First Wetsuit

[MarineBiologist23]

Hey Everyone,
Alright I have been doing a lot of research on wetsuits and I think I've got it figured out. I want a Bare Arctic Full suit 7mm. I usually dive in waters no colder than 68F. Do you guys think this is a good suit? Let me know if you have any other recommendations.

 

[orangelion03]

Pinnacle makes great products, but...that's probably a bit thicker than you will need for that temperature. 5mm is more likely , but then again, you might be cold blooded =) (a bit more flexibility in a 5 mil as well, something you might appreciate when on the job)

I gather by your moniker that you will probably be spending a LOT of time in the water. Have you considered a custom suit? Probably not a whole lot more than the Pinnacle, and you can tailor it (ha ha) to your needs...pockets, zippers, velcro patches, etc.

Cheers!

 

[Xaryo]

2 words: Henderson Hyperstretch

So stretchy, you won't even feel it.
So snuggly fitting, you won't have water flushing in.
So easy to put on, you won't even be tired after.

I am sold to it even if it is a tiny bit more expensive than a Bare Arctic ou Velocity( another good choice for the stretchiness factor)

 

[Captain Larry]

Take a serious look at the Pinnacle Merino Lined Elastiprene in either the 5mm or 7mm. They both feature the unique Pinnacle neck collar seal, kevlar knee pads, and other excellent features. The Merino wool lining dramatically increases the warmth factor. We are an authorized dealer and have been getting outstanding feedback from our customers and staff who use them. Let me know if we can answer any questions for you.

 

[The Chad]

I'll be the 3rd to chime in for Pinnacle

 

[Thalassamania]

You need to pay for warmth ... but high price does not guarantee adequate performance. For 68 degrees a 7mm is overkill unless you plan on spending hours a day motionless in the water, in which case you'll need a dry suit anyway. 5mm will do you fine, 3/5 will likely serve and even 3mm may be enough. As to material, it's a trade off. If you want maximum warmth, minimum compressibilty and maximum flexibility then a custom suit made of Rubatex 231 (skin two sides or lycra one-side) will, without a doubt, serve best ... but will be the most expensive and less easy to put on and take off. In my experience the various "stretchy" material are also the most crushable and the merino lined suits are nowhere near as warm as skin in, which is virtually a semi-dry suit.

 

[micklock]

Just my 2 cents. If I was buying my first suit again I would take the money I spent on my 3.2 suit and 7mm two piece suit and put it into a DUI 30/30 or similar drysuit.

 

[Crawl79]

Ill be the 4th for the Pinnacle, but I would say with the Pinnacle Merino Elastiprene you could get by with the 5mm because it is that warm.

 

[meesier42]

wow that is a lot of rubber for a min temp of 68F. My normal is the 3mm Pinnacle Seal for water temps down to about 65F, unless I am going to be motionless. Then the only thing I do is add my hood and thicker gloves/boots. I am a bit 'cold' blooded and don't mind being cool in my suit. But I would recommend staying with a 5mm Full suit if you think you will get cold easily or are going to be realitively motionless. My 2 recommendation are the Fusion 5mm or the ME5. Then get yourself a nice pair of gloves, booties, and hood. Even a 3mm hood will keep you amazingly warm vice not having one, if you are worried I would look into a basic 3mm hood like this one.
As you can see I really like the Pinnacle suits as well, I started with the Seal and now have a Evolution2 Drysuit. So far their suits have been the best built and most comfortable/best fitting suits that I have ever used, which include 2 full custom suits that I have.

 

[Thalassamania]

The advise that you get a dry suit from the get-go is good advise. A tri-lam suit with minimal undergarment will do you fine in 68 degree water, and when you add a good undergarment will serve in water as cold as it gets.

With respect to wet suits: I issue a very detailed equipment list before each Research Diver Course. Each student needs to purchase and show up with that gear at the first meeting.

The suits we used, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, are 5mm, skin two side (now lycra-out), Rubatex GN-231N, attached hood, farmer johns, no zippers. I send my list to all the shops in the area and freely distribute whatever they send back to the students (this is a big deal, twenty full sets of gear with no selling or inventory required: take the order, take the money, deliver in two weeks).

One student did not go to an local shop, but rather to a shop near her home, about a hundred miles away. I got a call from the Instructor in the shop informing me, in a fairly emphatic tone, that, “No diver could possibly wear this suit. They could not put it on without a zipper.” Now, please understand, that I’ve been diving this suit design since the mid sixties, and the only people who need an inverted half zipper in the jacket are incredibly curvaceous women that are of petite statue. This woman was just shy of six foot and her blueprint could have been confused with a plan for a javelin.

Having nothing better to do (and considering that the woman in question was one of the brighter marine geology grad students), I drove up to the shop later in the day. I brought my suit with me. I showed the Instructor how easy it was to put on and take off, etc. We solved the problem, but the bottom line was that this Instructor, well meaning as she was, had not yet worn out here first suit and was just repeating what her Instructor’s had told her. It wasn’t a marketing issue, the shop could and did supply the gear (and nicely matched the prices of the local shops that had sent fliers).

When it comes to dive gear, real information is hard to come by. Most of the opinions that you see on the net are biased either by being the only piece that class of gear that a newish diver has ever used, or was a loaner that an expert tried out on one or two dives. What you need to do is find an expert who is doing the kind of diving that you plan on doing and ask him or her about the gear. That may well not be an Instructor. Don’t be afraid to bore on in, why … why … why. If you do not get answers that you understand, find another expert. Make sure that the advice makes sense in terms that you understand. When it does, buy the gear and never look back.

In other words, drop the DSO at your future graduate school a line.