Always wear a wetsuit?

[edoralive]

I would definitely wear a 3mm in 80 degree water.

For temp, though? Not other protection?

We found 78 degree water in Aruba and I was happy in a rash guard and shorts. In Key Largo we found 71 and I was juuuuust a little chilly in a 3mm.

 

[Cdncoldwater]

Wondering how many folks on this site dive in a wetsuit regardless of the water temp, and how many ditch the wetsuit when the waters get warmer.

In my limited experience so far, I've always ditched the wetsuit around 80 degrees in favor of a rash guard and shorts.

A rescue instructor and I were talking today about an upcoming trip to Jupiter, and he mentioned that, unless he's diving dry, he wears a wetsuit every dive, regardless of how warm the water is, for protection from Jellies and the reef, and because "any water below body temp is water you can get cold in."

Diving in shorts and a rashguard is A1, but he got me thinking about my approach. Curious what others have to say.

Did a cursory search of threads but didn't find anything. Apologies if a duplicated question.

I would likely wear a wet suit. I generally dive dry as our temperatures in the bay of Fundy rarely reach 57F; however when I dove in the Caribbean I still wore a 3mm wetsuit for protection from critters etc and would do so in the future.

 

[elan]

I always dive in a wet suit (when dot diving dry) and a hood, even 84F dives we did yesterday did not feel hot in an old 5mil. It also depends how much you move. If you are calm, have a low SAC rate and have limited amount of natural “prene” you get cold on multiple dives if the water temp is below the body temperature.

 

[ibj40]

I dive a BARE Velocity 5mm on every dive.

I know what my weighting is in both salt and fresh water.

If I get a little warm, a tug on the neck seal and a yank on each wrist and I’m good.

 

[Bronte]

Similar to @elan , I always wear a wetsuit. Combination of a) I lose heat fast and b) protection (I originally come from Australia, where it feels like everything is over engineered to kill you )

 

[johndiver999]

you could be faced with water in the 60's in Jupiter next week. You never know what the temps will be .. or 84 on the bottom

 

[Scared Silly]

I always wear a full suit regardless. Not necessarily a wetsuit, could be fleece or a skin. I wear it for sun protection, critter protection, warmth, etc. At this point, I need to find a nice beanie for my head for same reasons.

 

[edoralive]

Similar to @elan , I always wear a wetsuit. Combination of a) I lose heat fast and b) protection (I originally come from Australia, where it feels like everything is over engineered to kill you )

It's a wonder you don't dive in a spacesuit coming from the over-engineered life of AUS!

 

[edoralive]

you could be faced with water in the 60's in Jupiter next week. You never know what the temps will be .. or 84 on the bottom

...how in the world does one plan for this? Plan for the worst, hope for the best?

 

[Nemrod]

I was just in Jupiter about three weeks ago and I am glad to have had my 3/2 full suit, it was cool at depth. However, just south in LBTS and in the Keys I just wore a long sleeve rash guard and swimsuit and was fine. And I get cold very easy but I was never cold to be uncomfortable. It is nice to ditch all the rubber SCUBA Steve outfits. In fact, I hate all the rubber suits but I also hate being cold. N