Hiking trousers... BAD idea?

[Hou s4m]

Hi,

So i guess we've tried everything. Cycling tights, swimming tights, surfing shorts... you name it!
Now, a friend of mine was suggesting hiking pants. One in particular is the FORCLAZ 500 MEN'S HIKING TROUSERS. Found at Decathlon.

These trousers have a slim athletic cut. 2-way stretch fabric for excellent ease of movement.
the COMPOSITION :
Main part : 85.0% Polyamide (PA), 15.0% Elastane
its synthetic fabric that is supposed to be breathable and fast drying.

I wonder if anybody had ever wear anything similar because the last thing we want is air pocket that screws up with buoyancy.

Looks kinda neat though. Or is it a bad idea?

 

[mattia_v]

I'm confused. Suggested for what purpose, exactly? Diving in? What's wrong with a wetsuit, or if you don't need the heat protection, swimsuit, or if you want sting protection, some form of rash guard?

 

[Hou s4m]

Yes. For diving in.
Water is warmer here, around 27-29C and usually with quite tame currents and superb viz. A lot of people dont use Wet suits. Usually just with surf shirt and broad shorts. I've seen people go down with 3/4-type exercise pants without a problem.
Its a crazy idea, but does intrigue me personally that i just had to ask.

 

[ronscuba]

Why not a lycra skin meant for scuba ? I also usually dive warm water in a short sleeve surf shirt and board shorts, but sometimes the small jelly fish are around so I wear a full coverage lycra dive skin.

 

[Altamira]

+1 for the full lycra skin. Easy on/off, protection from stingers, dries quickly, holds up pretty well to sun and washing, and has a lot less drag (read better air consumption) than those hiking pants. Yes, you could use the hiking pants, but there are much better products on the market for diving.

 

[dlofting]

I would say that if they are designed/built as good hiking pants, which the reviews seem to indicate, then they would probably be too much of a drag to be good for diving. Hiking pants need to standup to a lot of scrapes from bushes, rocks, etc which diving "pants" shouldn't have to (unless your bouyancy is particularly bad )

 

[ScubaMarc]

The captain of Olympus diving in North Carolina used to dive with coveralls from Sears. He said it was only for protection and much cheaper than a wetsuit.

 

[NYCNaiad]

+another 1 for the dive skin. I love it. Easy protection.

 

[outofofficebrb]

another +1 for a dive skin. something like this, if not this exactly. no drag, no bulk, good for protection against sea lice, stingers, rocks/coral, etc. in colder water, you can use it under your wetsuit - good for ease of getting in and out, especially when the suit is wet.

Henderson Lycra Dive Skin Jumpsuit

 

[The Chairman]

Many. many moon jellies ago, I did a dive off of Venice Beach Florida looking for Meg teeth. It's a bonecrushing 20 ft dive and the seas were a vicious 6 inches. However, there was an invasion of the purple meanies. Unlike Moon jellies, these guys are PAINFUL, leaving welts and and intense pain.

I didn't get the memo.

Everyone on the boat was wearing protection. There was more lycra and neoprene on that boat than I've ever seen. Hoods, gloves and even double layers. Me? I was in a t-shirt and swim suit. After the first dive, I was the only one without contact. Rly. Everyone else had been hit and some were not going back in. Rly, rly. Those purple meanines found every crack and opening and they exploited them. They all commented on how lucky I was but that my luck would soon run out. I have to say that a few got a bit belligerent when I surfaced from the second dive also unscathed. I think I even heard murmurings of witchcraft. In reality, my situational awareness was on hyper drive. My spidey sense kicked in since I had no illusions of being protected. I took extraordinary care to avoid the stingies, and I've never worn a wetsuit for that kind of protection since.