Cold Water Freediving wetsuit

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OP
John Dietz

John Dietz

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Messages
25
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Location
California
# of dives
200 - 499
Hello all,

Can anyone please recommend a freediving (open cell) wetsuit for cold weather. Ideally I'm looking for something that could be used in the Norwegian arctic in winter, but also in California year round? I know it might be a bit split of a thermal consideration but it doesn't harm to ask.

Thanks in advance.
 
I personally can't fathom diving in the Norwegian arctic in any kind of wetsuit, but I can say that I've seen a lot of freedivers here in California wearing the Mako suits.
 
Any 7mm yamamoto rubber open cell suit will be about as good as it gets. Find one that fits. Mako suits are great and have a great price. I'm not a fan of their camo patterns, but whatever...

I don't know of anyone that makes a thicker freediving suit than 7mm. Wetsuit in the arctic sounds pretty chilly, but there are plenty of videos of freedivers under ice, so I guess they are tolerable for a while!
 
Yazbeck Hammour or Carbone suits, or EliosSub. 7.5mm farmer john style. You want that extra insulation in your chest, and it keeps water off your core as long as possible. You can also throw a thin vest over/under a farmer john to supplement (or on top of pants, for that matter).

Mako is fine, but you will freeze wearing them in arctic conditions. They work great in CA though, and are way more affordable.
 
You might find someone to custom build you a suit out of 9mm Yamamoto but those are pretty thick and lots of buoyancy swing plus a bigger weight belt. I just use a Yazbeck 7mm skin in.
I’ll look into a Mako next time if they make anything for my height.
 
You might find someone to custom build you a suit out of 9mm Yamamoto but those are pretty thick and lots of buoyancy swing plus a bigger weight belt. I just use a Yazbeck 7mm skin in.
I’ll look into a Mako next time if they make anything for my height.
 
Okay, my information is quite old, but I'll give a few pieces of information from the 1960s. First, no zippers. A pull-over jacket with a hood attached was the standard for cold water spearfishing way back when. The hood needs to come up on the chin, and low on the top so that the mask can fit under the hood's neoprene (mask skirt under the hood's opening). I don't know if such a wetsuit exists today, but the fewer openings the better. A Farmer John bottoms was also standard. We used these suits in waters in the 40 degrees F range. We also used almost exclusively custom-built wetsuits, which were made to our measurements. That way, there were no gaps in our suits which could pump water. These suits were difficult to get into and out of, and probably the newer suits are now better. But I thought you'd like to know what we did way back when. We used 3-finger mitts and booties without zippers too.

SeaRat
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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