Thermal protection help.

[Frosty]

hey folks my lovely wife is a keen diver. What is stopping her is that she has limited lung expansion.
This makes diving with a 5mm farmer John suit (10mm through the core) impossible. She literally doesn't have the ability to expand her lungs against the pressure of the suit.
Equally she wasn't comfortable but could just manage diving tropical with a 5.0mm shortie
What was comfortable was my sharkskin which is a tiny bit too big.-but then she was too cold.Definitely couldn't manage tropical dives.
So Im looking for ideas for tropical diving and for cooler water diving --I typically dive in water in the low teens.
My first thought for tropical was a full body 3.00mm and a sharkskin. --Oh and tot really muck it up she doesn't want a dry suit..

 

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[Dive Right In Scuba 2]

I think you may be onto something with the 3 mil and a sharkskin(or lava core, thermocline, etc) underneath. Most garments like the sharkskin provide the equivalent of a 2-3 mil suit in exposure protection, so she'll have the equivalent of a 5-6 mil when coupled with a 3 mil suit. There are also wetsuits like those from Bare and Akona that are a little more "stretchable" than others, which may further help with her comfort.

 

[Searcaigh]

I can only imagine that NZ prices for dive gear is very expensive since you live so far away from anywhere

I have been using a Fourth Element Proteus 5mm suit off and on for the past 6 months and find that as good as my 5mm semi-dry (Mares). I also use a Fourth Element Thermocline suit, and have combined this with my old 3:2mm Mares suit and it made a huge difference (along with a hood). I also use a 7mm semi-dry in winter and more recently a dry suit.

I have to add that a good fitting suit is important, and it may take a few different ones before your wife finds that one that fits well and feels comfortable. When she does find it, buy two

 

[John C. Ratliff]

My thoughts are the same as Searcaigh above; first get a wet suit that fits. Look around at the free diving community in New Zealand, and see if there are any custom wet suit manufacturers. I think she needs a custom-fitted wet suit of the newer super-stretch material.

SeaRat

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[Frosty]

Hey thank you guys for all the ideas under NORMAL circumstances I would 100% agree with you re a good fitting suit.
trouble is in this specific situation a good fitting suit around the chest area at least SEEMS to be the issue. The extra resistance of the neoprene is just too much.
One brainwave I had was maybee getting a custom suit made with the chest area deliberately 2 sizes too big.So the suit is normal tight everywhere else just not the chest.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Frosty,

You need to do a bit of observation with your wife. If she is like my wife, she may be breathing differently than many others of us. As divers, we are trained in breathing techniques (at least we used to be trained in this manner). But my wife is Asian, and she breaths differently than me. In our normal breathing, we use our "tidal volume" to oxygenate our body. That is a small part of our vital capacity (see the diagram below). My wife, when she breaths normally, exhales to her lower end of her tidal volume. In contrast, when I breath, I inhale to my upper part of my tidal volume. We normally use our diaphragm to move air within the tidal volume, and also to get down to the expiratory reserve volume. But we use our chest muscles (the intercostal muscles) to inhale into our inspiratory reserve volume. Many people who have not learned breathing techniques have not developed their intercostal muscles to inhale into their inspiratory reserve, and therefore rely upon diaphragm breathing. In this case, it is not the chest that requires more freedom of motion, but the stomach area, as the diaphragm moves my increasing volume below the chest. So some observation and questioning are necessary for your wife in order to solve this wet suit problem. Here is the diagram from the older, 1971 U.S. Navy Diving Manual:



Once you have figured this out, go to the wet suit manufacturer and get a custom-fitted wet suit. Talk to them about this problem, and how to solve it too. They are the real experts on wet suit fitting, not us. I simply lament that custom-fitted wet suits are now rare in the dive shops in the U.S.A. Note that in a properly fitted wet suit, there should be no "extra resistance of the neoprene."

SeaRat

 

[Herb-alaska]

Why not consider a dry suit for her. She could get a nice trilam dry suit vary the under garment for the water temp and be comfortable with out a squeeze in all water temps . I know people that dry suit dive even in warm water with a nice surface temp. You simply unzip the suit on the surface.
Herb

 

[Searcaigh]

Why not consider a dry suit for her. She could get a nice trilam dry suit vary the under garment for the water temp and be comfortable with out a squeeze in all water temps . I know people that dry suit dive even in warm water with a nice surface temp. You simply unzip the suit on the surface.
Herb

While I agree with your recommendation, just go back and look at the OP's last sentence

Oh and to really muck it up she doesn't want a dry suit

 

[charlier]

Hi Frosty - consider a custom free dive wet suit. These wetsuits use super stretchy and very high quality neoprene. Such fabrics are are not typically available in off the rack scuba wetsuits. She does not have to get a top and pant, but even a full wetsuit with a hood. One suggestion is a custom Elios wetsuit, Eliossub - Benvenuti in Eliossub. charlie