Question What wetsuit is easiest to get off?

[fred32176]

What is the easiest 3 mil wetsuit to put on and get off? My 3/2 keeps getting nicked and it will soon be time for a new wetsuit. Which 3 mill wetsuits are easiest to get off and put on?

 

[azstinger11]

The problem I have taking off a wetsuit is I get everything off but a big wad near my ankle. One foot will come out but getting the bunched up suit off the remaining ankle is a pain.

Lycra suit and socks will help with that. Makes it super easy to pull off a suit from 2/3 to a 7 mil. Also nice on the surface interval to have a slightly damp sun protection on (for places where I’d dive a 3mil suit, less ideal but even more required for 7mil suits lol). You can be really simple basic with a $20 one on Amazon or can get some with all sorts of prints. Personally I just went cheap. But I use it anytime I’m diving wet from Tulum to Southern California. Made wetsuits go from a pain to easy for don/doffing.

 

[Zef]

Glad I came across this thread. I traded my falling apart 3mm wetsuit for a hat at the dive shop I dove with last year and only have a shorty at the moment. Will eventually be looking to purchase a new 3mm. Never thought about about ankle zippers before.

There were a couple of posts in the thread shared above questioning the purpose of the zippers. When it comes to the loss of flexibility, a sore back, a beer gut, etc..., it seems the zippers would make it a lot easier to don and remove a wetsuit. Are there any negatives?

So....there are 2 pseudo-negatives:
1) If you wear your booties over the bottoms of your wetsuit, the zippers may press into your skin/ankles and cause discomfort. My wetsuit has an inner skin ankle cuff beneath the zipper areas, and I sandwich my booties between those inner cuffs and the outer neoprene. If a suit does not have the inner cuff, one can typically still zip the ankle of the wetsuit over one's booties but it may mean that some water enters through the leg openings...not really an issue if one is diving in a 3mm as I suspect with a suit that thin the water won't be too cold.

2) Zippered ankles don't seal as well as non-zippered, unless one has the inner cuff...but again, this is probably not an issue with a 3mm suit.

My suit has both ankle zips and wrist zips....both make a big difference, to me, when putting on/taking off my wetsuit....the zippers make it not only easier but there is less strain at the arm and leg openings when pushing/pulling my hands and feet through.

-Z

 

[johndiver999]

A full dive skin of Lycra is way slower and harder than just putting on a 3 mm suit. If the diver wears thin nylon or Lycra socks, any new suit that is sized properly will not be hard to remove.

 

[Searcaigh]

My Waterproof W5 3.5mm suit has cuffs on ankles and wrists with zippers on the neoprene, very easy to put on and remove.

+1 for lycra socks.

 

[happy-diver]

when it's inside out around your knees stand on the suit and pull out your foot by lifting your leg

 

[fred32176]

It's an interesting idea, but doesn't work for me. The wetsuit leg is bunched up around my ankle after I get the first leg out. Standing on the wetsuit while pulling my leg up doesn't make my foot come out of the wetsuit and would eventually make me fall over.

I am usually trying to get out of the wetsuit in a sandy parking area in Florida, with a car to lean against. The alternatives is trying to peel off a wetsuit in a changing room which is OK for changing from a swimming suit to dry clothes but is too small for struggles with wetsuits.

 

[tarponchik]

Do they still make shorties with a diagonal zipper across your thigh? These are the easiest on and off. Full-size with front zippers are the hardest to take off, IMO.

 

[fred32176]

I live in Florida, don't dive water colder than Florida Springs (72 F) and I don't get cold in my 3/2 wetsuit in springs. I did my training in 5 mm wetsuits in springs (72 F) and found it was overkill and stiff. I wear a 1 mm vest reef diving in the keys (82+ F) and don't get cold. My dive boots are hard sole 5 mm with zippers.

I will be doing deeper wreck dives and plan on using a hooded vest + a full suit. I am not planning on getting a shorty as folks in shorties get cold in springs and I don't need a shorty for reefs.

I've never dove a 4 mm wetsuit. Are there any disadvantages to a 4 mm wetsuit? Would a 4 mm wetsuit work as well or better for wreck dives than a 3/2 mm wetsuit + a 1 mm hooded vest?

 

[jonhall]

when it's inside out around your knees stand on the suit and pull out your foot by lifting your leg

This has been my current method but I have to get the suit around my ankles to be successful. Probably looks pretty goofy but you gotta do what you gotta do!!

The wetsuit leg is bunched up around my ankle after I get the first leg out. Standing on the wetsuit while pulling my leg up doesn't make my foot come out of the wetsuit and would eventually make me fall over.

That's a definite possibility, in my case, if you're on a rocking boat! Wouldn't like the sand either. I try to isolate the lower part of the wetsuit leg, closer to the ankle, to stand on.

 

[Marie13]

Long sleeve rash guard and Lycra socks will do the trick.