Which is warmer?

[sauga]

A one piece or two piece wetsuit? Personally, I use a two piece 7mm farmer john thing, so I'll use that for comparison purposes. One would think the two piece would be warmer because of the double thickness (14mm) over the torso section. However, a wetsuit works by allowing a layer of water next to the skin to warm, and by restricting water to the inside of the suit, you never create the warm layer inside. Or, that's how it was recently explained to me. Both idea's have some validation. All this is academic anyway; I'm getting a dry suit!

Any opinions?

 

[doole]

Sounds like it was explained to you by a salesman.

There will always be water inside; that's why they call it a wetsuit. "Allowing the layer of water next to the skin to warm" is one of my favorite marketing lines. Try comparing what your new drysuit feels like normally, versus what it feels like when it's flooded. You'll be soon rethinking the whole 'insulating properties of water' theory.

In wetsuits, I personally had my best luck with a hooded 'steamer', i.e. one-piece. The flow of nice, fresh, cool water inside the suit is kept to a minimum by virtue of the fact that there's really no place for it to get in, except around the front of the hood.

 

[moneysavr]

Hey John,
See you made it thru winter!
I got a 1mm Microprene from Henderson that I put under the farmer and that realy keeps the water movement down!and in turn i stay a bit warmer! but did do a dry suit so I can get more early dives in on the big pond,But still use the wet suit as the year gets warm.
You will have to PM me as things warm up for a wreck dive off my boat on LakeMichigan,
See you soon,
Brad

 

[spectrum]

First as mentioned above water is not needed to be warm in a wetsuit. I llike to say that the water in a wetsuit is tolerated, yes it will get in and yes the body will warm it. The key is to keep the water volume to a minimum and then to keep the same water in the suit. Keeping the same water in the suit saves you from heating up more water. Since water cnoducts heat over 25 times more than air this water in the suit is still conducting your heat to the suits inside surface much faster than if you were dry. The exposure protection is the neoprene suit with trapped gas bubbles that are very good insulators. This is why you'll hear over and over that fit is everything. Flip seals in the limbs and zipper sealling flaps all contribute to the design of a good suit.

I'm of the school of thought that a full suit is the best base garment since it provides that full coverage membrane in a way that a farmer john & jacket cannot.

I did a lot of skin diving last year in a Bare 5/4 velocity fill suit with the 3/5 hooded vest underneath and it worked great down to 50F. It actually felt dry for a while and then water would slowly trickel in and it was easy to stay comfortable. A bottle of hot water down the collar before the dive beat mother nature to the punch and saved some energy.

I'll be doing my checkout dives in 4-6 weeks and have ordered a Bare Arctic 7mm plus the hooded step-in vest to be worn over it. Going to depth anywhere here in Maine means 7mm (or dry) but if I want I can play around with the vest hood combos in fresh /shallow water.

Enjoy the drysuit, I hope to be in one before next winter!

Pete

 

[doole]

I did a lot of skin diving last year in a Bare 5/4 velocity fill suit with the 3/5 hooded vest underneath and it worked great down to 50F. It actually felt dry for a while and then water would slowly trickel in and it was easy to stay comfortable. A bottle of hot water down the collar before the dive beat mother nature to the punch and saved some energy.

Yes, what he says. Bare makes a pretty good suit; that's what my one-piece was. Dove the Queen Charlottes in the thing for a week and survived, although I don't recommend that. (38-44 f)

 

[Bob3]

FIT is the most important thing in a wetsuit. Eliminating areas where water can flush/infiltrate is the secret to staying warm.
A 1-piece suit with attached hood is about the best, next comes adding a hooded vest under a 1-piece. A 2-piece with hooded vest would be next after that.
All assuming a proper fit, of course.

 

[BryceB]

I use a Harvey's Kobalt 7mm. wetsuit. It's the warmest wetsuit on Earth and I have great mobility in it. I wouuld recommend it to anyone if they are willing to spend the cash on it.

Bryce