Is there an easier way to get your wet suit on?

[Z Gear]

The easiest wetsuits to get into are the skin-in type that get lubed up with a hair conditioner/water mixture, about 25% conditioner by volume.
The suit will slide right on, and be soooo comfortable and liberating, warm too! No swim suit, just bare body against suit - commando style....nobody needs to know your secret. Then later your skin is soft and your suit smells good since with skin-in suits there is no place for moisture to sit and putrify. They dry right out and never stink.
I actually find nylon lined suits to be a little more difficult to don since sweat against dry neoprene is like a disc brake, It really doesn't want to slide.
I just tug and pull and work the thing on.
Using suit lube on nylon lined suits doesn't work as well as lube on slick skin suits.

I guess I have seen a lot suggest to use either hair conditioner or baby shampoo water mixture. Sounds good also.

Now as far as going full commando, I feel I need to have my chones(underwear) under my wet suit I feel more protected for some reason. I had tried that out with my wet suit once when I surfed it felt a bit breezy and I found myself checking my rear and looking down to see if everything was OK. Pretty mental!!!

 

[elgoog]

I usually wear a full LavaCore baselayer under my 8/7mm wetsuit in NorCal. It's a little thicker than a lycra skin but makes donning/doffing just as easy - adds a reasonable amount of warmth as well. The inside of it is also fleece lined which you might find more comfortable than neoprene on your skin.

 

[vixtor]

My personal opinion is that it depends a lot on the quality of the suit and the neoprene. I have seen suits in which you fight to enter, and suits which just slide easily. Rigid neoprene is harder to dress, while high quality elastic one, like Scubapro Everflex for example, is just a pleasure to get into. But it usually gets better in time, while the neoprene stretches a little bit more.

My wife has a Mares 7mm which is very tough to get into, because the arms are very tight and rigid and they have inner exposed neoprene, for good contact with skin, which is a nightmare to put your hand into.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

My personal opinion is that it depends a lot on the quality of the suit and the neoprene. I have seen suits in which you fight to enter, and suits which just slide easily. Rigid neoprene is harder to dress, while high quality elastic one, like Scubapro Everflex for example, is just a pleasure to get into. But it usually gets better in time, while the neoprene stretches a little bit more.

My wife has a Mares 7mm which is very tough to get into, because the arms are very tight and rigid and they have inner exposed neoprene, for good contact with skin, which is a nightmare to put your hand into.

I've heard of people putting a foot sock on their hands and that makes it easier to slide a hand through the sleeve.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

I've heard of people putting a foot sock on their hands and that makes it easier to slide a hand through the sleeve.

My son uses a plastic bag from the grocery store on both his feet and hands - to be fair his suit is a bit snug. But just a plastic bag to slide through and then take the bag off - and on the next appendage... He swears by it and I have lots of them hanging around...

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

My son uses a plastic bag from the grocery store on both his feet and hands - to be fair his suit is a bit snug. But just a plastic bag to slide through and then take the bag off - and on the next appendage... He swears by it and I have lots of them hanging around...

That's an even better idea!

 

[nolatom]

I will definitely try this out. Great tip.

Plastic grocery bag is da bomb. Works well on sleeves as well as legs. Someone borrowed my bag on the boat yesterday, the supreme compliment.. -

 

[afdgf]

We use suit juice. There are other lubricants out there also, but we like the spray bottle of the suit juice better than the other ones we have seen.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Plastic grocery bag is da bomb. Works well on sleeves as well as legs. Someone borrowed my bag on the boat yesterday, the supreme compliment.. -

I'm all over it!

Tahoe this coming week for 5 days.
I'll have my 5 and 7 mil nylon lined suits and I'm trying it.

 

[freewillie]

On my first OW course we started with the 200 yard swim then the 10 min treading water. After we tried putting the wetsuits on when we where wet. Lord that was tough. Turns out the more wetness present the harder it can be to put the suit on. That would include sweating on a hot day.

I usually dont don't have a problem with the cold mornings but almost always use a Lycra rash guard top for the sleeves. Never had a problem since.

my dive instructor said we could use Wetsuit Snot to help get into a wet wetsuit but baby shampoo is cheaper.