TexasMike
Contributor
When I go snow skiing, I wear some of the silk thermal underwear to keep me nice and toasty. Has anyone seen anything if this would help keep you warm if you wore it under your wetsuit?
Silk Thermal wear under your wetsuit
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BillP
Senior Member
I have to admit that I've never tried silk underwear, but I doubt that it would work underwater. It keeps you warmer when you ski because it traps another layer of air next to your skin as a layer of insulation. Silk underwear might add a similar amount of insulation under a drysuit, but it won't trap any air in a wetsuit and what little water it traps won't provide any appreciable insulation.
It might help your wetsuit slip on though, but I bet it would be harder to keep in place than a lycra skin.
Just my 2¢
Bill
It might help your wetsuit slip on though, but I bet it would be harder to keep in place than a lycra skin.
Just my 2¢
Bill
You might want to check into a heater for your wetsuit. I saw an ad for one in Dive magazine in March I believe it was but don't remember who made it. It uses a battery pack and opperates similer to a pair of electric socks. The heated part is by your back and keeps the water warm inside the suit. I'll bet they would cost a pretty penny or two though!
Later, Hawk.
Later, Hawk.
Hey TM,
Don't you keep yourself in enough hot water to avoid having to be stylin' silk undies???
:tease:
Don't you keep yourself in enough hot water to avoid having to be stylin' silk undies???
:tease:
BillP
Senior Member
Hi finster:
Capilene or other fleece wouldn't do much good under a wetsuit, and might even make you colder. Water just isn't a good insulator like air is. Adding another layer of air under your snow suit adds insulation. Adding a thicker layer of water under your wetsuit doesn't. Capilene under a wetsuit might make the wetsuit hold more water next to your skin, but the added water wouldn't add any appreciable insulation value.
On the other hand, thick fleece under a wetsuit is likely to interfere with the proper fit of the wetsuit and increase water exchange through the suit- reducing its effectiveness and making you colder. Wetsuit neoprene is an effective insulator because it has gas bubbles trapped in its matrix. It's that gas in the interstices of the neoprene that gives wetsuits insulation value, not really the neoprene rubber itself or the water next to your skin. If cold water flushes through a wetsuit, it loses its ability to keep you warm.
Bill
Capilene or other fleece wouldn't do much good under a wetsuit, and might even make you colder. Water just isn't a good insulator like air is. Adding another layer of air under your snow suit adds insulation. Adding a thicker layer of water under your wetsuit doesn't. Capilene under a wetsuit might make the wetsuit hold more water next to your skin, but the added water wouldn't add any appreciable insulation value.
On the other hand, thick fleece under a wetsuit is likely to interfere with the proper fit of the wetsuit and increase water exchange through the suit- reducing its effectiveness and making you colder. Wetsuit neoprene is an effective insulator because it has gas bubbles trapped in its matrix. It's that gas in the interstices of the neoprene that gives wetsuits insulation value, not really the neoprene rubber itself or the water next to your skin. If cold water flushes through a wetsuit, it loses its ability to keep you warm.
Bill
Iguana Don
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Silk underwear, I am a big fan of those!
Mike,
I usually wear my Polartec under my wetsuit. It is supposed to add the equivalent of 2-3 mils of neoprene. All I know is that it helps me stay a little warmer.
It also has the added benefit of acting as a diveskin, so it makes it much easier to get into and out of my wetsuit.
Just my $0.02.
I usually wear my Polartec under my wetsuit. It is supposed to add the equivalent of 2-3 mils of neoprene. All I know is that it helps me stay a little warmer.
It also has the added benefit of acting as a diveskin, so it makes it much easier to get into and out of my wetsuit.
Just my $0.02.
BillP
Senior Member
Hi finster:
You're right, fleece underwear works under a drysuit where it can trap air. I wear Polartec fleece under my drysuit sometimes. I got mine from a camping store too.
Hi Ladydiver:
Like you, I'll sometimes wear my Polartec diveskin under my wetsuit. It does help the neoprene slip on easier and it gives sun protection when I take the neoprene off. The thick Polartec fleece from my drysuit would do more harm than good under a wetsuit, but the diveskin has some benefit.
The question about the diveskin though is how much benefit does it give and why does it work? IMHO when you buy a "Polartec" diveskin, the Polartec inner lining does little else but help the skin slide on more easily (for the reasons I mentioned above in earlier posts).
A Polartec diveskin in the water works like a windbreaker in the air, only less so. A windbreaker works by keeping "fresh" cold air away from your skin so your body doesn't have to continuously try to warm new air. It reduces the "wind chill factor". It doesn't provide any real insulation from the actual cold temperatures itself, but the air it traps does provide some insulation. Well made Polartec diveskins have a water impermeable layer between the outer shell and the thin Polartec lining. (Cheap skins might only have the torso or other limited areas lined with the middle impermeable layer.) IMO it's the middle "windbreaker" layer in the skin that keeps you warmer, not the Polartec. The Polartec in a diveskin works like the acetate lining in a windbreaker. It helps the skin slide on more easily, but adds little insulation. Its fibers might slow water movement a little, but that water dosen't provide any insulation. You've just reduced the "wind chill factor" of water against the skin without adding appreciable insulation. My old SSA diveskin without the Polartec inner layer kept me as warm as my Polartec skin.
IMO, Polartec diveskins have their place, but they don't keep you nearly as warm as a neoprene wetsuit that has both the "windbreaker" function and provides insulation. And if a diveskin interferes with the fit of a wetsuit and increases the water exchange under the wetsuit, it can actually make you colder, so they should be used with care.
Just my 2¢,
Bill
You're right, fleece underwear works under a drysuit where it can trap air. I wear Polartec fleece under my drysuit sometimes. I got mine from a camping store too.
Hi Ladydiver:
Like you, I'll sometimes wear my Polartec diveskin under my wetsuit. It does help the neoprene slip on easier and it gives sun protection when I take the neoprene off. The thick Polartec fleece from my drysuit would do more harm than good under a wetsuit, but the diveskin has some benefit.
The question about the diveskin though is how much benefit does it give and why does it work? IMHO when you buy a "Polartec" diveskin, the Polartec inner lining does little else but help the skin slide on more easily (for the reasons I mentioned above in earlier posts).
A Polartec diveskin in the water works like a windbreaker in the air, only less so. A windbreaker works by keeping "fresh" cold air away from your skin so your body doesn't have to continuously try to warm new air. It reduces the "wind chill factor". It doesn't provide any real insulation from the actual cold temperatures itself, but the air it traps does provide some insulation. Well made Polartec diveskins have a water impermeable layer between the outer shell and the thin Polartec lining. (Cheap skins might only have the torso or other limited areas lined with the middle impermeable layer.) IMO it's the middle "windbreaker" layer in the skin that keeps you warmer, not the Polartec. The Polartec in a diveskin works like the acetate lining in a windbreaker. It helps the skin slide on more easily, but adds little insulation. Its fibers might slow water movement a little, but that water dosen't provide any insulation. You've just reduced the "wind chill factor" of water against the skin without adding appreciable insulation. My old SSA diveskin without the Polartec inner layer kept me as warm as my Polartec skin.
IMO, Polartec diveskins have their place, but they don't keep you nearly as warm as a neoprene wetsuit that has both the "windbreaker" function and provides insulation. And if a diveskin interferes with the fit of a wetsuit and increases the water exchange under the wetsuit, it can actually make you colder, so they should be used with care.
Just my 2¢,
Bill
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