Metalite/titanium shorty and ice vest for semidry

[tamas970]

My better half started diving recently and it turned out that she is getting cold pretty easily. Having only a couple of dives under her belt, she is reluctant to move dry - which I completely understand...

Renting until she gets her Drysuit certification (and confidence) is problematic, because most dive ops rarely have decent wetsuits in xs size, not to mention semidry's.

I was thinking on the following setup:

Bare 7mm semidry
Bare 7mm hooded vest (arctic)
1.5mm metalite shorty as underwear

Does it make sense to use both an undershorty and an overvest? How much does the titanium enhancement brings to the shorties?
I'd prefer to save her a few mm's of neoprene, provided she already gets 14mm with the suit and the vest.

 

[ajduplessis]

The most important aspect of a wetsuit in relation to thermal protection is fit. Once a suit fits properly I will add a quality hoodie. At least 70% of heat retention is lost through the head area while submerged.

Firstly I am not a female as they tend to get cold easier than males, but I use a Scubapro Nova Scotia 6.5mm and 5mm hoodie. This is ample thermal protection for a 60min dives in 14 degree C waters. I have dived this in 10C water before, thou refreshing.

You want to manage/balance weight (lead) and thermal protection. If this is not enough you can try adding Lavacore under the semi's.

 

[tamas970]

I overlooked lavacore... How does it perform vs metalite or plain neoprene in terms of insulation?

 

[Imla]

Seriously... Get her in a drusuitclass with a good instructor.
All OWstudents are taught in drysuits in Norway. No reason to wait!

 

[tamas970]

Advice taken.:cool2: Especially that our other regular destination, Croatia has quite cold and deep sites.