Sirius13 once bubbled...
When you buy a 7 mm Farmer John and a 7 mm Shorty combo, is your core protection at 14 mm or still at 7 mm? I wouldn't mind sorting this out before I buy. I was planning on a 7 mm one piece Henderson Hyperstretch. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Sirius13
(previously known as Sirius4Procyon)
"Life is like a jar of Jalopenos, what you do today may burn your ass tomorrow"
ut:
Great signature line there Sirius.
Yes your core protection would be 14mm if you have both the FJ and shorty on. Of course at 33 feet you will be down to 7 mm again.
As far as wetsuits and having purchased one last year and helped someone with a purchase this year I can offer my thoughts.
If you are going to be diving here in Canada you will need 14mm of neoprene at some point so unless you have lots of 'natural' insulation a one piece 7mm will be very cold below about 50 degrees. I think the best combo to get which offers the most number of mixes and matches is a 7mm fullsuit without a hood, a 7mm sleeveless shorty with a hood, and then a separate 5mm hood to offer greater flexibility in exposure protection.
As far as material for the suit the nylon on both sides is cheaper but the neoprene on only the inside is better for two reasons. First off it sticks to your skin making convective heat losses less. Secondly and this is a real nice feature is when turned inside out the neoprene only dries in twenty minutes whereas the nylon stays wet for hours. When the air temp is cold it is nice to put on dry wet suit and not a wet wetsuit for that second dive. Of course a dry drysuit is probably the best option but considerably more $$ for a good one with underwear.
Lots of manufacturers make the nylon one side but the two I would look at would be the Henderson Gold Core or the Bare Arctic Glideskin Fullsuit. You will pay more for Henderson than a comparable Bare suit. The biggest advantage with Bare I have found is their sizing. No other company offers 15 sizes for men and 14 for women. No matter what your size you will likely fit into one of their suits off the rack. Their new Arctic SGS full suit has the glideskin for most of the suit and hyperstretch in the calves so big calves shouldn't be a problem.
Being over in Afghanistan yes it might be difficult to window shop but have a look at
www.bare-wetsuits.com or
www.hendersonusa.com
Bare does have a suit like DMI describes called the Arctic Hooded Fullsuit.
Since no one else has put up pricing and I have gone through purchasing two suits recently so here is what I found. Obviously fit is the most important aspect of any wetsuit purchase so if you can try it on first do so. Most shops though if you have the suit shipped to you sight unseen will allow you to exchange the size as long as you pay the shipping.
If they have your size I don't think anyone will beat the price of $495 Canadian for the new Bare 7mm Arctic SGS fullsuit WITH hooded sleeveless shorty found at Dan's Dive Shop
www.dansdiveshop.ca. We bought one in the spring at another shop and paid $640 for the same combo,..ouch. If you don't want to spend that kind of money then the best deal out there in a Bare is the plain nylon two side 7mm Arctic fullsuit with hooded vest for $329 at Aquarius. This is a great suit and for the price and fit choices untouchable. Have a look at
www.aquariusscuba.com
Both shops will ship anywhere in the world. Listen the post is a bit long (no comments from the peanut gallery please) but you probably don't get a lot of Internet time over there in Kabul. I am assuming you are with the CF and my hats off to you guys for working in very difficult conditions. One of my best friends just arrived there last week for a tour of duty.
