Okay Wearing Wetsuit Backward?

[drrich2]

Hi:

Got a 3x Henderson Thermoprene 5 mm wetsuit awhile back for local diving (so far at a quarry). Snug but comfortable and does the job. I mainly dive solo locally, and my 'work flow' of gearing up has gotten some better, but there's one little detail that's still a problem...

Like many, my wetsuit has the zipper on the back. For a rather, um, 'robust' fellow like myself, in a snug suit, getting it zipped up the back is very difficult. I'm not the only one who's ever hassled with one, either.

Which got me thinking; can I just put the thing on backyards, so the zipper is up front? Obviously I can, but is there some drawback (besides the knee pads being behind my knees, if that matters)?

Thanks.

Richard.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Dsix36]

I liked your idea and decided to give it a try. I have a brand new suit that I am waiting for a chance to get wet. I went and put it on backwards and am sitting at the computer in it now. The knee pads are a slight issue but it was much easier to get zipped up.

I will tell you that the neck seal (collar) is not properly positioned and feels like it is try to cut my head off. My face is turning purple and I must unzip..... now.......... before.............. I ................. black..................... out.



OK, I did not die, but I will not be trying this again. Shame this did not work! It did make my butt look smaller and the package on the other side bigger.

---------- Post added July 20th, 2013 at 08:18 PM ----------

Update:

I am now on my way to the emergency room due to dislocating my shoulder while trying to get the darned thing back off.

 

[WeldonDowd]

Getting out of a front zip by yourself is very tough.

 

[Malpaso]

May not be an option for you at this point, as you already have the jumpsuit, but a farmer john and a shorty (front zip) works great. I have the two piece because I need an XL top and L bottom, but my shoulders are shot and the front zip is a godsend.

 

[annasea]

Getting out of a front zip by yourself is very tough.

I respectfully disagree. All of my suits are custom (thin, long legs) front zips and I have no trouble getting in or out of them. I couldn't imagine buying a back zip -- even a custom one.

 

[drbill]

All of my suits are custom (thin, long legs)

How true (tee hee).

I remember the first time I wore a backzip wetsuit. I was used to farmer johns (used them for two decades) but was diving with a J-M Cousteau team up in the northern Channel Islands and had to borrow a wetsuit. I put it on below decks and came up top complaini8ng about the awful fit. Dick Murphy, the friend who loaned it to me, said it was on backwards. My, my, my.

Although most of my suits are back zip these days, I have worn front zip wetsuits since then. Yes, they can be a little more difficult to remove (depending on your physique), at least for me.

 

[maniago]

Hi:

Got a 3x Henderson Thermoprene 5 mm wetsuit awhile back for local diving (so far at a quarry). Snug but comfortable and does the job. I mainly dive solo locally, and my 'work flow' of gearing up has gotten some better, but there's one little detail that's still a problem...

Like many, my wetsuit has the zipper on the back. For a rather, um, 'robust' fellow like myself, in a snug suit, getting it zipped up the back is very difficult. I'm not the only one who's ever hassled with one, either.

Which got me thinking; can I just put the thing on backyards, so the zipper is up front? Obviously I can, but is there some drawback (besides the knee pads being behind my knees, if that matters)?

Thanks.

Richard.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Do it. Noone cares about how it feels except you. And we all know scuba is about comfort in the water. Or another way to look at it is: "if its fully functional and reliable, it doesn't have to be pretty" - something I applied to the cars I drove for many many years....

 

[SC_Hoaty]

... can I just put the thing on backyards, so the zipper is up front?

You would not be the first to have done this.

 

[Quero]

Usually a wetsuit has a higher neckline in the back than in the front, so it may come up too high in front and dip down too low in back. Additionally most wetsuits cut the front and back differently so that they're roomier in the derriere for our buttocks, but I suppose that would depend on the size and whether a particular size was cut to allow for a beer belly. Across the shoulders, the back tends to be a little narrower than the front since most people have more chest than shoulder blade to fill in those bits. I guess you'd just have to put it on to see how it feels in relation to your individual shape, Richard!

As for the relative difficulty of front vs back zips to remove, I simply cannot get a front zip off without help. Maybe my bad shoulders are part of the problem. To get the zip pulled up in the back, I have a long ribbon attached to the zipper pull, and I can manage it that way without help most of the time (the exception being when the wetsuit is bone dry and hasn't got stretchier as it does when wet).

 

[Insta-Gator]

Agree, removing a front zip suit is slow and tedious. I like my front zip 3mm but I'm gald my 5mm is a back zip.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4 Beta