of those for my girlfriend for our next fall/winter trip and expect that her 3 mm Henderson Hyperstretch that we picked up for her winter tropic suit will in fact become her summer tropic suit...

Also, did you say rental suit...:yourkiddi We only saw mainly 3M shorties avaialble in Coz so that might not do her any good plus while I've never heard of anyone relieving themselves in their own wetsuit, well none of my friends anyway, it happens way too often with rentals...

 

[Giggi]

abitton, I see you're in Canada. Why don't you try your LDS to see whether they have any rental suits?

Your best bet is to let her load up on her thermal protection and then if she gets too hot, you can withhold your "I told you so" to use as a trump card in case she wants to nag you about something. However, if she's right and doesn't overheat, then you're a hero for supporting her decision wholeheartedly.

(Of course, now that I've given away rule #2489-W, I will have to go underground for a while, and the official Women's Rulemaking Society will have to change the rule again.)

 

[MMM]

The Kraken has it right!

I have tried out every exposure protection level known to mankind...the closet in my basement looks like a scuba store! (Gaining/losing weight hasn't helped either.)

I chill really easily PLUS I like to dive every day for upwards of two or three weeks. NOTHING - and I guarantee NOTHING - makes a person crabbier than being cold than watching everyone else blithely going about their dives while your lips are turning blue and you are clenching your jaw so tight that you bite right through your mouthpiece (Yes, I've done that!). The muscles in your cheeks hurt for days.

Here is what I wear in the winter in Coz: a 5/4 BARE full suit PLUS a 3 mm vest with a 7 mm hood, for 8 mm on my core. This keeps me nice and toasty (and happy and friendly). I've seen lots of DMs wearing that much and more, although, as someone said, theirs are a lot more compressed. I think that keeping the core warm is what's most important.

In the summer I wear a 3 mm full suit plus a 1 mm vest and hood. Usually I'm warm enough. No kidding.

 

[HammerNoMore]

Here is what I wear in the winter in Coz: a 5/4 BARE full suit PLUS a 3 mm vest with a 7 mm hood, for 8 mm on my core. This keeps me nice and toasty (and happy and friendly). I've seen lots of DMs wearing that much and more, although, as someone said, theirs are a lot more compressed. I think that keeping the core warm is what's most important.

In the summer I wear a 3 mm full suit plus a 1 mm vest and hood. Usually I'm warm enough. No kidding.

I gotta ask, and I'm not being a Smart ___ here but...why not just go dry? That's a lot of rubber...

 

[MMM]

Two reasons: cost and the requirement to learn new skills. I'm cheap and lazy. ;^)

I gotta ask, and I'm not being a Smart ___ here but...why not just go dry? That's a lot of rubber...

 

[cjames]

My wife, son and I were down last week. She gets cold very easy and was diving a 5mm. I finally convinced her to put a hood on and wallah! She was fine. You lose more heat through your head than any other part of your body.

 

[MMM]

YOu bet! Now I will have to try another combo...a 7 mm hood separate from my vest to see if I can forego the vest if I have the heavy hood. (I doubt it...)

Wallah must be the Texan spelling for the French world "voila". ;^)

My wife, son and I were down last week. She gets cold very easy and was diving a 5mm. I finally convinced her to put a hood on and wallah! She was fine. You lose more heat through your head than any other part of your body.