Wetsuits 101

[Kunk35]

Can I get some wetsuit 101 rundown from everyone for a newby looking for his first wetsuit? How thick. Preferred brands. Spend alot or a little. Long or short etc....

I live in Texas. Will mostly be doing some local lake diving, with an occasional, hopefully at least yearly, warm water or gulf trip. I'm taking my ow course starting this weekend, so I thought I would start getting info so I can make a better informed purchase decision. (see my thread over in "New divers & those considering diving" about my recent purchase decisions)

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Scubastud16]

i'll let the texas people speak about length, but you can get away with pretty much nothing in the gulf during the spring/summer/early fall. brand-wise....henderson seems to make pretty nice suits (they make the "hyperstretch" line). these are expensive, but the people who have them love them. velcro LOVES to stick to the hyperstretch though.

happy diving!

 

[spectrum]

The short answer is that brand is of little importance, fit is everything. The suit should roll on without fuss and fit like a second skin. You should have full range of motion and your breathing should not be modified by the suit. When you remove the suit after being in it for a while seeing the stitching imprinted in your skin is a great sign. If it's a back zip full suit the zipper should only be pulling about 1 inch of stretch after the suit is settled in place. I'm partial to a fullsuit (jumpsuit) and an apropriate layering vest as opposed to a John and Jacket.

For what it's worth I have had very good luck with the Bare line. I like the designs and their cut fits me very well. They are also reasonable and discounting dealers can be found. Bare has a huge range of sizes.

You say Texas, your profile is Missouri and you plan to dive the Gulf. I'll let folks from your region talk about thicknesses but needing an assortment of suits is quite likely. I live in Maine and for local diving I enjoy a shorty, 3mm full suit, 5mm full suit and 7mm full suit combined with several vests and a drysuit to boot. Our water can range from 32 to 84! I can go from 78 to 44 in a single dive.

For more info spend some time searching this forum to understand the finer details of exposure protection.

Pete

 

[tnfireman]

Here in TN I have been very pleased with the Akona 6.5 mm farmer john, the $140 price tag makes it even better.
Ray

 

[Kunk35]

Spectrum, we just moved down in March. Guess I need to update my profile....

 

[TheRedHead]

I can dive a 5 mm from 68 to 85 F. It really depends on your tolerance for cold. I don't ever get too warm in water. The thicker the suit, the more lead you will require to offset the bouyancy, which will make mastering bouyancy harder. I would initially go with the least amount of neorpene required to be comfortable. Adding a hood increases warmth without adding a lot of bouyancy.

 

[Mako Mark]

many people that dive both warm and cold waters go for the convienience of a two piece suit. In the warm water just wear the longjohn,(this is my favorite type of wetsuit) and in teh cold, put the jacket on as well.

Nowadays though, I have a fuller range of suits, all onepiece. 3mm shortie, 3mm steamer (long arms/legs one-piece), 5mm steamer and a trilam drysuit.

I always think that buying a good quality neoprene is worth the extra money. Cheaper wetsuits always seem to wear out, have bad stitching or some annoying uncomfortable feature that makes me not want to wear it. Comfort is king. Get the best you can afford. If you are not comfortable you wont be enjoying yourself.

 

[SparticleBrane]

This might help...
http://scuba.com/shop/shopon.asp_category_Wet+Suits
http://scuba.com/shop/shopon.asp_category_Wet+Suits#fit

 

[FishDiver]

For what it's worth I have had very good luck with the Bare line. I like the designs and their cut fits me very well. They are also reasonable and discounting dealers can be found. Bare has a huge range of sizes.

I enjoy a shorty, 3mm full suit, 5mm full suit and 7mm full suit combined with several vests and a drysuit to boot. Our water can range from 32 to 84! I can go from 78 to 44 in a single dive.

Pete

I second the opinion on Bare. I own two of their fullsuits and they are well made and well-priced.

Pete, why do you own so much rubber? I would think it would be easier and even cheaper to buy a drysuit to handle the variance in your conditions. I own a shorty, 5m and 7m hooded suit and feel like I am pushing the edge of reason.

 

[spectrum]

Pete, why do you own so much rubber? I would think it would be easier and even cheaper to buy a drysuit to handle the variance in your conditions.

Intersting question.....
1. I got the 3/2 on a whim to go body surfing during the hurricane sason in 2003
2. I came to scuba diving via skin-diving here in Maine. The 5/4mm was a good choice for a long summer of dives in 2004 when I lokked 91 slin-dives. With the chicken vest it's a formidable suit, especially in mainly surface water. When the conditions are nice dropping the weight for a scuba dive is a treat.
3. When I did take up scuba diving last year the the Arctic and companion vest were no brainers based on my 5mm suit and vest experieince.
4 Last fall I did get a drysuit and enjoyed diving through the winter. As we reach 50F I'll dust it off.
5 This summer I snagged a shorty for some shallow water scuba dives sans BC where I wanted a little protection but very little dynamic buoyancy.

For my taste the drysuit is nice for when I need it but I much prefer the experieince of diving wet. Despite the matra of "once you dive dry you'll never want to dive wet" my experience (and that of many buddies) is that diving wet is more enjoyable.

Pete