More help with gear please!

[marinediver77]

I got some good responces so I thought I'd keep asking more questions. I'm really trying to prepare and get the right gear so I can be comfortable on my dives, when I start diving.

I plan on diving in tropical climates, so no drysuits needed. I have currently decided on the pinnacle merino-elastiprene 5mm wetsuit. The water temp that I'll probably be diving is anywhere from 70 to 75 degrees. I've heard this is a pretty good suit. Any opinions would greatly be appreciated.

My questions are as follows:
Should I get a hood?
Would it be wise to use gloves in this temperature? What brands are good?
For the pinnacle suit I chose, should I get a 3mm instead of the 5mm?

Thank you guys again, for all your help.

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

I got some good responces so I thought I'd keep asking more questions. I'm really trying to prepare and get the right gear so I can be comfortable on my dives, when I start diving.

I plan on diving in tropical climates, so no drysuits needed. I have currently decided on the pinnacle merino-elastiprene 5mm wetsuit. The water temp that I'll probably be diving is anywhere from 70 to 75 degrees. I've heard this is a pretty good suit. Any opinions would greatly be appreciated.

My questions are as follows:
Should I get a hood?
Would it be wise to use gloves in this temperature? What brands are good?
For the pinnacle suit I chose, should I get a 3mm instead of the 5mm?

Thank you guys again, for all your help.

The thickness of the suit depends largely on individual cold tolerance and how well the suit fits. Last time I was in Cozumel I dove in a 7mm 2 piece wetsuit and next time I plan to dive dry and I live in Minnesota where the surface temps never get at warm as the bottom temps there. I would never recommend anyone buy a 3mm suit unless they are normally more "warm blooded". Your never going to get to warm underwater though you can get overheated while gearing up.

A hood is always a good idea especially if your diving in cold water or the ocean. It protects your head from more then just heat loss but also from stinging critters like jelly fish.

Gloves are great though in these warm conditions you probably wont want them and you lose dexterity. I dive with think dry gloves here and believe me thats one bit of gear I wish I never needed. You may actually encounter that gloves are not even allowed on some boats or dive locations. However it doesn't hurt to own a pair just in case and they take up little space or weight in luggage. They also make great padding for a computer or lights while traveling...

The better your suit fits the warmer you will be so I encourage you to try them on.

 

[djanni]

I got some good responces so I thought I'd keep asking more questions. I'm really trying to prepare and get the right gear so I can be comfortable on my dives, when I start diving.

I plan on diving in tropical climates, so no drysuits needed. I have currently decided on the pinnacle merino-elastiprene 5mm wetsuit. The water temp that I'll probably be diving is anywhere from 70 to 75 degrees. I've heard this is a pretty good suit. Any opinions would greatly be appreciated.

My questions are as follows:
Should I get a hood?
Would it be wise to use gloves in this temperature? What brands are good?
For the pinnacle suit I chose, should I get a 3mm instead of the 5mm?

Thank you guys again, for all your help.

Maybe you could better define tropical... 70-75 degrees sounds more like Florida in the spring and fall. Temps are higher in the Summer. In the Caribbean, especially during the summer temps will be more in the range of 76 to 85.

As North said it depends greatly on your own temperature tolerance. We dive mostly in the Caribbean yet never during the heart of winter. A 3mm would be the norm for 90% of the divers we see. Probably 40% of those are wearing shorties. You see more people in a t-shirt than in 5mm's.

We wear 3mm full suits most of the time or 1mm full suits. I like tropical weight gloves and wear them when it's allowed but can't say it effects my warmth either way. When doing night dives we sometimes use a hood (3mm) but I really don't like hoods because for me I can't hear much with one on.

We do have 5mm suits and hoods that we'll take to Florida in the spring or fall but i sometimes get hot in them and they are stiffer. with a 5mm hood I hear almost nothing.

In the 70-75 degree range you mentioned a 5mm should be more than sufficient. If you're typical, I'd say that's overkill for warmer temperatures.

Pinnacle is a well known brand. I see a few of them. Personally, my favorite is the Henderson Hyperstretch. Oh, I also like my very first wetsuit which is a SeaQuest. I'd say the SeaQuest 3/2mm is a bit warmer than the Hyperstretch 3mm but boy is the Hyper comfortable and easier to get into.

 

[RJP]

I plan on diving in tropical climates, so no drysuits needed.

Huh?

I have currently decided on the pinnacle merino-elastiprene 5mm wetsuit. The water temp that I'll probably be diving is anywhere from 70 to 75 degrees.

