Best suit thickness for 60 -80F

[Dhboner]

I'm diving right now in Toronto in a 7mm wetsuit in 37 degree water and I'm pretty comfortable so the decision is really based on your cold tolerance. My son dives dry and plans to use his drysuit in anything under 70 degrees or so.

I plan to get a 3mm shorty for summer dives and trips down south but otherwise my 7mm gets me through most of the year (changing out of it can be an adventure and multiple dives in winter are out of the question).

Cheers

Bob

 

[Ana]

I know sometimes we post questions to get a thread going more than for the actual answer, but this question about "what suit do I get?" amuses me greatly.
Would a person asks what jacket to get when going to this or that place?
Shouldn't people know what is their own thermal tolerance? Wouldn't be more reasonable to asses that you can handle X degree water for 1 hour wearing Y mil suit, and use that for reference until you actually experience the different temperatures you are willing to endure and know what you need for each case.

I'm just saying, because for me the answers given wouldn't be very useful. Similarly if I was to give my answer to that question it probably wouldn't apply to the OP.

 

[BB1]

Thank you all for your input, its most appreciated.

The point of my question was to get a cross section view and some real world experience answers.

I think most people are watching their $$'s right now as I am. So rather than buying extra suits I want to get 1 good one that will cover "most" of my diving and this seems to be a 5mm at the moment and the option of a semi dry 5mm is looking very appealing. If this means I miss diving for a few weeks in the middle of our winter (which doesn't last that long!) then so be it.

I'll keep an eye out on EBAY for a 3mm for summer time if the 5mm becomes to warm and grab 1 if a bargain comes along.

I understand that body composition changes a lot of things between different people as well as personal tolerance to cold. The wife jokes that I have a mini thermo reactor hidden inside me somewhere as I'm warm when she feels freezing which I why I think the 5mm semi dry is the best bet for me.

Once again thanks for all your help!

 

[scubadada]

60-70 degree water I wear a 7mm fullsuit, 5mm hood, and gloves. A hooded vest would be nice, too. I have used a drysuit for several dozen dives and didn't really enjoy the extra wt needed.
70-80 degree water I wear a 5mm fullsuit, 3mm hood or beanie.
80+ degrees I wear a 3mm fullsuit, always.

I am female, smaller build. My husband is 5'8" and 175lbs and goes by the same guidelines as I do and is very happy.

I have been in lower than 60 degrees in my 7mm suit and froze by buns off. All I could think about the whole dive was how much I wanted to get out.

ScubaToys is a good place to pick up a hooded vest right now.... they have some good ones on sale.


robin

I follow nearly the same guidelines but dive down to about 50 degrees comfortably. I mix and match full 3, 5, and 7mm wetsuits, a 5/3mm hooded vest, 3 and 7mm hoods, and appropriate gloves and booties. I generally tend to dress a touch on the warm rather than the cool side to allow me to stay comfortable on multiple dives per day.

One needs to pay attention to dresssing appropriately for surface intervals too in order to stay warm and comfortable all day.

Good diving, Craig

 

[robint]

Thank you all for your input, its most appreciated.

The point of my question was to get a cross section view and some real world experience answers.

I think most people are watching their $$'s right now as I am. So rather than buying extra suits I want to get 1 good one that will cover "most" of my diving and this seems to be a 5mm at the moment and the option of a semi dry 5mm is looking very appealing. If this means I miss diving for a few weeks in the middle of our winter (which doesn't last that long!) then so be it.

I'll keep an eye out on EBAY for a 3mm for summer time if the 5mm becomes to warm and grab 1 if a bargain comes along.

I understand that body composition changes a lot of things between different people as well as personal tolerance to cold. The wife jokes that I have a mini thermo reactor hidden inside me somewhere as I'm warm when she feels freezing which I why I think the 5mm semi dry is the best bet for me.

Once again thanks for all your help!

ebay and buying a used wetsuit...
I really don't recommend this unless you can get one with less than 50 dives on it. ALL neoprene has a life, a time when the bubbles that are imbedded start to compress. For this reason, all wetsuits will not have the same warmth factor after 100 dives. Cheaper suits will start to compress in less than that. Really good quality neoprene will last more, depending on thickness and how well you take care of it.

That is why I am always telling people not to buy cheap wetsuits, they just don't last very long and you will have to replace them more often, therefore saving NO money by buying them. Used wetsuits on ebay are worthless, IMHO.

robin

 

[it_mike]

Let's see... I did my OW check out dive (46˚water/42˚air) 20 years ago in a 7mm.

Now, I dive dry with the occasional wetsuit weekend. Locally, if I'm just pulling a quick quarry weekend, I'll sometime run the 5/3 with skin seals down to 60˚.

A drysuit is always the right answer, but if you're just looking for a wetsuit I strongly recommend a multi-thickness with seals.

 

[BobbyT22]

Have you thought about a custom wetsuit? While more expensive up front, they really are worth the money. If I was told I could only buy one suit and had to make it work for all my diving, I would by a custom 5mm fullsuit with a 3mm shorty to go over it. Below 65, wear both together, 65-75, the 5mm fullsuit alone, and above 75 the 3mm shorty. Check out wetwear, they do custom suits and I love mine.