Correct fit for Henderson Hyperstretch 3mm Shorty - how tight is too tight?

[Belmont]

It's well known wetsuits shrink over time.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Or is it me who lost weight???

I still think that the Henderson Hyperstretch 3mm looses some of it's elasticity after time. I don't know about regular thicker wetsuit material, maybe that shrinks over time.

 

[lalittle]

I went back to the shop again thinking I'd just get the M, but ended up leaving with the S again after trying them on again. They pointed out that when I reached forward with the M, it created folds that extended from the top of my shoulders down onto my chest a bit, and that the front of the suit would lose firm contact with my upper chest/collar bone area. If I reached forward with both arms, I could tap the logo on the chest and feel that there was a bit of space behind it. They said that this would allow too much water to circulate, which would of course lose heat. This was not a problem with the S, which stayed against my skin quite a bit better. Is there a "rule of thumb" on this? How important is it for there be be practically no folds or space in front when I reach forward?

I actually considered the idea of wearing some sort of thin layer under the shorty, but I decided that it was still important to get the "best" fit I could with the wetsuit itself, and I didn't really like the idea of HAVING to wear a second garment just to get the first one to fit right.

Every time I try the suits in the shop I'm convinced that the S is better, but when I get home and try the S again, it once again feels "too tight," and I question my decision. The shop felt that I was thinking about it too much, and they may indeed be right, but then again, I was already in the water, and while the suit did work in general, I never stopped being aware of the "tightness." One other hand, they ALL felt that the S was a better fit based on their direct observations, so maybe over some time I'll get used to the way the S feels.

Thanks again for letting me bounce my thoughts off you guys.

Larry

 

[lalittle]

Some other thoughts based on reading over these (and other) forums:

I see people talk about the fact that if you can grab any "loose material" on the wetsuit, it's too large. Does this include the situation I talked about above, i.e. pointing my arms in front of me? When I do this with the M, I can definitely grab some "loose material" in front of my shoulder areas. With the S, I only get relatively negligible folds in the same area, meaning that the suit is much more like a "second skin."

I should also note that the S is no harder to get in and out of. I'm not sure if this means much given that it's a 3mm shorty (i.e. it's easy to get in and out of in general), but I saw reports that mentioned that if a suit is too small, it's more difficult to get in and out of, which is not the case with the S in my situation.

Finally, I've heard people recommend that with the hyperstretch (especially the thinner ones), you should get one or even TWO sizes smaller than what the Henderson chart says. Given this, it might be helpful to note the following:

- My chest is just a tad bigger than the M, and at the low end of the L.
- My waist is pretty much in the middle of the M (maybe towards the low end), and an inch narrower than the low end of the L.
- My weight varies a bit, going from 5 to 10lbs over the M, to the low end of the L.
- My height is at the top end of the L, and an inch over the top end of the M.

Overall, my measurements appear to roughly put me in between the M and L sizes on the chart, with my chest and weight being at the low end of L, and my waist being squarely in the M. My assumption is to put less emphasis on the height since it's a shorty, which means that the arm and leg length don't matter. This would mean that if I went by the "one size smaller" rule for a hyperstretch, a "size smaller" could put me in between the S and M sizes -- i.e. an M would be a roughly half size small, while an S would be 1 1/2 sizes small.

Does 1 1/2 sizes smaller than the chart make sense for a 3mm Hyperstretch shorty?

Once again, thanks for the feedback,

Larry

 

[lalittle]

For anyone interested, I kept the small and it's working fine now.

I put a couple "ultra big" paper towel rolls into the shoulders/arms for a while (on and off for a couple days). I placed them so they stopped about 2 or 3 inches short of the ends, which kept the actual cuffs from being stretched at all. This actually made less difference than I would have thought (the neoprene really springs back), but it relieved the tightness just enough to make it feel less "oppressive." Once I was in the water, I was glad to have the tighter fit that the S provided overall. I could tell that if the suit was any looser, the small of my back would have gotten too cold. The M definitely had more space in that area.

The dive shop was absolutely correct -- the S was the better fit.

Thanks for the feedback,

Larry

 

[spectrum]

It's good to hear that you settled on something that's working well.

That skin tight with good range of motion fit is the key. The suit will to some extent continue to mold to your body with use.

Stuffing the suit as you did will as you learned slightly modify the form. What is happening is that under stress some of the gas bubbles are tearing and relieving stress, letting the suit grow. A volleyball in the neck of a tight hood is a common fix. This is a semi destructive process so don't get carried away with it.

We have some custom wetsuits in the household. Being custom they lack the pre-bent features you see in the mass produced stock suits. After a little use contours begin to set in the suit with no special intervention.

When you have a moment please consider adding some meat to your profile. You can get more and better feedback of folks understand your experienced, where you dive and that sort of stuff.

Pete

 

[Paco II]

I may get flamed for this, but I just had to add that fit and comfort are not always the same thing imo with wetsuits. At 5'7, 145lbs, LDS's typically try to put me in a size S suit, saying that it is the proper fit. But when I put it on, it's miserable for me. Everything feels too tight. And I have learned that if something doesn't feel right, it's only going to cause me other issues when diving. So I typically end up getting a size Medium. It may technically be a little too big, and there may be a small price to pay in terms of warmth, but wearing something comfortable will allow me to enjoy my dives more, and likely avoid an early stressor. It's important to balance fit with comfort, and one should not simply follow what the LDS says is the correct fit.

 

[lalittle]

It's important to balance fit with comfort, and one should not simply follow what the LDS says is the correct fit.

No argument there, but as someone who is inexperienced with wetsuits, I wanted to make sure I put sufficient weight on what the LDS said since they had the experience that I do not at this point.

I was tempted to do as you did and get a larger size against their recommendations, especially since they were completely open to this and said that I should make a decision that I was comfortable with, but at this point I'm glad I stuck with the smaller size. As I said, if the suit was any looser I would have definitely sacrificed warmth, and as it was the suit was not uncomfortable once I stretched the shoulders out a bit and got back in the water.

Thanks again,

Larry

 

[lalittle]

Stuffing the suit as you did will as you learned slightly modify the form. What is happening is that under stress some of the gas bubbles are tearing and relieving stress, letting the suit grow. A volleyball in the neck of a tight hood is a common fix. This is a semi destructive process so don't get carried away with it.

Well now you've got me thinking. What are the signs of "getting carried away" with this? At what point would you start becoming concerned?

Note I started with smaller items, but they just didn't put much stretch in the areas I needed looser, so I moved up to the large size paper towel rolls. The larger items were probably needed because of the Hyperstretch material, which easily stretches quite a bit before it's at the point where stretching will start to actually change the form over time.

I guess in the end it doesn't matter given that it appears to "work" at this point, and therefore doesn't need any further stretch, but I have absolutely no point of reference as to what would be considered "getting carried away" with this process, so I'm curious how "safe" the process I did was in the long run. Will the suit wear out a lot quicker now?

Thanks again,

Larry