I wouldn't call 70-75F "tropical" by any stretch. On a recent Red Sea trip the water was 73F and I would say that half of the 24 divers I was with were in dry suits. The rest were in 5mm or 7mm. I certainly wouldn't recommend a 3mm.

 

[Damselfish]

yes, where and when will you be diving? To most people the definition of tropical is maybe high 70s at the least, to 80+. So are you diving 70-75, or are you diving tropical?

In what I would consider tropical diving, I never see anyone wearing a hood. Some people will wear a tropical hoodie which is more of a neoprene cap with nothing around your neck. Rarely do I see someone wearing gloves, and in fact they are not allowed in many tropical places as a means of discouraging people from touching the coral. (But not a bad thing to have for the occasional time where you actually need to protect your hands, such as hanging onto an encrusted line.) In tropical diving 3mm wetsuits are common, some people wear more but many just wear a diveskin or even a t-shirt.

What an individual needs is well, very individual. Question, did you choose the Pinnacle just from reviews and features, or have you tried it on? How it fits is going to be the most important thing and different brands will all be cut and sized differently.

 

[Downing]

In what I would consider tropical diving, I never see anyone wearing a hood. Some people will wear a tropical hoodie which is more of a neoprene cap with nothing around your neck.

I agree with all the advice--and requests for clarification--above. Just wanted to add that my wife, who wears a full 1mm suit in what we consider tropical, i.e., 80+ degree water (while I wear a 2mm shorty), also wears one of those tropical hoodies. Not because she's cold but to hold back her hair. It's not long enough to tie back in a pony tail but too long to be held by a hairband. So the hoodie works for her.

 

[tk trekers]

I tend to be warm blooded but this past weekend diving locally in 70 to 78 degree water I wore a 3mm full with no gloves and no hood and I was absolutely comfortable. I would have worn just my 3/2 mm shortie but the 70 or so temps at 40' were just a little cool for that. If you have the option, you might want to rent a couple of suits and see what you are most comfortable in for the temps you plan to dive in before making the purchase. I think many people here will tell you that it is not getting cold on the first dive but not getting dry and warmed back up before making subsequent dives that gives them problems.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

...I plan on diving in tropical climates, so no drysuits needed. I have currently decided on the pinnacle merino-elastiprene 5mm wetsuit. The water temp that I'll probably be diving is anywhere from 70 to 75 degrees. I've heard this is a pretty good suit. Any opinions would greatly be appreciated.

My questions are as follows:
Should I get a hood?
Would it be wise to use gloves in this temperature? What brands are good?
For the pinnacle suit I chose, should I get a 3mm instead of the 5mm?

Thank you guys again, for all your help.

I'll chime in here because the temperature range you describe is the same as my "home waters" in Hilo, Hawaii.

A quick note first: A tropical location (Hawaii for example), may not always have "tropical" ocean temperatures :shocked2:

Anyway, 5mm is not overkill for the temperature range you mention, nor is 7mm for the lower end of that range.

I tolerate cold fairly well so I do just fine with a 3mm full and 5mm hood, reef gloves, and 5mm boots. But when you look around dive boats in Hawaii, you'll see a lot of the DM's / Instructors / Dive Pro's in 5mm's. They are doing repetitive dives all week long, and 3mm just wont cut it for most folks doing multiple dives over multiple days in that temperature range.

Best wishes.

 

[marinediver77]

LeadTurn, I'm glad you said something about Hawaii because that's what I forgot to mention. I'm going to be going to Kona and I looked up the temperature and they said that the water ranges from 70 to 75 degrees but it is tropical. I probably should have clarified that to begin with. So basically it's a toss up between the pinnacle merino-elastiprene 5mm or the 3 mm wetsuit. I read that the perticular pinnacle model suit that I chose tends to be warmer. They said that because of the merino, the 5mm tends to be like a 7mm and the 3 mm tends to be like the 5mm.

It's a hard decision because it is definitely not a cheap suit by any means. Not that this compares but I went snorkeling in Mexico in March and obvisously no wetsuit but I ended up getting pretty chilly after the second spot and the water was pretty warm. So I can only imagine diving in Hawaii waters with a wetsuit that isn't warm enough. Now all I need to do is make a decision! I'm probably going to have to break down a couple.

 

[RJP]

I did my first handful of dives three years ago off Maui and Kona in a 3-4-5 Xcel wetsuit and I was chilly after about 1/2hr on each dive.