O'Neill wetsuit

[jphealy]

I'm looking for a new wetsuit for travels to various places such as Malaysia, Australia and Fiji (in their winter) - probably a 5mm full suit. I'm very tall and slim so buying a good fitting wetsuit can be difficult. I tried on the O'Neill Psycho 2 in 5mm/3mm in the medium tall size the other day and it was actually a pretty good fit. It could have been snugger around the torso maybe but I might think about adding a 2mm vest or something underneath to make it perfect.Obviously this is made as a surfing wetsuit, but does this matter? Is there any fundamental difference? Has anybody used this particular suit and how do they find it?

 

[Tacticaltj]

For the price of the Oneal, I'd look at a custom fit suit and do it right. Try aquaflite.com or do a google search for custom wetsuit.

 

[Parrothead_Diver]

I have not used the O'Neill wetsuits, so I cannot comment on them. However, I do have a few thoughts on the fact that you said the suit you were looking at was designed for surfing. Most of the surf suits I have seen have a rubber patch on the front and back of the body which helps you stay on the board while paddling out. For diving, this front panel is good as it can help prevent the wear that is sometimes caused by the velcro on the cumberbund of your BC. However, the rear panel could cause problems if you need to adjust your BC during the dive as it could tend to stick. Another consideration is that I believe that the neoprene used is different for Dive and Surf suits. I have been told that the surf suits tend to compress more under pressure and therefore do not provide as much warmth.

 

[jphealy]

I won't be using it anywhere cold, and the vest should help anywhere the water is a bit cooler.

 

[MN Lakeman]

O'Neill definitely sells to the diving crowd as well. I bought a 7/5 hooded wetsuit for cold lake diving, & have been very impressed by the warmth & quality of construction, but especially the fit. I'm very slim in the waist, & have been frustrated finding a warm water suit that does not exchange water w/ every fin cycle, so I bought their 3ml & due to the fantastic fit, it feels more like a 5ml. I wear a hooded 3ml vest under for cooler Caribbean trips, & even on my last liveaboard, when I was diving 4 - 5 dives a day, I was toasty @ depth w/ temp's averaging 75 - 77 degrees. Fit is everything man!

 

[Charlie99]

O'Neill definitely sells to the diving crowd as well.

My favorite lightweight wetsuit is an O'neill Reactor 3/2. $99 at Diver's Direct.

 

[*Floater*]

For the price of the Oneal, I'd look at a custom fit suit and do it right. Try aquaflite.com or do a google search for custom wetsuit.

O'Neill isn't anymore expensive than most other brands - at least in the US. My girlfriend just ordered a 5/3mm O'Neill fullsuit for $130 from Sierra Trading Post (google them for additional discount coupons). However, aquaflite.com seems to have very good prices too (if I'm reading their price list correctly).

 

[reubencahn]

I surf in O'Neill suits and they are very good for that purpose, very well made. However, a suit like the Psycho II is very pricey. I think the 3/2 is $379 at my local surf shop. Most of what you pay for on those suits probably won't provide any benefit while diving. Also, O'Neill's emphasis on it's surf wetsuits is flexibility. The neoprene is very stretchy. My guess is that it's also very easy to compress. I'm guessing about this as I don't dive in my O'Neill suits. O'Neill does make suits for diving. I'd assume they use the same sizing patterns so you might look at them.

 

[RonFrank]

I'm looking for a new wetsuit for travels to various places such as Malaysia, Australia and Fiji (in their winter) - probably a 5mm full suit. I'm very tall and slim so buying a good fitting wetsuit can be difficult. I tried on the O'Neill Psycho 2 in 5mm/3mm in the medium tall size the other day and it was actually a pretty good fit. It could have been snugger around the torso maybe but I might think about adding a 2mm vest or something underneath to make it perfect.Obviously this is made as a surfing wetsuit, but does this matter? Is there any fundamental difference? Has anybody used this particular suit and how do they find it?

The Psycho suits are NOT designed for scuba. ONeil says this in their product advertisements. This indicates to me they are not going to do very well when compressed at depth.

ONeil does make many suits for Diving. HERE is an example. However there are a LOT of suit manufactures out there, and if you fit in an ONeil suit, I'm betting there are others off the rack that will work. I personally don't like the Farmer John suits which is what the JStyle basically is. But I have not tried the ONeil to be fair.

DO get a suit designed for diving vs. just water sports. If the material is not designed to handle the compression of depth, it's not going to be very warm.

 

[MN Lakeman]

However there are a LOT of suit manufactures out there, and if you fit in an ONeil suit, I'm betting there are others off the rack that will work.

Not the case IMHO - I tried on 4 different makes & none of them fit nearly as well as both of mine. If you check out the website of any wetsuit manufacturer, you'll find a size chart detailing various measurements. I found that in most cases, O'Neill in any men's size, was 2" or more smaller in the waist & hips than all the others. It sort of makes sense - a company starting out making neoprene for athletic surfers (?). Again, if you have the right fit, the little difference in neoprene density or whatever, you're going to be warmer.