Place to rent a 5mm suit in MA or RI?

[aedwards92]

As the season starts up here in New England I'm thinking of buying a new wet suit. I find I always get hot in them and they severely restrict my movements. I think I'd prefer a 5mm but I'd like to try it one out before buying. Problem is I haven't found any place that rents 5mm, only 7mm.

Does anyone know of a place in RI or MA that rents 5mm suits??

Thanks
Adrian

 

[Drip Dry]

I don't know if you'll have much luck renting a full body 5mm wetsuit at the (few remaining) local dive shops in New England. From my experience a 5mm wetsuit is not common with people that dive wet in the local waters so the shops don't stock many (any?) of them. I doubt this will change as it is my impression that diving wet seems to be declining in popularity among active divers, at least around Cape Ann, as I've noticed an increasing amount of people diving year round in dry suits. Note: I'm not one of them.

Have you dove wet in New England waters? Unless you run very warm or are naturally very well insulated I'm skeptical a 5mm wetsuit will keep you warm enough diving in local waters for any extended period of time.

At the risk of pedantry I'll note that any properly fitted wetsuit shouldn't significantly restrict your movement, and I doubt that a properly fitted 7mm full body wetsuit would be significantly more restrictive than a properly fitted 5mm full body wetsuit. Assuming your wetsuit is properly fitted then the grade of neoprene used to construct it may make more of a difference in how restrictive it feels when worn than does its thickness.