What do you prefer to wear while free diving?

[Orihimef]

I'm new to diving, I've never really gone scuba diving but I've done dives where I just swim down and enjoy the water and the view. I was wondering what people like to take when others do this because I prefer to dive with no gear like in a swimming pool. Also wetsuits never really agreed with me sadly but I have lots of fun either way. The main down side to this is that I have to be used to holding my breath for a while.

 

[rx7diver]

Since scuba divers tend to linger awhile at depth, their wetsuits need to keep them reasonably warm for a period of time that's longer than what a freediver (breath-hold diver) requires. Consequently, wetsuits for scuba diving tend to be a bit stiffer in order to resist compressing as much. (A wetsuit compresses more with increased depth, and when a suit compresses, its ability to insulate decreases.)

rx7diver

 

[Orihimef]

So people normally free dive in wet suits too? Maybe I am the weird one hehehe

 

[Angelo Farina]

So people normally free dive in wet suits too? Maybe I am the weird one hehehe

Of course it depends on location and period of the year.
Here in the Mediterranean sea in the June- September period no suit is required, the water is warm above the thermocline, which is down at 15-20 meters.
In other periods of the year freedivers use a full suit 3mm or 5mm.
In tropical waters (i.e. Maldives) no suit is required all the year around.
But many use a thin wet suit just for protection against sun, fire coral, urticating animals, etc.
In cold waters, instead, you need a good pretective suit.
It also depends on individual sensitivity to cold.
Personally I use a 3mm single-piece full suit, with no hood, even during summer here in the Med.
But I really do not tolerate being cold...
My wife and my sons use no suit.

 

[Bigbella]

Personally I use a 3mm single-piece full suit, with no hood.

+1, for many of the same reasons -- primarily those nasty, stinging, and / or toxic species, from the stickier parts of the world -- have had quite enough of those encounters.

Also, a 3 mm suit is great insulation on long boat rides back, to combat evaporative cooling, even in the tropics. Friends who have opted for swim trunks and who gave me grief over suits on many of those same treks, have typically whined and huddled beneath towels on the returns . . .

 

[MB NZ]

Whether freediving or SCUBA, the answer is entirely dependent on water temperature and an individual's cold tolerance. Most people would get colder on SCUBA. You don't move much (if you're doing it right!). Personally, I like to be covered from head to toe in neoprene whatever I'm doing. It has it's advantages.

 

[arew+4]

There is also the "crushed" or open cell neoprene vs. the closed cell neoprene. The crushed stuff is less buoyant so it's easier to free dive in with less lead.

 

[Orihimef]

There is also the "crushed" or open cell neoprene vs. the closed cell neoprene. The crushed stuff is less buoyant so it's easier to free dive in with less lead.

That's interesting, I haven't heard of different material like that for suits. Since I just dive in a swim suit I always felt a bit more buoyant than others make it look.

 

[WeRtheOcean]

Freedive wetsuits are different from scuba wetsuits. I asked a question about that on the forum somewhere, and the reply was, basically, freedive wetsuits work better near the surface and the wearer moving a lot, whereas scuba wetsuits work better at depth and the wearer not moving much.

Since I just dive in a swim suit I always felt a bit more buoyant than others make it look.

I find that having air in my lungs buoys me up. I can't even go below the surface without fins unless I let air out. The feeling of "needing to breathe" is actually caused by CO2 buildup, not by using up oxygen. My underwater time is so short that it makes no real difference letting the air out. If I trained for longer submergence, I might learn differently.

 

[Cthippo]

I wear a 3/2 mm wetsuit with hood and gloves and about 10 lbs of lead when freediving. It never gets that warm around here so my snorkel gear is basically my SCUBA gear minus the tanks and BCD.