Starting Diving classes question

[muddiver]

I dont mind wetsuits at all...being as I surf Ive gotten a warm fuzzy feeling from them. Now if only there was a way to wear them all the time?. What suits are good though? hooded, zipper vs zipperless? I know diving suits are different than surfing ones so thats why Im asking

Ok, original question: I wear a shorty in the pool because you will loose heat through conduction unless the pool is over 85 degrees. No pool is ever going to be that warm. The shorty also keeps the SCUBA rig from chafing.

If you have old surfing suits that are too short, wack the arms and legs off about 6" from the torso of the suit and you now have a free shorty.

Question two: Oregon coast = really cold water: Therfore you need a good 7 mil or 1/4" wet suit. Most shops will try to sell a one piece and tell you how much more flexable they are. That's nice if you are going to do sincronized swimming. For SCUBA the best bet is more neoprene around the torso, cover the head, hands and feet. That is wherre the most heat is lost. I would reccomend a farmer john type suit, or a one piece with a hooded vest. I wear a hooded vest under a full farmer john in the winter down here when the water is in the mid to high 50's and I stay comfortable.

 

[Garrobo]

My instructor insisted that I wear a 5mm, two-piece suit with hood, booties and gloves when we did the pool stuff. He wanted for me to get used to wearing one since the OW dives were to be done at a (Ohio) quarry with some pretty cool water. We did the pool dives at the Y. I about roasted any time we were out of the water. Didn't notice it at the quarry.

 

[cold diver]

Hi Chris,
I took my classes in Portland and we used a 7MM shorty in the pool, open water we used a 7MM john and 7MM shorty with hood and boots up in Hoods Canal. The shop we went through supplied everything but mask fins and snorkel for OW as previously mentioned.

 

[ChrisRaabe]

well someone mentioned wearin a 3mil earlier? What are some goods suits to try on? What do people think of the oneill x3100?. What about hooded suits? I love some of the surfing ones, but don think they are diving suited.

 

[Caleb Brown]

I'm a new diver (10 dives), which makes me qualified to offer an answer to your question.
If you're going to be diving with a wet suit, train with a wet suit. I'm knew enough to remember that there were enough differences in buoyancy and range of movement that it became an important part of the training. If you want to be really thorough with your training, include your gloves part of the time. We didn't use gloves until we did our certification dives at Monterey and I struggled with that little detail more than anything else we had to do to pass our test.

 

[MontereyCADiver]

Caleb,

I admire your observations of your OW course. Great advice.

Regards,

Jeff

 

[ChrisRaabe]

Well surfing in Oregon requires gloves so that shouldnt b a problem for me since in used to them? Well I'm thinking a spring suit with long arms or a 3mil full suit?

 

[ThunderdiverD]

I agree. Depends on the pool temps. Most indoor pools are heated to a point. Talk with the instructor and get as much info as you need about the pool then make your call.

 

[ChrisRaabe]

Yea I was gonna email him but I cant find a way to email him till the first class I guess.

 

[deepblueme]

The thing I want to adress here is the surfing/diving wetsuit.

Yes there are differences but not as big as you might think.
Neoprene is not neoprene, cheeper suits material has bigger bubbles so less rubber per given thickness ((think compression)That is why some 5mil suits are warmer than others) than more expensive suits.

Most surf suits are cut for a different range of motion, If you want a good suit education give the folks at O'Neil a call and they will tell you which divesuit for which surf suit you like.