The sad plight of the middle aged

[pauldw]

I have a 3/2 O'Neill that I didn't get for diving, but that could work in warm water. Today I figured I'd try it out in a pond at a nearby park just to get the weight right, in case I do get to go somewhere warm someday. I got it mostly on, and reached around back for the pull, and was trying to pull the zipper up the back, but it wasn't cooperating. No one was at home to help. I saw the UPS man coming, and went to the porch and asked if he could do me a favor and zip it up. He did, but I got the impression that isn't a usual thing for him. Then I got my gear and went to the pond and discovered that I'd guessed the correct weight pretty closely. I also learned that my scooter doesn't do well when plunging into weeds, but that's another story. Upon getting home I went to clean up and discovered that sometime during the previous half hour the zipper had unzipped itself, popping clear open, because of the mighty pulling stress caused by the shrinking neoprene in the middle of the suit that has occurred in recent years. These sorts of things didn't happen to me when I was young.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

if you have to buy one, Deep 6 Wetsuits are still on their clearance prices. Best deal out there!

Good luck,
Jay

 

[NothingClever]

I’m a little past middle age. What I’ve found is I still work out the same but just don’t go as far as I used to nor burn calories as quickly as I want to. I also used to take pride in my collection of bicycles and skis but they’ve been replaced by reading glasses and glucosamine tablets.

 

[pauldw]

if you have to buy one, Deep 6 Wetsuits are still on their clearance prices. Best deal out there!y

Yeah, I noticed that today! Thanks. But my large O'Neill doesn't fit, so I don't know that a large Deep 6 would, and going XL just seems like other aspects wouldn't work. Guess I'll stick to my dry suit. Plus, I don't know if Deep 6's neoprene doesn't shrink around the waist.

I went to Cozumel once, and was starting to put on my wetsuit, and the DM said I could probably do fine with no wetsuit given how warm the water was then, and she was right. Nothing like diving in shirt and shorts!

 

[drk5036]

isn't it annoying how wetsuits always shrink? Someone should really work on overcoming that clear product design flaw...

/s

 

[Panther1880]

Buy a shell suit dry suit. They're way to expensive to replace. That's keeping me in check
I'm wondering how this phenomenon apparently doesn't apply to my slightly younger friends for years. It's pretty annoying to say the least. They never buy shrinking clothing... But then again they don't dive so apparently that works differently. The sacrifices we make for our sport...

 

[Skulmoski]

At age 55, I purchased two custom-sized wetsuits. Both fit great.