Wetsuit Recommendations

[djmccarthy]

I live in NH but have done most of my diving in the Caribbean and Hawaii and I have the Henderson H2 3mm full suit. I'll be taking some courses this summer and the diving will be off NH, Southern ME & North Shore MA. I am renting right now but I'm considering investing in a 7mm wetsuit and have narrowed it to two choices: the Henderson H2 which will run me just under $500 or the Aqua Lung Aqua Flex 7mm Jumpsuit which will run me around $400. I currently own the hood and gloves so I'm looking for just the wetsuit. I was leaning toward the semidry Aqua Lung SolAfx Wetsuits but felt that having the hood attached wasn't too versatile. Any suggestions, recommendations? Thanks!

 

[SteveAD]

Drysuit!

Before you buy a wetsuit for new england diving you should try a drysuit. I can arrange a demo for you. shoot me a PM

 

[pollywogg]

Keep in mind, this is all coming from a Florida boy who dives wet year round, but:

Have you considered making the jump to a drysuit? It would seem to me that if you are diving in your local waters, as well as waters in the bahamas and caribbean, you would want the most versatile suit. A drysuit can be worn in tropical water with no thermal protection underneath, then, for diving in local waters, you just add insulation, instead of using a separate suit. I have seen reaalllly good deals here on SB for used drysuits that would be in the same price range on what you plan on spending for a second suit.

Now, all that being said, drysuits call for separate training, and it might be too early in the diving game to go dry.

 

[djmccarthy]

I considered drysuits but economics is the major consideration. I priced the ones that are recommended at around $1,000 vs $460 for the high end Henderson H2. I already have a hood an gloves. Maybe in the future. We'll see where diving takes me. Right now I'm AOW and taking my Rescue Diver Course this coming weekend. I have 15 dives under my belt and I originally got certified in September/October 2007. Almost two years in. Convincing my wife to let me drop $1,000 is pretty hard right now. Thanks for the input! DJM

 

[sladerer]

Questions:
What times of year do you dive?
What is the typical water temp?
What is your typical dive time?
What is your "cold tolerance"?

Since each diver and each dive is different YMMV, but here's some input.

My wife and I just bought the 6.5mm full suits and 5mm hoods from Down130 (see the thread in Hot Deals). Having just come back from a weekend of diving in Monterey, I can attest to both how well made and how comfortable (temp wise) the suits are. We did two dives in Carmel bay on Sat 6/13, both were about 35 minutes, first dive was 51F at depth and second was 53F. I am fairly cold tolerant, wear an UnderArmor cold gear l/s top under the suit and was never chilled during either dive. My wife tends to get chilled easily, wears a 1mm skin under her suit and was very comfortable throughout the first dive, but was feeling chilled towards the end of our 2nd dive (probably about the 20/25min mark). Additionally, I used my new Henderson H2 7mm gloves for the first time on this trip and my hands were quite comfortable.

If I were going to change anything, I would probably suggest a vest/hood combo (which is what I'm going to get my wife before our next cold water outing) to add a little more core protection.

Good luck!