zeN||
Guest
I use a 6.5 and as long as I keep moving I'm fine for 1 hour, after that I'm cold, and i consider mysef a fairly hardy cold diver (Alaskan divers go ahead and chuckle) zeN||
Suit for Monterey?
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the sharkman
Contributor
My wife and I just got back from Monterey (Point Lobos) and it was 50 degrees at depth this weekend. We wear 7mil suits (me- two piece, my wife- one piece). We saw a couple who forgot to bring hoods, they got cold! I would not even think about diving in any less than 7mil.
:guitar:
:guitar:
zeN||
Guest
You have to be pretty green (you will be blue) not to wear a hood in Monterey, I just got back from the breakwater and it was 49 deg at 50', you lose like 40-60% of your heat from your head and in cold water an unhooded cranium is like a hot water valve ~ zeN||
FrugalDiver
Guest
Crazy! I got my scuba certification at the breakwater. I was wearing a 2 piece 7mm. Everything was covered. The only thing that was blue was my lips!
After getting my certification, I went straight to Maui.
You talk about night and day! I'm a cold weenie. As much as I'd like to go back and experience all that Monterey's underwater wildlife has to offer, I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon.
Maybe if I got my dry suit training, I'd THINK about it. But, ~50 degree water temps? Not my cuppa tea
-Frugal Diver-
After getting my certification, I went straight to Maui.
You talk about night and day! I'm a cold weenie. As much as I'd like to go back and experience all that Monterey's underwater wildlife has to offer, I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon.
Maybe if I got my dry suit training, I'd THINK about it. But, ~50 degree water temps? Not my cuppa tea
-Frugal Diver-
the nerve
Guest
I wore a 2 piece 6.5 mm wetsuit at Monestary beach yesterday. The water temp was 50 degrees at 100 feet, and I was a little chilly. It was an awesome dive though, the vis was about 30 feet down there, the best I've had yet in the Monterey area.
DeepTechScuba
Guest
You have 3 viable choices here.
1) a 7mm farmer john wetsuit, which is a 7mm sleeveless garb covering your trunk and legs, covered by a 7mm jacket, for 14mms overall of warmth on your chest and upper legs. You need to wear 25 to 30 lbs of lead to offset that, which is a lot.
2) a neoprene semi-dry 7mm suit.
3) a trilaminate shell drysuit with thick undergarments of some kind.
The trilam is the best choice, because you can manage overheating as well by wearing it half-dressed. The other two neoprene choices are still hot, even if worn half dressed.
The neoprene semi-dry is the second best choice. The air inside the suit is actually what keeps you warm, not the neoprene.
People who wear wetsuits here are normally beginners who do not dive a lot. Wetsuits work for one dive, but by the second dive around here, you have lost so much body heat, that you will be shivering and cramping in a wetsuit here, and miserably wet ashore between dives as well.
1) a 7mm farmer john wetsuit, which is a 7mm sleeveless garb covering your trunk and legs, covered by a 7mm jacket, for 14mms overall of warmth on your chest and upper legs. You need to wear 25 to 30 lbs of lead to offset that, which is a lot.
2) a neoprene semi-dry 7mm suit.
3) a trilaminate shell drysuit with thick undergarments of some kind.
The trilam is the best choice, because you can manage overheating as well by wearing it half-dressed. The other two neoprene choices are still hot, even if worn half dressed.
The neoprene semi-dry is the second best choice. The air inside the suit is actually what keeps you warm, not the neoprene.
People who wear wetsuits here are normally beginners who do not dive a lot. Wetsuits work for one dive, but by the second dive around here, you have lost so much body heat, that you will be shivering and cramping in a wetsuit here, and miserably wet ashore between dives as well.
Dryglove
Contributor
Say what...... you do mean the bubbles in the neoprene i hope and not air in the suit. A semi dry is nothing more than a wetsuit with better wrist ankle and neck seals to prevent water from flushing.
4) custom wetsuit
5) crushed neoprene drysuit
6)etc.
Im not to sure where you get your info but not all divers wearing wetsuits are newbies. I know lots divers with several hundred to several thousand dives that still use wetsuits. I also see plenty of drysuit divers who cant hold buoyancy to save their lives and leave a trail of muck every where they go. I guess it makes it easy to find there way back.
cnidae
Guest
I totally agree, wet suits & semi dry's have no place in our waters. A dry suit is the only way to go. I would also get dry gloves.
the nerve
Guest
A 7 mm wetsuit is usually warm and comfortable in these waters. Wet or dry is simply a matter of preference. If you are warm enough wearing a wetsuit, what's the problem with it? They are also a little more streamlined and easy to take on and off.
My instructors combined have over 3,000 logged dives, most of which are in the Monterey area, and they almost never wear dry suits. Whoever thinks that wet suits are for beginners only are mistaken.
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