Cold water wetsuit...?

[pjhansman]

Not sure if this is the correct spot to post this....but you're definately the right group to answer my question

I live in Ontario (please ignore my profile) but my only cold water diving has been limited to some smaller lakes when things warm up. Now i'm interested in doing some Great Lakes diving, Tobermory in particular.

Leaving the drysuit option for now....what do y'all suggest is the "best" wetsuit arrangement for this kind of adventure? I don't mean brand names....more the style and thickness. 7mil with hood? 5mil full with vest and hood? etc.

And if a drysuit is the best option, I may have to consider it.

I'm only going to be able to convince my wife once to let me buy some cold water gear, so I'm hoping to make the right choice.

Phil

 

[hypertech]

Dry is the best option. After that the thicker the better. A 7mm full suit or farmer john is a food choice.

 

[j yaeger]

i like a 2 pc 6.5
7mm boots w/2mm socks
7mm hood for my bald head
5mm "dry five" gloves
pre loaded before dive with warm water
suit is perfect fit and that is a big deal breaker-no loose spots
good for about 45 mins at 35*f +/-
ive experimented quite a lot with different suits,glove.etc and this works best for me
at 52 yrs old, i like comfort!!!
have fun
yaeg

 

[Barracuda2]

Here's my suggestion: A 7mm farmer John full suit, put a 5mm vest with attached hood under the suit. You will be comfortable to dive for 30 to 40 min. depending on your own tolerance. Most dives in Toby fall in that range. The only exception would be the W.L. Wetmore because it lies in only 30 ft. of water. If warm water is available from a thermos or jug, you could pour that into your suit just before you dive. Even though I'm now a wuss and dive with a dry suit, I've dove Toby many times wet. You'll love it.

 

[lsorensen]

I have been using a 7mm fullsuit (bare arctic) and a 7mm hooded vest for a number of years now, including in Toby. I am now getting a drysuit. My 7mm is pretty stiff, but the new models are amazingly flexible and stretchy. Seems material improvements are happening a lot lately.

Note I am not getting a drysuit because I thought diving wet was too cold, but rather because I think it takes too long to put on the 7mm wetsuit (partially because parts of me have expanded a bit since I got it). Of course with a drysuit you would be able to dive quite a bit more of the year than with just a wetsuit (or so I hear )

 

[Jak Crow]

Consider a semi-dry like the 8mm Waterproof W1 with seamless gloves like XS Dry Fives, 7mm zipperless boots, and a 7mm hooded vest. There are a number of other semi-dry suits out there too; Pinnacle, Camaro, Bare, etc.

 

[pjhansman]

at 52 yrs old, i like comfort!!!
have fun
yaeg

I'm even older....and I hate being cold! :cold:

Thanks for the responses all.

 

[j yaeger]

after many hours in coooold water doing checkout dives...
got drysuit!!!!
still do most dives wet,but when there's no place to change,or no shelter...
cant beat a drysuit!!
that wind on bare skin thingy.....
have fun,....old man!!!!
yaeg

 

[diveprof]

Drysuit is probably your best option. That said, those with less sense (your's truly), are diving an 8/7 semidry with attached hood (Bare and Henderson make these - both are nice, Bare has the edge with drysuit zipper). I dove for over an hour this past weekend in mine in 51 degree water and for 50 min in 43 degree water a few weeks back.

 

[nwohiodiver]

I have a DeepSee 6.5mm combo John/Jacket that keeps me quite warm and dove until Halloween. Know I could have pushed it further with this suit and am ready to jump in the water with it now but the quarries aren't rid of the ice yet.
Saying that, I'm going with a drysuit this summer/fall so I'm ready for the cold season next year. This suit is too bulky and I need an enormous amount of weight to keep me down. Partly because of suit design and general buoyancy. It takes forever to don and doff as has been mentioned before and I hate having to consider warm locations for a wet diver to undress in the cold, which has even March/April dives in nice locations on the fence.
Bottom line...If you're going to be allowed to purchase once for the time being....make it a dry one. I wish I had the money last fall to have done it myself. I would have been doing it the last few months and be ice certified by now if I had.
R.