Thick Wetsuit and Boots: How should they go together?

[anomalydesign]

not trying to take a shot here, but this is why I recommend to people that they should find the best fit, rather than the best deal. Aside from a custom wetsuit, some manufacturers may have slightly different stock dimensions in the lower leg making a more comfortable fit.

What's confusing to me is that the suit and the boots, on their own, are each a good fit. The problem is that they're both fighting for the same piece of leg real estate, so I'm just trying to figure out which piece needs to go in/around/over the other, and how to best do that. I would think thicker wet-suits would be somehow designed around the assumption that the user would be wearing boots, but many that we've tried on don't seem to. This suit in particular has very small openings at the wrists and ankles, presumably to seal to skin rather than to other equipment (speaking of which, we've both been working on the assumption that glove gauntlets go OVER the sleeves, in contrast to the near-consensus here about boots needing to go under the suit).

 

[g1138]

Over time the suit ankles will stretch themselves. New 7mm suits are notorious for being very thick and cumbersome. I was pretty exhausted just from zipping up and drinking out of water bottle the first time I put on my spanking new 7mm farmer john.
The ankles were the hardest to wrap around my booties, but now it's very easy.

IMO compensating for booties in the wetsuit design would be a bad idea since not everyone has the same girth on their calfs.

Try folding the wetsuit ankles up before you put your booties on, then just fold the ankles over the booties. It does get easier after a few dives. Be sure to wring out the ankles after rinsing too to help it stretch and lose that new feeling.

 

[mselenaous]

I have the same issue with booties. Hence, I've taken every pair of booties to a custom wetsuit repair and had triangles of neoprene inserted on the outside of the boot opposite the zipper. This is relatively inexpensive and allows the booties to zip up. Then I roll the wetsuit cuff over the boot. This was also an issue, so a few years ago I started having ankle zippers put in all my suits. I LUV ankle zippers (OK it's a toss-up between ankle zippers and spring straps as my favorite scuba convenience).
As for getting the suit on/off with tight seals, a bit of baby shampoo or dilute hair conditioner or KY lube makes the them easier to slide through. Altering the seals could reduce the warmth efficiency of the suit by allowing water movement in & out of the suit.
A suit made of an uberstrechy neoprene (hyperstretch, everflex, & a variety of other monikers) give you a more forgiving fit with easier don & doff, however the trade off is these stretch neoprenes compress more at depth thus reducing their warmth factor a tad.
Your comfort level in the water is only as good as the fit of your exposure protection. Few of us are a true stock size, so I consider custom wetsuits to be the best alternative. Custom wetsuits will run about the same (and sometimes less) than some of the high end designer label suits.

 

[nimoh]

you might try sticking a 1 litre pop bottle (or something of appropriate size) into the bottom cuff overnight to stretch it out a bit.

The overall tightness of the ankle area is probably defeating the purpose of the boots anyway by restricting blood flow, which will normally result in cold feet.

 

[mmerriman]

Boots must zip up, no matter what. Ideally, the wetsuit goes over the boot, but if the boot will zip snugly, you can live with the boot over wetsuit.
DivemasterDennsi

100% agree - if you can't zipper the boots they don't fit. And while you can put the boots over the wetsuit, when you get out of the water, all the water in your suit will fill the boots - its ok - just awkward. Try putting trashbags on your legs to put the suit on, then pull out the bags - makes it slide over those thick heels.

 

[TMHeimer]

I have that setup. Yes, wetsuit pant legs go over the boots (you can fold the bottom of the pant leg up when putting boots on). This also is best for those who DO (not me!) pee in the suit. Won't settle in the boots..... My right boot zips perfectly. Left one not so much & sometimes I just zip it up half- 3/4 of the way. Fat left ankle (foot, leg as well). With the wetsuit covering it, my left (or right) foot never gets cold--even down to water in the 30s.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

The boots go inside the leg of the wetsuit. Otherwise, you'll be pouring yellow water out of your boot back on the boat....

 

[Searcaigh]

Seems I have been doing it all wrong for the last 28 years

I zipper my boots over my wetsuit.

Additionally both my semi-dry suits have zippers in the ankles (5 and 6.5mm) and I use thick lycra socks to help slide my feet through the openings as they tight despite having zips. The plastic trash or shopping bag is a good aid on putting on a new suit too.

Hopefully you purchased these items from your LDS, at least you should be able to take them back and perhaps resolve the issue with either different boots or a new suit, providing of course they have not been used or peed in

On a couple of occasions years ago when a boot zipper failed on me I used a knife strap on my ankle to secure the boot on my ankle.

 

[hmarashi]

Welcome to diving! Everybody does it differently to get to the same result.

 

[tflaris]

Hello,

My girlfriend and I are completing our open water checkout dives this month, but will have only been diving in warm water. We hope to dive more locally (Jersey Shore, Dutch Springs etc), and have begun assembling some cool water gear accordingly. She found a good deal on a 7mm ScubaPro Steamer wetsuit, which seems to fit well once it's on (though it takes both of us to work the zipper-less ankle section past her heels when donning the suit). She also found SeaSoft zippered boots (6mm, I think) that fit perfectly.

The problem is that I don't really understand how the lower portion of the suit and the boots are supposed to fit together. The boot zippers barely close even on her bare ankles, so with 7mm of suit added, she can't even start the boot zippers. What's worse, all of the material between her ankle and the boot seems to be pushing her foot forward in the boot and making it a poor fit.

If this were an issue specific to this boot or suit, I'd be fine with going a different route, but it seems to me that this must be an issue with pretty much any thick wetsuit and boot combination. How is this supposed to work, when both items want a tight seal on the same portion of leg?

The ideas that have come to my mind are:

1. Leave the boot unzipped and either make a velcro extender, or use a different strap entirely to seal the unzipped top of the boot around the outside of the suit. Unfortunately this would not solve the fit issue caused by the extra material in the boot, though even unzipped the boot will not slip off her foot by mistake.
2. The 7mm ScubaPro suit is actually composed of two separate layers of thinner neoprene. I believe I could cut and remove the inner layer for the portion that would overlap the boot. The remaining inner neoprene above the boot top would still be plenty tight to prevent water flow, and the outer, un-cut neoprene layer should be large/stretchy enough to pull over the zipped-up boot to prevent any skin being exposed.

So am I missing something obvious? Do the above ideas seem good/stupid? I'd rather not ruin a suit for no reason. I'm asking also because I'm sure I'll have similar issues when I am purchasing my own thick suit and boots. How do people tend to wear boots with their full suits? Any advice or experience at all is appreciated.

Wetsuit goes over booties.

Hope this helps.


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