jjardin
Contributor
I have a 7mm Henderson hyper-something-or-other farmer-john that I used for a few NJ ocean dives and at dutch springs before I bought my drysuit. Other than the fact that you can float higher than one of those pontoon lake boats (neoprene is a bit buoyant), it is really quite warm--even pretty deep down.
Looking at my log--the coldest I did in it was 48--and the suit was not too bad--although I can tolerate the cold really well. I actually never got too wet in that suit, either. (I am 5'8", 235, so I have a bit of natural insulation).
If you are doing some shallow (60-100) dives to just get wet--then a thick wetsuit (and a lot of lead) is fine. I was pretty warm on all my dives 55 in may/june, 63 in sept. If you are a heavy dude, I have a nice one that I will sell you. I have only kept it hanging around my basement in case my drysuit goes bust.
If you are serious about diving around here--especially if you are thinking of doing the tech route--go for a dry. I think a semi-dry is an expensive wetsuit--and is pretty limited. A dry suit really depends on what you have on under it--so you can do so much more. But you have to be serious--a drysuit is a bit expensive (and can be a bit of a hassle).
Looking at my log--the coldest I did in it was 48--and the suit was not too bad--although I can tolerate the cold really well. I actually never got too wet in that suit, either. (I am 5'8", 235, so I have a bit of natural insulation).
If you are doing some shallow (60-100) dives to just get wet--then a thick wetsuit (and a lot of lead) is fine. I was pretty warm on all my dives 55 in may/june, 63 in sept. If you are a heavy dude, I have a nice one that I will sell you. I have only kept it hanging around my basement in case my drysuit goes bust.
If you are serious about diving around here--especially if you are thinking of doing the tech route--go for a dry. I think a semi-dry is an expensive wetsuit--and is pretty limited. A dry suit really depends on what you have on under it--so you can do so much more. But you have to be serious--a drysuit is a bit expensive (and can be a bit of a hassle).
