Full Suit Skin vs Shorty

[lowwall]

Why have even a rare, tiny shiver when you COULD wear just a little more and be actually warm?

The same reason why I wear a BP/W. I've been a swimmer my whole life and I really just want to swim underwater without surfacing for a breath. I don't want to be "cozy", I want to be free. The dream is to have gills, but since that's not an option, I'll take the most minimal BC, smallest wing, full foot fins and the least amount of exposure protection I can get away with.

 

[JMJ Wetsuits]

@RobPNW I've read through the thread here and would suggest giving our shop a call at 310-212-3040 and talk to someone about the best solution. A custom-fit will always be the most comfortable, and you can talk through the design that will suit your needs best, bother the neck least, etc.

When choosing a style, keep in mind that surf suits typically use a different variety of neoprene that's made for stretch because surfing demands it, but may not handle compression well where "dive grade" material will have better "memory" and retain it's thickness and stays insulative.

I'm not half the suit designer that the guys in our shop are, but personally I'm thinking a fullsuit for exposure/jelly/sun protection, 3mm so it's durable, and maybe flatlocked so it is lower price and actually lets a little water in through the seams so you don't overheat.

Hope that helps,
Derek

 

[RobPNW]

First off I can completely appreciate the custom fit advice because I may try 10 off the shelf wetsuits and have none of them fit just right for my body genetics. Also, it's a fair point that surf centric wetsuit designs certainly don't focus on scuba depth factors as closely as as a suit designed from the ground up for diving conditions. But I'm a little confused on the flat lock seams recommendation. If those allow more water intrusion, does that not counteract the whole point of having a more compression resilient neoprene?

 

[stuartv]

The same reason why I wear a BP/W. I've been a swimmer my whole life and I really just want to swim underwater without surfacing for a breath. I don't want to be "cozy", I want to be free. The dream is to have gills, but since that's not an option, I'll take the most minimal BC, smallest wing, full foot fins and the least amount of exposure protection I can get away with.

LOL Fair enough. You do you. The common saying in my circles is "I'm not a swimmer. I don't swim. I'm a scuba diver."

When I get in the water, I want to swim the absolute least possible (and still see what I came to see). That is one reason I have a scooter.

Besides just being lazy, I also don't want to swim because it burns my gas faster and I would rather stay longer. Which is also another reason I'd rather be warm than have a slight chill. Being warm means breathing slower (in general).

I'm not AT ALL knocking your way of diving. I'm just saying my approach is very different. If I'm not diving a wreck, my favorite kind of diving is Cozumel drift diving, where I can just drop in and hover for the whole dive.

 

[lowwall]

I'm mostly relaxing on a dive as well. What I'm trying to say is that I want to feel like a fish when I'm under, not a sub commander.

 

[RobPNW]

I'm mostly relaxing on a dive as well. What I'm trying to say is that I want to feel like a fish when I'm under, not a sub commander.

LMAO

 

[parzdiver]

I am going to add to the separates camp. For warm water, I used to dive a full 3mm, but got the Lava Core top and bottom and prefer it. One thing I like is that if I am diving a wreck, I can wear both, but if we switch to a reef on the next dive and the water is warm enough, I will ditch the bottoms and just wear the top. The Lava Core also keeps me warmer than my old 3mm full suit. Probably because it is old, the neoprene doesn't have the same thermal properties.

 

[RobPNW]

I am going to add to the separates camp. For warm water, I used to dive a full 3mm, but got the Lava Core top and bottom and prefer it. One thing I like is that if I am diving a wreck, I can wear both, but if we switch to a reef on the next dive and the water is warm enough, I will ditch the bottoms and just wear the top. The Lava Core also keeps me warmer than my old 3mm full suit. Probably because it is old, the neoprene doesn't have the same thermal properties.

I see on those style tops and bottoms, be it Lavacore or Exowear etc, they have long and short tops and bottoms. So on a colder day, maybe wear the long sleeve top and full length bottom. And on a warm day, wear the short sleeve top and short bottoms. Seems like both sets would fold up to about the size of one full size wetsuit for travel.

 

[stuartv]

With thin stuff like LavaCore/Sharkskinz/Exowear/etc, I would not use luggage space to carry short stuff if I was going to take long stuff anyway. I can't imagine ever being too warm in the long stuff. And that would be the only reason to take the short stuff.

When I travel, I take all my own gear, including a bunch of bulky camera gear. Luggage space is at a premium. I try to take one suit that is the warmest thing I'll need. If a LavaCore - or even a 3mm - is actually TOO warm, then I can go in board shorts and a rash guard. If it's too warm for a 3mm, then that means it is hot bathwater and board shorts alone would be plenty.

For a week in TCI in August, I took an Exowear fullsuit and some board shorts and rash guards. The Exowear was warm enough but definitely never too warm. The water was 83-84F. I could probably have dived just shorts the whole week, but the Exowear gave me the full coverage protection I wanted, so I wore it for protection, not warmth.

When I started diving, I bough a 3/2 wetsuit and a bunch of Lavacore stuff. My thought was having all that versatility by being able to layer. It never really worked out that way. Now, I could be perfectly fine to just and only have something like the Exowear full suit, a 5mm full suit, and a drysuit. If it's too cold for the 5mm, then I go dry. If it's too warm for the 5mm, I go Exowear or just shorts. Totally works (for me).

It IS possible to really overthink this....

 

[johndiver999]

First off I can completely appreciate the custom fit advice because I may try 10 off the shelf wetsuits and have none of them fit just right for my body genetics. Also, it's a fair point that surf centric wetsuit designs certainly don't focus on scuba depth factors as closely as as a suit designed from the ground up for diving conditions. But I'm a little confused on the flat lock seams recommendation. If those allow more water intrusion, does that not counteract the whole point of having a more compression resilient neoprene?

Yeah the flat lock seam leaks a ton. Hold it up to the sun and you can see the light coming through. It is a strong and comfortable seam. Remember you have a back zipper down your whole back which leaks more. As mentioned, you are over thinking this.