Effect of dive skin under wetsuit

[oldflounder]

I understamd that a wetsuit functions best with the material against the skin, such that a thin layer of warm water is sandwiched between the surface of the skin and that of the suit. Does wearing a dive skin help or hinder this. Does it create a thicker layer of warm water or does it make too thick a sandwich allowing water to flow?

 

[maged_mmh]

no effect at all; i wear it coz i don't like the neoprene right on my skin

 

[tstormdiver]

A lot of people I know who wear skins under thier wetsuits, do so to make getting in the wetsuit easier.

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

It does make it easier to don and dof the wetsuit-also your able to retain that superhero appearence when removing your wetsuit in front of spectators

 

[scubaren]

It does make it easier to don and dof the wetsuit-also your able to retain that superhero appearence when removing your wetsuit in front of spectators

 

[Skeeter1097]

I have never noticed any deference. Some times I wear a skin and sometimes not. As fair as cold I don't think it mater's.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I always wore a skin until I went with a Pinnacle merino lined suit in both my 3 and 5 mils. Now it is not necessary.

 

[piffle]

Its not the water in the suit that keeps you warm, its the of air bubbles in the noeprene that insulate. The thicker the wetsuit, the more air bubbles. If the trapped water in the suit kept you warm it wouldnt matter how thick it was, as long as it trapped water. And before I started using a drysuit, I always wore a diveskin under my wetsuit.

 

[oldflounder]

True - but I wasn't talking about the water in the suit material itself. I have read that it's that thin layer of water on the surface of the skin that keeps your skin from losing heat rapidly. Any water flow against the skin carries this warm water away. That's why you need a tight fitting suit on the surface. The thicknesses of the suits just keeps the ocean water away from this layer.The colder the water, the thicker the layer. The suit does eventually get somewhat saturated, but by then you've acclimated and avoid that initial shock of 40* water. I was submerged in the ocean [46* surface] last November in a rental 7 mm farmer john for 15 minutes to try it out and when I got out the top of the bottoms and the inside of the jacket were dry as could be.
As far as the superhero look - well - with my portly physique no one will ever confuse me and come rushing to me to save the world - but I do like to wear it to the site [like diver underwear] so that I can just don my wetsuit in public without having to hide in my car while I strip.
Are there any wetsuit manufacturer reps out there that could answer my question?
The reason I bring this question up is that I tried an experiment last fall where I wore long johns under a 3 mm suit in 52* lake water to see if it helped take the chill off. It was definately a failure. I was warmer the previous day when I didn't have them on.

 

[tstormdiver]

2 things could have been at work there with being colder wearing the long johns. 1. the long johns could have been wicking the cold water into the suit on a constant basis & 2. your core temperature may still have not recovered from the dives the day before.
The best thing I've found that works with a wetsuit & the initial cold water shock, it to have a thermos of warm to hot water (as hot as you can stand). After donning the suit, pour that water into the suit. Doesn't completely get rid of the shock, but it does help a bunch. Even though I primarily dive dry, I still have a wetsuit hood & gloves. I use this technique quite a bit & it does ease the shock a bit.