Looking for a 4/3 Fullsuit

[JamesBon92007]

I find that for me a 4/3 is a great warmer water wetsuit. Less bulky then a 5 but a tad warmer than a 3 without requiring a hood and vest. I don't move much underwater and around here there are thermoclines sometimes in summer.

My 11 year old 4/3 has "shrunk" plus it has a lot dives on it and probably is now a 3.5/2.2

So I am looking for a 4/3 in a quality fabric with some stretch so easy on and off. I have searched the internet but the only thing I found was an O'Neill which is for surfing so I assume that the material will compress more and not be as good for diving. Am I wrong?

Size is an LS. My 7 and my 5 are LS and it is the perfect size.

Anybody know of a suit out there that meets my needs? Color not important. I would even wear all black if I had to.

I've been looking at wetsuits too (probably a 5mm or a 7/5mm) and I'm uncertain at this point just what the definition of "quality fabric" is. The NeoSport X-Span sounded great until I read on here about the neoprene separating between the layers of nylon. I also read that the grades of fabric are: Standard = Low Quality, Premium = Medium Quality, and Super-Stretch = Best Quality. The reviews I've read don't seem to agree with the Super-Stretch being the best. On another thread I'm getting the impression that wetsuits don't wear anywhere nearly as long as they used to and compress much more at depth, but they are more comfortable and easier to don and doff. At this point I have no particular brand or type of neoprene that I've settled on so please let us know what you finally decide upon. I wore what was probably Rubatex for decades and survived without too much discomfort. The wet suits survived too.

One thing I have concluded it that "Surfing" wetsuits differ from "Diving" wetsuits in that the neoprene compresses more at depth with surfing suits. That is not an issue for me if my 2.5mm compresses to 1.0mm in 82 F water. In colder water it is a different story.

This post is interesting to me, but finding out what manufacturer uses which neoprene for which wetsuit might be a challenge.

Wetsuit neoprene: The Real Deal (A Guide)

 

[Steve_C]

I am troll size. Short with muscular legs. My 7mm is a hyperstretch which replaced an old 5mm semi-dry. The hyperstretch is much easier to get on then the old semi-dry. I also have a newish Bare 5mm with some water locks on the inside. I do not know if the 7 is actually warmer than the 5 but my progression is 7 -5 -3 as the NC water warms up. Even though the water may get in the high 70s in summer in NC, I do not move a lot in the water. Poke around and look at stuff so I usually wear a 5/3 hooded vest with the 3 in the ocean. For quarry dives which are warmer and shallower in late summer I would wear the 3 and a beanie. Some times in late summer at the coast I will wear a 3mm shorty I have over a 2mm full suit which is a 5/2 with a beanie. Also in the Carribean I have used the 5/2 combination.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I am troll size. Short with muscular legs. My 7mm is a hyperstretch which replaced an old 5mm semi-dry. The hyperstretch is much easier to get on then the old semi-dry. I also have a newish Bare 5mm with some water locks on the inside. I do not know if the 7 is actually warmer than the 5 but my progression is 7 -5 -3 as the NC water warms up. Even though the water may get in the high 70s in summer in NC, I do not move a lot in the water. Poke around and look at stuff so I usually wear a 5/3 hooded vest with the 3 in the ocean. For quarry dives which are warmer and shallower in late summer I would wear the 3 and a beanie. Some times in late summer at the coast I will wear a 3mm shorty I have over a 2mm full suit which is a 5/2 with a beanie. Also in the Carribean I have used the 5/2 combination.

My girlfriend has a Pinnnacle 3mm and it has some kind of water seals on the arms and legs and a "titanium" lining (which sounds kinda like snake oil) and she says it's very warm, including at Catalina Island with temps in the mid 50s. It fits her very well (she's short with an extremely "muscular" chest) which I'm sure helps and since it's only 3mm it's stretchy enough but I don't think it's Super-Stretch or whatever. It seems like it stretches about 200% and I've read 250% on X-Span so the difference doesn't seem to be significant. Anyone happen to know what the % of stretch usually is on "premium" (medium grade) neoprene?

An interesting note: we were looking at her wetsuit on scuba.com and when the clock struck twelve the price dropped in half. That made up our minds for us I can't say that I've seen that happen again, but it might be worth checking. I have a suit (OceanQuest 7mm) that I've been eyeballing on scuba.com but no midnight price drop yet.

 

[divinh]

I assumed he was talking about an alternative to back entry that was one of those where you pull part of it over your head and then zip across the chest. If you're only talking about normal front zip versus back zip, then yeah, no difference. You don't have to take the reg out or mask off to don/doff.

Regardless, yeah, when/why would you ever take your suit off while maintaining reg in and mask on?

Yes, top entry where you have to pull part of it over your head and then zip across the chest. I guess it doesn't make much sense about the reg unless I'm underwater and somehow need to ditch the wetsuit. For the mask, I can leave it around my neck after a dive and zip down the back to keep cool. It just seems easier to remove a wetsuit with a zip down the back than one with top entry. I think front entry is even more ideal for getting in/out, but my understanding is that the zipper area tends to leak water.